# Why do Brits think Fawlty Towers was funnier than Monty Python? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070 "2003-06-15T19:30:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/21 "2003-06-16T12:53:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlstretchingtime \* > \*\*And people who are interested in computers and role playing games quote MP to bloody death. It saves them having a sense of humour (they have cartoon ties too) \*\* I completely agree with you but it’s funny hearing it from someone with your username. ---
**Author:** ![ace22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@ace22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ace22)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/22 "2003-06-16T16:14:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eonwe \* > **"I speak English, I learn it from a booook."** I love MP. I also love FT. I used to have several episodes on tape but I lost the tape… ☹ The scene that contains the above line was absolutely one of, if not **the** , funniest things I have ever seen on television. I know many people who would just be able to connect a lot more easily to Fawlty Towers than to Monty Python; MP just doesn’t make any sense to them, and they can’t see what the big deal is. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/23 "2003-06-16T17:36:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*That saved me a bit of typing. I owe you a pint, **Mahaloth** , and I promise it won’t be Watneys Red Barrel. Cool, can you send it to the U.S.? I live near Detroit. 🙂 Oh, btw, I prefer FT to MP as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/24 "2003-06-16T17:47:19Z")
Well I’m a Brit, and I found FT to be funny when first watched as a kid, but to me it ages much worse than MP. I find FT to be too predictable, lacking in subtlty, and not nearly as good to watch repeatedly. Admittedly MP sketches often fail, but I still enjoy watching MP whilst FT is just painful to watch these days. ---
**Author:** ![Profane\_Creation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Profane\_Creation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane_Creation)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/25 "2003-06-16T18:44:55Z")
I think Owlstretchingtime has a very good point. I remember years ago borrowing a couple of MP episode tapes from a friend and sitting down thinking “Man, I am gonna laugh my ass off.” Wow was I disappointed. Sure there were a few really good skits and quite a few decent ones, but at least 50% I just watched quietly - they did nothing for me. Even though I usually get the humor of MP, they just weren’t all that great. And I don’t think my high expectations were to blame. FT though, well, that is just the funniest show ever made. ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/26 "2003-06-16T18:58:56Z")
Fawlty Towers had the best comedic timing of anything I’ve ever seen on TV. And as we all know, comedy’s all in the timing. I love Monty Python, don’t get me wrong, but as others have pointed out, their “hit rate” really wasn’t that high - plenty of their skits just weren’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/27 "2003-06-16T19:07:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\*This American prefers Fawlty Towers. As someone said, the execution was brilliant. I believe that FT was the funniest thing ever on television. > > Haj \*\* I think as far as the overall quality of the finished product goes, FT is better. I prefer to have the humor just a bit understated, but with a grand slam at the end, like when Basil realizes that the real hotel inspectors have just witnessed him attacking the departing Mr. Hutchinson with pies. It’s much like the two Marx Bros. films that were produced by Thalberg, _A Night At The Opera_ and _A Day At The Races_. Those movies were a little less “zany”, but the plot lines hung together better than in the earlier films, and they’re generally considered to be a more satisfying product overall. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/28 "2003-06-17T08:08:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chappachula \* > \*\*A while back I saw a BBC interview with God himself,-- well, actually it was John Cleese. > > They spent (= wasted) the entire half hour reminiscing about Fawlty Towers, with only an occasional (almost accidental)reference to Monty Python.\*\* Whe shouldn’t Cleese talk about Fawlty Towers? Python was a group effort; there are four other guys still alive who could talk about it (though they’re probably as sick of discussing it as he); and, towards the end, he was growing dissatisfied with it and didn’t contribute much. Fawlty Towers was “his” show; whether you like the show or not, that’s what he apparently wanted to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/29 "2003-06-17T08:13:54Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s much like the two Marx Bros. films that were produced by Thalberg, _A Night At The Opera_ and _A Day At The Races_. Those movies were a little less “zany”, but the plot lines hung together better than in the earlier films, and they’re generally considered to be a more satisfying product overall. Quite well put. My favorite, and I’m not alone I’m sure, will always be _Duck Soup_ because it has the most great jokes. But _A Night at the Opera_ is the better movie in terms of moviemaking because it has better plotting and the musical sequences actually have something to do with the story for the one and only time. Although half of what makes _Duck Soup_ fun is that utter randomness. _Night_ is nearly as funny anyway; the classic bits are just as good. I never felt _Day at the Races_, despite a few very funny moments, was nearly on par with that pair, I’d put it behind _Animal Crackers_. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070/30 "2003-06-17T13:06:18Z")
Fawlty Towers touches on universal themes: many people identify with Basil’s frustration with the world, and there are lots of old British B&Bs/hotels that were really not that far from FT. Basil really exemplifies the traditional British attitude to serving the public (maybe Americans don’t have that experience). I think reasons like that explain why the show has more resonance for many people. Also, MP seems less popular with women than with men; women in the show are typically relegated to the role of bathing beauties. FT seems to have fans of both sexes in equal numbers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-brits-think-fawlty-towers-was-funnier-than-monty-python/182070.md?page=1)