"Is it Basil Fawlty?" So said Wade Wilson, soon to become Deadpool, as he teased the villain Ajax about his real name. How could a modern superhero make references to a British TV show that aired for a scant 12 episodes in the mid-1970s? The answer is that Fawlty Towers is just that good. Starring and partly written by the talented John Cleese, the most famous face of the Monty Python comedy troupe, this vintage sitcom is some of the best television in existence.
Fawlty Towers is a classic British comedy and it's always included in vintage collections next to other famous shows of days past. No matter if you are a new fan or old, here are a few of the most highly rated episodes of Fawlty Towers.
Waldorf Salad - 8.5
The chef's got the night off, so Basil takes over in the kitchen. It's fairly obvious to see where this is going. Fawlty Towers wasn't known for its fantastic food anyway, and this comes to a dizzying peak when two American guests show up and start making rather complex demands. When they ask for a Waldorf Salad, Basil is totally clueless and tries to brush it off by saying that there are no more "waldorfs" left. There's definitely a cultural difference when it comes to service standards between the United States and England, and the satire and parody of both that make up this episode is nothing less than hysterical.
A Touch of Class - 8.6
Basil Fawlty isn't a very good judge of character, which is the source of a lot of his grief when it comes to dealing with the public. When a guest shows up claiming to be an aristocrat, Basil is enchanted and tolerates this eccentric person's strange behavior. The truth, however, is that this guest is a con-artist hoping to steal from the hotel, specifically a collection of rare coins.
Basil neglects his other guests in favor of the one he thinks is a "lord" and is only roused from his stupor when a police raid on the hotel ends with Lord Melbury getting arrested.
The Anniversary - 8.6
This bittersweet episode focuses on the Fawltys for a change, and it puts Basil in a better light than most of the others. The title refers to their wedding anniversary and Basil not only remembers but plans a secret party to celebrate. The jaded Sybil, however, takes it for granted that Basil just forgot, being that he's a jerk most of the time, and leaves in a huff before the guests can arrive. Basil tries to cover this up with his usual shenanigans, which blow up in his face as usual. Even when Basil tries to be nice, things go terribly wrong.
Gourmet Night - 8.9
Everything is going so well with the new cook at Fawlty Towers restaurant that Basil and Sybil decide to have a special event. Things take a turn for the worst starting with Basil's brilliant idea to specify "no riff-raff" in the advertisement for "Gourmet Night," which ensures that very few people show up. Then it's revealed that the new cook, Kurt, has a problem with alcohol and is too inebriated to prepare dinner. Basil scrambles to patch all of this up, which includes a frantic search for an alternative meal.
The Hotel Inspectors - 8.9
Basil makes an assumption about a demanding guest and then changes his mind, with a whole lot of drama at every turn. Mr. Hutchinson has a lot of strange demands and Basil thinks he's a hotel inspector, or a "secret shopper" to use the modern term. Basil sees to his every want, need, and desire while remaining his usual rude and overbearing self with other guests.
It wouldn't be Basil Fawlty without a serious mistake and the chaos that ensues, but anyone in the service industry understands how he feels. Basil isn't the most obnoxious character for a change, and everyone gets what they deserve by the end.
Basil the Rat - 9.0
Here we go, the old rat poison joke. It starts with a health inspection at the hotel restaurant that has less than stellar results, and the owners have 24 hours to clean the place up or the city will shut them down. Did we mention that Manuel has a pet rat, which he mistook for a hamster, that gets loose at the same time? The inspector returns to a scene of total chaos, which includes the recurring character of the Major hunting the rat with a shotgun as if it's a big game animal. This is the final episode in the series, so we never find out if Fawlty Towers passed the inspection or not.
The Psychiatrist - 9.1
As usual, Basil tries to take too much on and sticks his nose in where it doesn't belong. There's a popular young man staying at the hotel, and Basil becomes obsessed with proving that he's sneaking girls into his room for overnight stays. Of course, this is more about Basil protecting his profits than some sort of perversion, but of course, it doesn't look good.
Speaking of profits, this episode starts with Basil on a high note, excited about two doctors who have checked in as guests. One, however, is a psychiatrist, and the owner is understandably paranoid that the guest will analyze him and find more than a few issues, even though the doctor is very obviously off the clock.
The Kipper and the Corpse - 9.2
Finding a dead body in one of your rooms is every hotel owner's nightmare, and if you suspect that death had anything to do with something that happened at your hotel, the problem is even worse. Leave it to the writers of Fawlty Towers to make a joke out of this dire situation.
The title not only refers to the dearly departed guest but to the out-of-date kippers that Basil served him for breakfast, which the clumsy owner assumes was the cause of death. That's just Basil being paranoid, as the guest died in his sleep and the kippers didn't arrive until morning. However, the problem of removing the corpse from the hotel without alarming other guests is an additional problem. Of course, the Fawltys make an attempt, and hilarity ensues.
Communication Problems - 9.3
An aptly named episode about a guest who is hearing impaired and very demanding. While Mrs. Ricahrds is staying at Fawlty Towers everyone has to be on their toes, so you can imagine how this goes with awkward characters like Basil and Manuel. As usual, Basil has his own bit of trouble to deal with, this time with a bit of gambling. He bets on a horse knowing Sybil would be angry with him about it, so he struggles to keep this secret throughout the episode, even after he's won. This "found" money goes through a bit of an identity crisis before the episode comes to a conclusion.
The Germans - 9.3
"Don't mention the war!" A hysterical Basil repeats this phrase over and over again, pretty much every time he breaks his own rule and mentions the war. Granted, the blow to his head might have had something to do with that. Maybe Basil should have been the one in the hospital instead of Sybil. She can't even leave him alone long enough to get an ingrown toenail fixed.
As if a family of German tourists wasn't enough on his plate, Basil also has to hang a moose head and conduct the annual fire drill. Those endeavors don't go exactly as planned, either, and the results are hysterical. If you liked the "Ministry of Sillywalks" Monty Python skit, you won't be able to contain yourself when you see the now notorious "Hitler Goosestep" scene.