# Least Favorite Fawlty Towers Episode? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862 "2017-12-19T15:37:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/21 "2017-12-19T20:55:04Z")
Interesting. There are only 12 episodes, and by my count, among all of you you’ve dismissed 7 of them as “worst”! My personal favorites are among them, but it’s hard to say because every one I watch (generally for the 5,983th time) I’m pretty much ready to declare my favorite. 😃 Except one. I totally agree with the OP that _The Anniversary_ is uniquely substandard compared to the others, as if Cleese and Booth were just uninspired for that one. It’s more sad than funny, really, and the humor seems forced. The rest of them IMHO are some of the finest comedy to ever appear on television. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/22 "2017-12-19T21:05:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, it’s a freaking hilarious episode. Just finished rewatching it a few minutes ago. (“I’m a doctor, I need my sausages!”) One of the funniest, but nothing will ever top The Germans. The always great Geoffrey Palmer. He is what made the episode great. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Gourmet Night? I agree. It’s the weakest. I believe I read somewhere that John Cleese thinks that one is the best one, which really shows the difference between what a creator and his audience might think. Cleese definitely has some odd ideas about comedy in general and his own work. He’s always been cranky and even more so in his old age. He has no trouble telling fans they are wrong about liking some of Python. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/23 "2017-12-19T21:34:01Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I like them all, but perhaps The Germans is the one I like least, and that’s probably just because I’ve seen it too many times. Pretty much my opinion too. Although every episode, including _The Germans_, is full of laughs it remains my least favorite for structural reasons. The whole hit on the head by a moose as an excuse for Basil’s behavior makes it kind of pointless. You can get away with any type of humor when it is not driven by character and has no real world consequences. I first saw _Fawlty Tower_s when I was living in London in the 70s and thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. When I returned to Australia I watched it all again and it was still hysterical. A few years later after repeated exposure to, by then, both series I started watching another airing and, for some reason, Basil Fawlty was no longer weak and human and funny. He was just an asshole. I simply couldn’t enjoy the show at all he angered me so much. So I stopped watching. A few years later I saw it again and he was back to being the great comedy character he is. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/24 "2017-12-19T21:57:05Z")
And in the interests of accuracy, I screwed up the quote. It’s “I’m a doctor and I want my sausages!” ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/25 "2017-12-19T22:15:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Yeah, but Buster Keaton [did it first](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gj6wFzDIO0) and much better (his wife wasn’t dead – just drunk – but it’s the same idea)… And Alfred Hitchcock made a whole movie based around the premise of a corpse that keeps popping up in the wrong place ( **The Trouble with Harry** ). That said, I disagree with you about the episode. Old concept or not, I rank it among the funnier ones. Least funny ep: Anniversary Party is draggy at times. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/26 "2017-12-19T23:18:37Z")
I have to agree with the OP; _The Anniversary_ is the weakest of the bunch, with _The Wedding Party_ and _The Psychiatrist_ as the runners-up for ‘least good’. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/27 "2017-12-19T23:23:05Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > Apart from the scene where Basil gives his stalled car a good thrashing, the Dinner Night episode is the one I’m most likely to wander away from. The berating and thrashing of the car is very instructive comedy. Note how the camera doesn’t follow him when he goes to get the branch. [Here Cleese describes](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11847905/Fawlty-Towers-car-thrashing-nearly-halted-because-stick-too-small.html) how it turned to be very important to get the right stick to make the comedy work. And at the end, where he has a trifle instead of a duck, he paws inside it hoping that there is still a duck there. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/28 "2017-12-19T23:31:00Z")
