Fawlty Towers 1x6 REACTION!! "The Germans"
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ต.ค. 2024
- Eric Calvin and Rick react to and discuss season 1 episode 6 of the 1975 British sitcom Fawlty Towers - The Germans - #fawltytowers #bbc #johncleese
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The pause on releasing reactions to content struck by SAG-AFTRA is still in effect. The content featured in this post, according to our research, does not fall under any of the struck categories issued by SAG.
This video was published during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, this episode of Fawlty Towers being covered here wouldn't exist. #SAGAFTRAstrike #SAGAFTRAstrong
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Are you guys going straight into season 2?
I absolutely support the SAG-AFTRA strikes. I hope that it ends in success for those actors and everyone else involved against the studios and producers. The film industry and everyone who keeps it alive as an art form deserves better and hopefully they'll soon have it ❤
@@jerryhayes9497yes
It’s a British show dudes. It’s impossible for it to have anything to do with SAG. You don’t need to ‘do research’. You just need to understand that the USA is not the world.
@@MrChiddler This is posted onto each of their mid-strike reaction videos, it's not been written specifically about the UK tellybox shows.
"You started it" is possibly the greatest set-up and punchline of any comedy ever.
"Yes you did you invaded Poland!"
Apart from the perfectly square piece of dirt on the window in Father Ted…
@@stickytapenrust6869good call, utterly hilarious every single time
And of course 'don't tell him Pike'
@@mfrost71w Your name will ALSO go on ze list!
“DON’T MENTION THE WAR”
Speaking of a war with the Germans, I do lend my voice to those saying the group should react to all seasons of Blackadder
Maybe not the first season...
At least the last two seasons those are the elite ones in my opinion
I think you could start with season 2, it has good moments
especially the last episode, gutting.
And he mentions the war like 20 times 🤣
This episode is 48 years old but was made just 30 years after the end of WW2. It's quite extraordinary how time flies.
And 'the War' was very much still in living memory then, too.
Tell me about it, whooooshhh.....that's your youth gone!
@@dwaynedibley3529nope! The first episode of Fawlty Towers was recorded in 1974 as a pilot with the rest of the series recorded in 1975 and broadcast between 75-79 the very last episode was aired 25th October 1979.The TV series Porridge also began in 1974 5th September and ran until 1977 with the pilot in 1973 Fawlty Towers had 2 series with porridge 3 series.
@@dwaynedibley3529 I also mourn the death of literacy levels in this country.
@@dwaynedibley3529 It didn't, but it changed, as it has always done!
John Cleese has talked about visiting a German hotel restaurant after this episode aired there and being a little worried about how the Germans would treat him, as soon as he walked in nearly every German there said in loud voices "don't mention the war" (who said Germans have no sense of humour).
yes I read that too
that is gold.From my limited experience with Germans,pretty cool people.
normal people have humour , its the mega billion advertising companies who control our media who dont
German humour is usually no laughing matter
Brave of Eric to take a drink of water during the 'Don't mention the war' table scene. That could have ended in disaster!
Absolutely agree, drinking or eating whilst watching any of the twelve episodes could cause disaster.
I was part of the audience for this one, and the whole fire scene was shot in a separate section at the back of the set. We the audience could only see it via the monitors. "Here, who's this then?!" He had to take that twice, but the audience (myself included) were screaming with laughter. I'm so glad I witnessed that live. lol
Wow, you were lucky. Greatest comedy episode in TV history.
Amazing. You were part of TV history!
@@IJBLondon lol :)
Well, maybe not the first season.
You lucky bastard
My favorite episode of the show. That German walk is the funniest physical gag in the series. John Cleese said that Basil's reaction to the doctor was a nod to W.C. Fields' similar reaction in 'The Bank Dick.' Also, that "Yes you did, you invaded Poland" line cracks me up every time.
Agreed
Interesting.
Best line ever.
same, by far my favorite episode, I end up in tears from laughter every time and I've watched it dozens of times.
