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Fawlty Towers - The Complete Series
Average Customer Review : 5.0/5 based on 376 reviews
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List Price : $59.98
Price : $42.77
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Editorial Reviews
Basil Fawlty, as created and performed by John Cleese, is the rudest, most boorish, most hilariously obnoxious man on the face of the planet. What a natural for a TV sitcom! His screen wife, Sybil (Prunella Scales), put it best in the episode "The Psychiatrist": "You're either crawling all over them, licking their boots, or spitting poison at them like some Benzedrine puff adder." He mockingly replies, "Just trying to enjoy myself, dear." With his gangly frame and contortionist abilities, Cleese brilliantly punctuates Basil's outrageous faux pas with absurd gymnastics and turns Three Stooges-style pokes and kicks into a slapstick ballet. Scales's Sybil is the genial but obliviously chatty voice of reason and Andrew Sachs mangles the English language as the Spanish bellhop Manuel, whose struggles with simple directions results in comic lunacy reminiscent of Robert Benigni. After a six-episode run in 1975, Cleese and cowriter and costar Connie Booth (who plays Polly, the maid all too often pulled into Basil's ridiculous plans) reunited the cast in 1979 for another six episodes without missing a punch line. The four-volume collection contains all 12 shows, interspersed with interview segments featuring Cleese discussing the genesis of the series and anecdotes about the individual episodes. Remember to watch the opening credits of each show to spot the creative misspellings on the hotel sign (my favorite: "Fatty Owls"). --Sean Axmaker
Spotlight Reviews
Fawlty Towers = Ab Workout (2009-01-07)
Customer Review : 5
I hate Fawlty Towers, which is why I bought it for the family for Christmas. Every episode makes me laugh until my abs feel like I've done about a thousand crunches. This is good family entertainment that everyone can enjoy.
loads of fun (2009-01-06)
Customer Review : 5
This series is John Cleese at his funniest. The episodes can be watched over and over again and still be funny even though you know the plotline
fawlty towers (2008-12-22)
Customer Review : 4
we bought the series for a christmas gift and just hope the recipient loves it. we have not been able to review it ourselfs.people i work with have raved about the series. so taking their opinion to heart, i purchased it hoping the recipient will enjoy it as well.
A great ensamble show (2008-12-15)
Customer Review : 5
This review is prompted by a recent two-star review complaining that Fawlty Towers is "simply" a farce, is not thought-provoking, and is merely a solo vehicle for John Cleese as opposed to, per that reviewer, Monty Python movies.
To each his own, I guess.
This is far from a solo Cleese show. Each of the regulars is a unique, fully realized character. It is the interplay between these characters (with each other and with Cleese) that makes the show. Compare it to some other comedy shows that have a "star" comedian as a lead. For example, Mork and Mindy. That is an example of a "solo" effort and is quite the opposite of Fawlty Towers. You don't see any of the characters in FT standing around laughing at some Cleese antic and looking like they forgot their lines or missed their cue. In FT all the actors stay in character and are generally essential to the scene they are in.
It is agreed that this is not the place if you are looking for something "genuinely thought-provoking" (as that other reviewer wished for). But then again, neither are any of the Monty Python movies (despite that other reviewer's belief). So yes, FT is a farce, but farce is an honorable art form. Just ask William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer, for starters.
Fawlty Towers is one of the funniest, most tightly-scripted shows ever on TV. Some of the episodes are right up there with _The Comedy of Errors_ and _The Miller's Tale_. And I think the target audience for all of these was about the same.
The Funniest Show Ever (2008-12-15)
Customer Review : 5
Fawlty Towers is simply he best comedy ever written. I bought this collection for a friend in the Hotel/Resturant business, who never did see this show. I highly recommend for anyone, but it is a must see if you are in the Hotel/Resturant business.
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