I think I’d put Communication Problems as my least favorite. The woman is really too annoying and Basil trying to hide a single bet he made on a horse race is almost too small a lie to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/29 "2017-12-20T01:36:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I liked it, and when I recognized the actor who plays the American guest I liked it even more. Remember the Colonel in Full Metal Jacket (“Son, all I’ve ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God.”)? Same guy. > [@](#): > > He was in The Empire Strikes Back too, playing a rebel general. > [@](#): > > And _Octopussy_, playing a U.S. Air Force general. Oh, he’s really Canadian, eh? 🆒 > **[Bruce Boa | Actor](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0090124/)** > > Known for: Full Metal Jacket, Octopussy, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/30 "2017-12-20T01:53:01Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I think I’d put Communication Problems as my least favorite. The woman is really too annoying and Basil trying to hide a single bet he made on a horse race is almost too small a lie to begin with. Though it did give us “Is this a piece of your brain?” and “If you give us any more trouble I shall visit you in the small hours and put a bat up your nightdress!” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/31 "2017-12-20T01:55:44Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Cleese definitely has some odd ideas about comedy in general and his own work. He’s always been cranky and even more so in his old age. He has no trouble telling fans they are wrong about liking some of Python. He lists making **Fierce Creature** as one of his great regrets. I think it is hilarious. A truly great comedy all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/32 "2017-12-20T01:57:15Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > Though it did give us “Is this a piece of your brain?” and “If you give us any more trouble I shall visit you in the small hours and put a bat up your nightdress!” I love the scene where he gets Mrs Richards to turn up the volume on her hearing aid, and Sybil just stares in bewilderment (“WTF is he _doing_?!?” 😕 ). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/33 "2017-12-21T00:52:29Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Honestly, I’ve seen the program so much that it’d be easier to list ones I wouldn’t skip. I tried to watch them again last winter. The last 4 or 5 were nearly unwatchable, especially the one where they drag to corpse around. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/34 "2017-12-21T04:46:07Z")
“The Anniversary Party” is probably my least favourite, although “The Psychiatrist” and “The Wedding Party” are less memorable to me, to the extent that I’m not sure which is which. “Communication Problems” is my favourite. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/35 "2017-12-21T10:42:12Z")
“Anniversary Party” is my least favourite by a mile. “Communication Problems” is my favourite. Mrs Richards: “I’m going back downstairs” Basil: “DOWNstairs? Well, don’t stop at the basement, give my regards to the Earth’s core” Sybil: “Basil, you know what I’ll do if I find out the money on that horse was yours” Basil: “You’ll have to sew them back on first” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/36 "2017-12-21T12:24:59Z")
> [@Scougs](#): > > Sybil: “Basil, you know what I’ll do if I find out the money on that horse was yours” > Basil: “You’ll have to sew them back on first” Have you ever seen Sybil make toast? Basil Fawlty: Well, may I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeasts swinging majestically… Mrs. Richards: Don’t be silly. I expect to be able to see the sea. Basil Fawlty: You CAN see the sea. It’s over there, between the land and the sky. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/37 "2017-12-21T13:10:40Z")
Different tastes… Personally, I love _The Anniversary_ and _The Psychiatrist_, and hate _The Germans_. Next to _The Germans_, I’d say the worst episode is the first one with the fake lord. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/38 "2017-12-21T14:19:19Z")
I love the wide differences/preferences expressed in this thread and I find them fascinating. Growing up “pre-internet”, I figured everyone agreed that “The Builders” and “The Germans” were the best episodes. My mind was blown that Cleese thought Builders was the worst and that he is not alone. Is there any episode no one thinks is the best one? I can’t believe anyone(except John Cleese) could think Gourmet Night is the best. Does anyone? ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/39 "2017-12-21T14:37:20Z")
I think Waldorf Salad is my least favorite, but Gourmet Night is close. my favorite by far is Communication Problems. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862/40 "2017-12-21T14:45:21Z")
Bruce Boa was one of the two all-purpose-American actors in Britain in the 1970s (the other was Ed Bishop). If you wanted a convincing American, but you couldn’t afford a Hollywood name, you hired one (or both) of these two, and they cropped up again and again. And, yes, he was actually Canadian, but we can’t tell the difference. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-fawlty-towers-episode/804862.md?page=3)