When I was 7 years old (with very limited knowledge of European history), I thought it would be hilarious to re-enact Basil's "funny walk" in the school cafeteria. Set the world record for fastest parent/teacher conference that day.
Thing is the "funny walk" is actually just *THE* funny walk from the Monty Python sketch with the added hand gesture.
Andrew Sachs, the late British actor who played Manuel, did indeed sustain some burns during the filming of the fire scene. He was permanently physically scarred as a result. A great reaction guys, as always, and I'm looking forward to watching Season 2 again with you!
It may interest you to know that John Cleese, after nearly 50 years, has decided to write a *new* series of Fawlty Towers. Everybody in the UK thinks this is a terrible idea, because how can he recreate the magic? The strength of the original Fawlty Towers lay in its ensemble acting. Only three of the original cast survive: Cleese himself, Connie Booth (Polly), with whom he wrote the series and who he was married to at the time but got divorced from not long afterwards, and the wonderful Prunella Scales (Sybil) who now suffers, sadly, from Alzheimer's. So only Cleese himself from the original cast will be in any remake.
I don't for a moment believe that Cleese has lost any of his comedic edge in his writing, but I think it would be a grave error to reprise his role. You cannot exceed perfection. I am quite happy to be proved wrong, though!
@@SpaceOdditiesLiveApparently,it is set in the Caribbean and his real life daughter is in it with him?
Now,a pupil only has to say there are only male and female and they call an emergency crisis meeting😱🤕🤬🙉
I believe that! I can just imagine your parents' faces. 😂
We don't have moose in England, no. There's not enough square footage for them, we'd have to move the furniture.
Two hooves would always be in the ocean.
I'm sorry, but I'm not moving my furniture for any old moose. Where would my elephants sit?
😂😂😂😂!
A moose bit my sister once.
@@TheDunnDusted🤣😂🤣😂
"I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it" is the moment you can tell that Basil has finally flipped.
The reaction to the doctor was because in at that time the UK was over 97% white. Ethnic minorities in any number would be almost solely in London or Birmingham. Someone not white in someplace like Torquay would have been very noticeable. He wasn't being racist, just caught off guard. Like if someone were in the Congo, stepped out of a hospital room, and a Chinese doctor approached.
Another comment said: John Cleese said that Basil's reaction to the doctor was a nod to W.C. Fields' similar reaction in 'The Bank Dick.'
Being caught off guard and reacting in that way is most definitely racist whether you want to call it racist or not. Obviously it was a different time, but Basil isn't supposed to be a hero anyway - he's absolutely an anti-hero and definitely racist, xenophobic and all the rest of it (I mean the whole point of the episode is about his xenophobia towards the Germans - I don't think it's an accident that it's in the same episode as a black doctor).
@@MarkWardReacts in a sense it's a joke that's mutated with time; as we're more and more removed from 1975, Basil's reaction to the doctor takes on a new meaning as something that today is no big deal frightens and confuses this dinosaur.
@@christopherwall2121 yeah fair. But in the context of today Basil is most definitely a racist. Which doesn’t make him less racist in the 1970s - it just means less people would have CALLED it racist then.
@@MarkWardReactsI think a lack of exposure to multi-cultures doesn't mean necessarily racism.
The silly walk was a homage to the famous Monty Python sketch- “The Ministry of Silly Walks”
Slight, but also imho just borne out of the fact that Cleese has such a perfect frame for doing silly walks.
The ministry of silly walks came into my mind straight away and with those long legs he nails it perfectly, never gets old lol
@@Tao_TologyPeople had been begging him to do it for 5 years after Python ended.......he finally did it in 1975.
There have been scientific papers published on how silly walks are now.😊
The "Oval" reference is a Cricket one: basically, England playing India at the Oval, a Cricket ground!
That's right. It's a cricket ground in London.
Kennington Oval, SE11.
My sister lived in the flats on the right.
