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Basil Fawlty ist ein gestresster Hotelmanager, dessen Leben durch seine ständig nörgelnde Frau, Wirtschaftskontrolleure, Erpressungsversuche oder tote Gäste gestört wird. Er ist hypernervös, überreizt, arrogant und sadistisch. Sybil ist seine bissige Ehefrau. Ihr berühmter Schrei Basil! treibt Basil ständig auf die Palme, ebenso wie das klagende Que? des spanischen Trainee-Kellners Manuel. Das Zimmermädchen Polly dagegen ist charmant, ruhig und kompetent - also eigentlich völlig fehl am Platze. (Verleiher-Text)
(mehr)Nutzerkritik Necrotongue zur diesen Serie (15)
Fawlty Towers (1975)
Admittedly, John Cleese was trying a little too hard at times (and I say that as a big fan of his) and some scenes were forcefully funny, but the result was simply excellent. Fawlty Towers and Blackadder are, along with Red Dwarf and IT Crowd, my favorite British sitcoms, and Basil Fawlty comes second in the competition for the worst hotel owner. First place, of course, goes to Norman Bates.
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Season 1 (1975) (S01)
The first season of Fawlty Towers introduced me to Basil Fawlty, a slimy small-town guy for whom an encounter with hotel guests is an excruciating ordeal. Unless they are aristocrats or particularly important individuals, then Basil turns into a butt-kisser who tries to ingratiate himself at any cost. Anytime Basil gets too confident, he is consistently put down by his wife Sibyl, he is undermined by being misunderstood by Manuel, who, though he speaks no English, makes up for it by being from Barcelona, and he is ignored by Polly, an amateur artist who, when in need, does not hesitate to turn to the person who has the final say in the hotel. Especially in the early episodes, I felt as if John Cleese was slightly overacting to always be in the spotlight, but things eventually evened out, all the characters were given space, and especially Andrew Sachs as Manuel was excellent.
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Ein Hauch von Klasse (1975) (S01E01)
In the first episode, I met the perfectly repulsive person Basil Fawlty, who decided to run a hotel despite considering hotel guests (right after his wife) as one of the greatest misfortunes in life, unless they belong to the upper class. In that case, he transforms from a repulsive boor into a repulsive anal alpinist. John Cleese, of course, effortlessly embodies both positions, but it seemed to me that he occasionally pushed it too far and overacted. Among the other characters, I was most impressed by Manuel, who was strongly limited by the language barrier but managed to save everything with his unwavering enthusiasm.
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Baumaßnahmen (1975) (S01E02)
I liked the second episode even more, Basil's effort to save as much as possible fascinated me and reminded me of a trip to the zoo led by Teacher Zelí. Manuel showed exactly as expected absolute incapability to solve anything, not to mention crisis situations, while Basil fearlessly managed to defend himself against his wife's commands until she raised an eyebrow as a warning.
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Die Hochzeitsfeier (1975) (S01E03)
In the third part, I definitely have to mention Manuel's performance while serving in the dining room with a heavy hangover. I was half dead with laughter when he finally collapsed. Another thing that I really enjoyed was Basil's desperate fight to maintain the hotel's dignity and later his own. I had a great time and Sibyl's laughter was just the cherry on top.
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Die Hotel-Tester (1975) (S01E04)
It wasn't bad at all, but the main plot was too clichéd, so it was clear from the beginning which direction the story would take, and for that reason, there was a lack of any surprising moment here; after all, I would have expected John Cleese to include something unpredictable in the script.
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Gourmet-Abend (1975) (S01E05)
In the introduction of the fifth episode, I was captivated by the educational lesson for Manuel, and later, while waiting for the duck, I was knocked out by the way Polly and Manuel entertained the guests. Olé!! I greatly enjoyed watching Basil's growing desperation, which beautifully culminated in the final, almost archaeological search for the main course, and the best line of the episode, in my opinion, is: "The duck went on vacation."
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Die Deutschen (1975) (S01E06)
In the sixth episode, I once again enjoyed Basil's ability to always stand up to his wife by mumbling just on the edge of audibility and his absolute inability to admit even the slightest mistake, why would he, when he had so many other people around him. The peak of his "abilities" was during the fire drill, when Manuel vainly tried to explain to him that there was fire in the kitchen. Basil's attempt to cheer up the Germans was almost deadly for me, and his march reminded me of the Goose Step.
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Season 2 (1979) (S02)
Despite a four-year hiatus, the second season picked up where the first one left off. The guests were so annoying this time that I actually sympathized with Basil despite all his faults. I especially enjoyed it when things got so critical that he even stood up to Sibyl without thinking of the consequences.
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Kommunikationsprobleme (1979) (S02E01)
The beginning of the second season was not bad, but it wasn't incredibly amazing either. The character of Mrs. Richardson is exactly the reason why I could never run a hotel, because next to me, Basil Fawlty would seem like an empathetic people lover. I have always admired employees in the service industry who can tolerate constant remarks from dull individuals without reaching for a knife or any other dull object.
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Der Psychiater (1979) (S02E02)
The second episode of the second season amused me very much. Once again, Basil decided to fight for decency to then appear as a perverse pig himself. His checks on walls and windows got me weak in the knees, just like Sybil's flirting with Mr. Johnson.
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Waldorfsalat (1979) (S02E03)
In the ninth episode, there was a direct clash of two cultures divided by the Atlantic. However, before that, I was entertained by a list of shortcomings in the hotel's dining room and the desperate inability of the guests to defend themselves. The best part was definitely Basil's final emotional outburst, during which the situation on the front line changed every moment.
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Räucherhering und eine Leiche (1979) (S02E04)
The more of Basil's guests I get to know, the more likable Basil becomes to me. That's why I highly appreciate Polly's revenge for the sneaky bite in the dining room. Excluding the main plot, I was greatly amused by the doctor's efforts to finally have his dreamed sausages for breakfast, as well as the totally mentally and physically exhausted Manuel.
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Der Hochzeitstag (1979) (S02E05)
This episode clearly proved that even the best intentions can get a person into huge problems and unsolvable situations, unless you are Basil Fawlty, who can find a complex solution even to a simple problem. But he will find it. Sometimes I even caught myself feeling sorry for that bastard.
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Basil die Ratte (1979) (S02E06)
Manuel and his rare Siberian hamster dominated the final part of the Hotellet, which had to face prejudice, lack of understanding, firearms, poisons, and intolerance. Since I no longer visit restaurants, I allowed myself to be entertained by the situation surrounding the preparation of the perfect piece of veal. I was truly fascinated by the journey that a slice of meat sometimes has to undergo before finally reaching the plate.
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