Fawlty Towers

[matticus]

This just sounds like a reboot of one foot in the grave

You beat me to it!

 

[captain nemo1701]

And if the do make a new series, perhaps that where it should be shown.

It sounds very much just like him wanting a huge whinge about modern life.

 

[a.twiddler]

Fawlty Towers was good of its time, John Cleese was the right person for it then. Like a lot of comedy of the time, it still can make you laugh, but a lot of the assumptions and things taken for granted are no longer valid, and society has moved on, to the point that some shows are no longer aired because they just make you cringe. I would hope that in trying to warm over this old idea, that they don't drag the original Fawlty Towers into that category. There have been too many spin offs and follow ons that didn't capture the spirit of the original and bit the dust. Don't let this be one of them.

 

[stephec]

Wasn't it Cleese himself who said that you should go out at the top and leave them wanting more, and that two series was about the right amount?

I'm sure he said that whilst talking about Fawlty Towers many years ago.

 

[marzjennings]

This just sounds like a reboot of one foot in the grave.

Agreed, plus a bit of 'Till Death Do Us Do Part' thrown in for good measure.

 

[matticus]

There have been too many spin offs and follow ons that didn't capture the spirit of the original and bit the dust. Don't let this be one of them.

It might be the new Frasier!

But I'm not optimistic ...

 

[cyberknight]

never found fawlty towers funny the 1st time around tbh

 

[presta]

repeating such an iconic show is always setting yourself up for failure

This. I always steer well clear of the past, because attempts to re-live it end in disappointment, and then spoil the memories.

The re-runs of old series never live up to expectations, because memory is selective, and you only remember the good bits. Top of the Pops is a good example, TOTP2 works well because it's a cherry-picked compilation of classics, like your memory, but the regular shows remind me that you're lucky to get one good song per episode, whilst the rest is long-forgotten dross.

 

[Ian H]

I saw odd bits of the original. It seemed to be mildly irritating slapstick with an occasional joke thrown in.

 

[cougie uk]

It might be the new Frasier!

But I'm not optimistic ...

Isn't the new Frasier the new Frasier?
They are doing a new series of that.

 

[ColinJ]

Isn't the new Frasier the new Frasier?
They are doing a new series of that.

I took that to be an example of a follow-on/spin-off*** show that was as good as or even better than the original?

*** From Cheers

 

[Dayvo]

The proof of the pudding…

…wear it!?
🧢

 

[matticus]

I took that to be an example of a follow-on/spin-off*** show that was as good as or even better than the original?

*** From Cheers

Yes exactly. (But @cougie uk , thankyou, I'd forgotten there was talk of a Frasier remake.Can't say I'm optimistic about that, either! There was a brief flurry of controvery over Nicholas Lyndhurst being in it, which seems odd given his star role in perhaps the UK's most succesful sitcom ever.)

 

[Oldhippy]

No! That kind of brilliance is a one off.

 

[markemark]

Sadly John Cleese has turned into an angry old man shouting at passing cars. He spends his days on GB News etc moaning about woke and cancel culture to a tiny minority. I can only see this as his desperate attempt to moan to a larger audience under the guise of a hotel manger so he can be rude about people he doesn't like in real life.