Thank you so much for explaining that, I've watched this show for years and that's one of the few references I've never understood
In response to the George Floyd protests, UKTV pulled this episode from syndication, due to the Major’s racist tirade. However, when John Cleese himself criticised this move (citing that the Major's casual racism is being mocked rather than endorsed), they reinstated it, with a Content Warning at the start.
Though Cleese himself has also been a huge anti-immigrant asshole in recent years, so he's not really one to talk.
for about 15 years an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation wasn't shown on British television because there was a line about Ireland being unified by the 2020s, the decision was rescinded in 2007.
It was only off for a day. I doubt that Cleese had any impact on the decision.
@@Rmlohner No he hasn't, he just said that London isn't British anymore because less than 50% of it's population is British making him correct. A bunch of lefties got their knickers in a twist about that statement because apparently you aren't allowed to point that out.
@@alexfielding7191he pointed it out because clearly he had a problem with it
Watching Rick absolutely lose his mind is the best part of this 😂
Is Rick the one in red? Everybody needs a Rick!
Something thay often gets overlooked in this episode is when Basil says "Well, obviously if there was a fire you'd all be standing down here in the lobby like this!", then there was an actual fire and they were indeed all standing in the lobby at the time!
As a German, this episode is one of the funniest shit I've ever seen
Well even the Germans don't like the Nazis.
We won because we laughed most of the time, British ability to laugh in the face of danger was our special ability maxxed out. Now time for tea and biscuits what not old chap.
Scot here. "However did they win?" is my favourite line of the whole episode. 🤣
The recurring gags with the phone throughout the series are some of my favourite bits. From the lengthy pause..."go away." to using it to break the glass and thanking the caller, they're all so funny.
Couldn't agree more! The long pause and "go away" is so underrated 😂
The point was even in 1975 both the Major and Fawlty were seen as purposely outdated, snobbish characters still clinging on to the idea of Empire. They represented the parents and grandparents of people in the 70s.
who were absolutely wonderful people.
@@tekay44 and we’ve found the racist.
@@Myviewoftheworldful To be fair, even racists can be wonderful people... Just not necessarily to everyone lol.
@@Myviewoftheworldful And the kill joy, take your head out of your Postern Gate.
@@thomasmain5986 sorry racism boring you pal? You sad the old empire days are gone and now it’s your turn for your little inadequate island to be invaded
The racial terms were in common use at the time, despite being known to be offensive. They were slightly shocking to hear in FT, but it was clearly a parody of old Empire racists like the Major, and I don't recall a murmour of protest at the time. People saw it for what it was. Btw, "see India.......at The Oval" refers to The Oval Cricket Ground in London.
Yes, it’s definitely important to note that those words WERE considered offensive at the time, just probably not to quite the same extent that we consider them to be today, especially in the UK when compared to the US. It’s very much meant to paint the Major as an old man used to throwing around racist epitaphs and not seeing any issue with it, and the conversation definitely makes the only-slightly-more-modern Basil feel uncomfortable because he KNOWS he shouldn’t be saying them. Kinda like SNL’s Drunk Uncle or Catherine Tate’s Nan, only using terms that weren’t quite yet considered so abhorrent that they shouldn’t be used at all.
This first aired about the same time “All in the Family” was in America.
Archie Bunker was saying much of the same thing.
"Don't mention the war" became a catchphrase this side of the world, referring to any topic that could be controversial :)
This moment with John Cleese doing the German walk got voted the most iconic and funniest British comedy moments of all time. Everyone who is into the UK comedy knows or has grown with the “don’t mention the war!” And that walk 😅
I object on the grounds that another moment also got voted the funniest Brtisih TV moment, namely Delboy and Rodney doing a Batman ;) And I stand by that as the funniest moment in television.
'Brace yourself Rodney' @@BritBox777
Aw man, I've been waiting for this episode since the moment you announced the series. It's probably one of the funniest things I've ever watched in over 45 years.
I highly recommend watching "Keeping Up Appearances". Great series and always a good laugh
It's pronounced Bouquet... A classic ^_^;;
"Don't mention the war! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it!"
That was my Dad's favorite line. He'd quote it all the time (along with "You started it! ...yes you did, you invaded Poland!")
My dad's the one who introduced me to Fawlty Towers (as well as other awesome British things like Red Dwarf and Doctor Who).
Watching you guys react to this is bringing back so many good memories. Thank you.
Mine too. I watched it repeatedly as a kid and I haven't seen it in 30+ years but immediately the cadence of the dialogue and my fav lines come out of my mouth subconsciously as soon as I rewatch these reactions!
"don't mention the war" is a famous line in UK and the table scene is iconic in the UK
Growing up in the UK I had a bath robe with "Don't Mention the War" on it, and I didn't understand why until later.
The BBC in the 70s weren’t afraid to put people in risky situations. Micheal Crawford did a lot of dangerous stunts for “Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em”.
Six episodes down and you're officially HALF WAY through Fawlty Towers. Season 2 has some of my favourite episodes of TV ever, cannot wait to watch them back with y'all.
Mrs Richards 😂
@@jonnyl4273That’s Mrs Alice Richards, to you!
“I wish you were a mouse …” 😂 The great Joan Sanderson.
I'm just waiting for the Horse episode.
@@snoshio6043 I know nothing.
The Major is a drinker, but is also a touch senile, difficult to say where one ends and the other begins.
Plus, given the lack of knowledge (or, frankly, much interest) in PTSD back then there were more than a few ex-servicemen who were living with disconnections from the world around them.
The cliche of the 'drunk, barmy old major' exists for a reason.
@@Tao_Tology you can add that often soldiers who went out to the Tropics picked up heat stroke and any number of diseases that were thought to cause psychological issues “heat-addled”. My Uncle contracted cerebral malaria in Africa and was lucky not to have had any long-term effects. He was in hospital for months though.
@@Tao_Tology It's the 70's were also a time when the old "majors" would have served in the empire, not in the later commonwealth, so still think in terms of what they grew up with. It was colonies, not countries. It was remarkable racial and class divide. The Major lost touch with the changing world.
@@vapoet By mid morning he had lost touch with the modern world. 🍷🥃
A bit demented person from the upper middle class, which makes him respected.
Andrew Sachs who played Manuel, was chemically burnt in that scene, the smoke coming from his jacket was a chemical, and after 3 takes it started to seep through the protection.
Japanese , because it seemed full of electronics , which the Japanese do ( did ) quite well.
I swear, the number of times now the comments section has made sense of jokes I just ignored as a child because I thought it was random...
I don't think the Major is perpetually drunk, although he's happy enough to have a glass or two of wine. To me he's simply experiencing age-related dementia, and maybe some level of PTSD from whatever military experiences he went through.
For the fire scene, Andrew Sachs had special gloves that could do showy burning like that while keeping his arms relatively safe. Unfortunately, his forearms still ended up severely discolored and tender, and to make things worse, at the same time he was doing a slapstick play that involved catching a bunch of books being thrown at him.
That poor man..Cleese wasn't gentle with belting him with a frying pan either!
This is the one I’ve been waiting for and I was in no wise disappointed. The first time I saw the German episode I laughed so hard I almost passed out. I literally couldn’t breathe. It’s the Mount Everest of British comedy.
agreed
Love watching Eric change colour throughout the reaction.... Gets redder and redder! 😂 😂
This episode did get banned a few years ago but John Cleese fought for it and they brought it back with a warning at the start of it. As for the Majors comments Cleese said ‘The Major was an old fossil left over from decades before. We were not supporting his views, we were making fun of them. If they can’t see that, if people are too stupid to see that, what can one say?’
It was never banned, it was just removed and edited to remove the racist slurs of the Major, so whenever it's shown on TV now or on-demand, that brief scene with the Major is cut out. If you want to see the full, unedited version invest in the DVD or Blu-ray.
Im almost 40. My dad, a Swedish man with, as far as I can remember, never been a "watch TV/movies" kind of guy if its not sports. He says "Dont mention the War" and "Que?" on a DAILY basis to this day.
When I went to Southampton University in 1983, the computer club had made their own machine based on a TMS9900 processor, and were demonstrating it at a clubs and societies event. The machine code monitor they'd written for it had a single syntax error message to cover all eventualities. "QUE?"
When the colonel says: "I must've been keen on her, I took her to see India..... at the Oval" obviously went over your radar. Made me laugh my head off! The Oval is a cricket ground, and India is among England's cricket rivals. He didn't take her to India, just to a bloody cricket game
The major reacting to the moose head 'talking' to him is one of my absolute favourite bits of comedy
For the scene, where Manuel comes out of the burning kitchen, two chemicals were added onto Andrew Sachs's costume to create, but unbeknownst to everyone, they leaked right through his clothing and he did indeed unfortunately suffer second degree burns on his arm and back, albeit by accident.
The episode in general was probably the most daring script that Cleese and Booth have ever written. And I think nowadays, British sitcoms are more careful about these subjects. But sometimes you still have great gems making like for instance Not Going Out, a sitcom with actor and comedian Lee Mack.
That flare in the fire scene is a side effect of the tube cameras used back in the day. It would usually surface whenever there was either no way to avoid it in a production, sometimes embraced as a creative production effect or more commonly during live performances where it couldn't be avoided. The Live Aid concert is a good example of a broadcast falling victim to the limitation.
We all knew this episode was coming 😂
In the seventies ,all studio footage was shot onto wide video tape and the outdoor scenes shot on 16mm film which is how Fawlty Towers was shot. The BBC purchased a couple of outdoor video tape cameras in the mid seventies and were only used on high volume outdoor filming , the first series being Survivors in 1975 which gave it that 'live' feel
When I was at school. Our teacher used to show episode like this and Harry Enfield stuff to both laugh at and show the stupidity of racism/sexism etc. Because she always said the best way to defeat hate is to laugh at it. Hate then has no power of you and fades away.
People use the word racist as a weapon,but that weapon has lost its power nobody cares about it anymore
“Yes, you did! You invaded Poland!” was one of the elegant punchlines I’ve ever seen in a sitcom. I never saw it coming.
the fact that this episode reaction comes out on the same day as the reaction to the community episode featuring the germans... what timing
This is my favorite episode of all time. The sheer chaos and mayhem just never stopped.
If you liked this then you would definitely like the movie called 'A Fish Called Wanda!' It stars John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline. It's very funny.
It's excellent.I thought Kline was absolutely superb as the psychotic Yank.
For some reason one of my fav line readings as a kid is the way the posh lady says "A semitone?" in response to Basil arguing the difference between the two alarms. That whole scene is perfection and ending with: fire... ffffffffffffire. FIRE!
The dinner scene is probably one of the best comedic scenes ever written
This show always feels like it has far more episodes than it does, because each episode packs so much humour into it.
By the way the artifact you see from the fire are actually because it was shot on video and at the time video cameras had tube sensors and extreme bright lights would imprint on the tube for a moment. You see the same thing in things like old concert footage when the camera points at stage lights like in the Live Aid from 1985.
Yes. But film used for exteriors.
This is the one I was waiting for. First time I watched this, about 42 years ago, I fell off my chair laughing. So amazing to watch you guys watching this!!
Considered in many publications as one of the greatest episodes of television of all time. Definitely one of the funniest.
These past two episodes, I never laughed as hard in my life. I almost had an asthma attack the first time I watched it with my folks.
Keep it up, gents. It only gets more chaotic.
I feel like if you added Andre Braugher to Fawlty Towers, Rick would genuinely explode.
Elk and moose (Alces alces) is the same animal and you can find them in the entire northern hemisphere but not in the UK. We have like 300k of them in Sweden.
It's called moose in NA because that word is derived from some indigenous language. It's the same thing with caribou and reindeer.
The really confusing part is that the word Elk in NA refers to a different kind of deer also called the Wapiti which is more closely related to red deer.
EDIT: Stag is not an animal in that sense but an adult male red deer. ;)
Well, I was going to correct you that the NA and Asian elk are not moose, but you already went and corrected yourself. It can get a bit confusing since explorers/settlers kept using Old World names for different animals over here. Of course, they couldn’t just consult the taxonomic nomenclature back then. 😄
John Cleese was once hired by the German embassy to be the spokesman for an essay contest in the uk where students had to submit an essay about Germany but not about the war.
One of the most iconic moments in the show is the Fawlty silly walk, a brilliant tribute to Cleese's Monty Python days, still funny as hell to this day!😅
0:52 BTW over here in the UK, you can easily get to Northwick Park via the Metropolitan Line train on the London Underground.
He had to get a hip replacement later
Love your work kind regards Adam from Tasmania, Australia
The major thought the moose head was Japanese because "it talked". He thought it was electronic.
The actor who played Major was in National Lampoon European vacation and basically played the major
Greatest episode of any comedy ever. Nothing even gets close to this episode
I will never forget a few months after seeing this episode as a young teenager. My dad and I where skiing at our local mountain in Canada, and a couple gets onto the chair lift with us and spark up a conversation. They clearly have European accents so my dad asks where they are from, and they say "Germany, here on vacation." and my dad leans over and whispers to me "Don't mention the war"
Took everything I had to keep from bursting out laughing until I got off the chairlift.
Best episode of best comedy ever. Yes you did, you invaded Poland!! All time classic
16:40 - those artefacts (“comet tailing”) were common to all TV cameras of all broadcasters made before the early 1990s as they used pickup tubes as image sensors instead a of CCD or CMOS chips.
Nothing to do with “being in the crystal of the film” or anything, it’s the photoconductive layer in the camera tubes being slow to react to a reduction in light in any part of the picture, so the head amplifier of the camera reads the decaying electric charge as “light”. In that example, the effect was seen in the red and green tubes, hence the red and green “blob” effect as the flames move about.
The Greatest 30 Minutes of TV comedy ever..........
when he said he took her to the oval to see indian he was referring to a game of cricket! the oval is a cricket ground
One of my favourite jokes ever. Our friend group quotes it all the time, but could see why other nations would miss it
Also the moose was a go-to comedy animal for (John Cleese's) Monty Python. Watch the opening credits to Monty Python and the Holy Grail and you will learn much about it.
Mynd you, moose bites kan be pretti nasti
These reactions are hilarious af Eric laughing so hard he’s red in the face, Rick just can’t contain himself and Calvin bursting with laughter too , that’s what it’s all about have a few laughs or in this case a lot of laughs
I spoke to a German friend of mine some years ago about this show. He loved Fawlty Towers and said it was dubbed into German in his home country. A few of us joked about “don’t mention the war” and my friend looked oddly at us. It took us a while of doing this before we discovered that in Germany, for understandable reasons, this episode was not shown in the series!
Our friend remarked that British TV was obsessed by WWII and he was amazed how much it was referenced in British TV. I’m not sure it is quite as obsessed nowadays though.
I showed it to a German friend of mine very nervously. He nearly pulled a muscle laughing
> I’m not sure it is quite as obsessed nowadays though.
British TV, no. A certain subset of the British population... Oh god.
he is whistling past the graveyard. he's not amazed he doesn't want to hear it.
Bcas Germany thinks they can just forget the atrocities they caused.
Given that WWII was such a pivotal and existential event for the world - and the UK and Germany especially - how the heck can anyone claim that the resulting references to it in popular culture are 'obsessive'?
One of if not the most iconic moments in British television
"Don't mention the War" is one of those quotes that makes it into daily vocabulary for me.
The Major lives in his world which makes him happy which is a good thing
Carry on Rick! I’m enjoying every moment of these reactions 😂
Thank you for sharing that episode with us . Just what we need , a bloody good laugh . Brilliant comedy writing and acting .
Eric looked physically exhausted at the end of the episode! Can’t for the reaction to ‘Communication Problems’
All these years later "don't mention the war" is still used in English conversation.
I just got home from work, I'm several coke and whiskey cans deep, and absolutely ready for you guys to react to one of my favourite episodes of one of my favourite sitcoms.
Let's fucking goooo
I love how the guy on the left turns so red from laughing.
Bison were recently reintroduced into the UK.
Learnt recently that Basil Fawlty is based on a real person who owned a hotel in Torquay. John Cleese and the other Pythons were staying there. The others left after a couple of nights because the man was so rude, but John Cleese stayed because he was fascinated by the man. I wonder if the real hotel owner ever put two-and-two together.
His widow tried to sue the BBC for defamation, only for a ton of former customers to come out of the woodwork to testify that if anything, the show was too nice to him.
I thought it was himself and Connie stayed there
That guy was called Donald Sinclair which is John Cleese's character's name in Rat Race
@@peadarruane6582 All of Monty Python. Sinclair was especially nasty to Terry Gilliam for being American.
@@Rmlohner If I recall correctly, Basil’s actions in the Waldorf salad episode are directly taken from Sinclair’s treatment of Terry Gilliam
I like the way you guys have to take a breather after that episode!
Thanks for reacting to this series, brilliant
I never thought of the Major as being drunk. I always thought he was simply insane (possibly combined with a severe case of dementia)
He's implied to be a bit of a drunk throughout the series, with him showing up the moment the bar is open
The Major loves his brandy/whisky, and can't wait for the bar to open. Basil actually refers to him in one episode as a "drunken old sod".
Probably a bit of both drunkenness and dementia.
He's definitely intended to be a bit demented too. Living in a hotel is actually a reasonable step for someone who can't look after themselves too well any more.
@@jabberwock95 He's living in a hotel because he can afford to. He's on a Major's pension and, judging by his accent, he was already comfortably middle-class/lower upper-class before he joined the Army. If I had his kind of money and background, I think I'd prefer staying in a hotel than an old people's home, too.
When you see the Major, remember he’s in his 70s and this is 1975. He might be old enough to have fought in World War One. He’s not a baby boomer; he would be the grandfather of baby boomers. This is not to excuse his attitudes; it’s to show that they are old-fashioned even by Fawlty’s standards, and *very* old-fashioned by ours.
My grandads favourite episode RIP Grandad ❤
This episode is often considered the best because it's so densely packed with memorable scenes and is possibly why people remember there being more than 12 episodes: the ingrowing toenail, the moose's head, the fire drill, the burglar alarm, the concussion, several scenes with German visitors, the nazi walk, etc.
Welcome to an all time classic of British Comedy. Enjoy!
“You started it……”
PERFECTION! ❤
Often regarded as the best fawlty towers episode of all time. There are some episodes of series 2 i am so looking forward to seeing you react to🤣
Perfect! I knew the BBC wouldn't let me down. It's important not to censor, but to show the bigoted attitudes of that time. Of course the Major had deep-seated prejudices like that. John Cleese's portrayal of a concussed Basil was masterful.❤
I was in junior high and high school in the 70s and I love shows like this and Monty Python, I got to see them on our PBS channel
Watched this show on PBS.back in the day . All these years later I still find it funny!
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say I've seen this episode 30+ times. And the "you started it" joke never ever stops being funny.
Fun fact- you might recognise the tall deep voiced woman who argues with him over the fire drill as one of the dancers in Jabba's palace- Yarna d'al' Gargan
Watched this forty years ago. They would never allow this on TV today. Legendary!
It's still shown on TV today.
what a joy to watch 3 guys just laugh . no different to me sitting with the family back in the 70s whatching it for the first time.. welcome to the club guys :)
I use the hanging of the moose head as a reference often with my partner, when she interrupts me, to see if I am doing the task that I have stopped doing in order to tell her I was in the processes of doing it.
Now when she does that I just say, moose head and she gets the point 😆