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March 29, 2024, 01:44:46 PM

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Revisiting Fawlty Towers.

Started by Dusty Substance, October 01, 2019, 11:28:32 PM

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TheMonk

Quote from: Spiny Norman on February 18, 2020, 04:24:14 PM
Snavely, the first attempt at a US Fawlty Towers. The pilot's finally turned up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxPUpq-vV54
Well I sat through that. What an odd, pointless exercise.
The grab bag of scenes from various episodes approach means it completely lacks the careful plotting that made Fawlty Towers good.
Some scenes are lifted almost wholesale but with worse performances and sloppy timing.
The set looks pretty close though. Bizarre.

PinkNoise

I'm still confused by that meta bit where Sabrina Franklyn and David Neville show up in Basil The Rat playing - almost, but not quite - their characters from Keep It In The Family. "He seemed more interested in my fioooonce's legs."

If Fawlty Towers had been made in 1969 rather than 1979, that part would have been played by Tim Brooke-Taylor, of course.

neveragain

Quote from: TheMonk on February 20, 2020, 01:05:11 PM
Well I sat through that. What an odd, pointless exercise.
The grab bag of scenes from various episodes approach means it completely lacks the careful plotting that made Fawlty Towers good.
Some scenes are lifted almost wholesale but with worse performances and sloppy timing.
The set looks pretty close though. Bizarre.

And they turned the Major into an ex-Chief of Police accused of rape!

Gurke and Hare

Quote from: TheMonk on February 20, 2020, 01:05:11 PM
The grab bag of scenes from various episodes approach means it completely lacks the careful plotting that made Fawlty Towers good.

It made it seem like what I imagine the Fawlty Towers dinner show to be like.

gilbertharding

Quote from: Spiny Norman on February 18, 2020, 04:24:14 PM
Snavely, the first attempt at a US Fawlty Towers. The pilot's finally turned up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxPUpq-vV54

*Gilbertharding mentions the US version of Fawlty Towers where the set was almost exactly the same but mirrored*

Caught Clockwise, the film, on Talking Pictures TV the other evening - a film apparently set in the Extended Fawlty Towers Universe. I think a few of the demented old ladies turn up in both. I could have sworn the 6th Form Girl's dad was Andrew Sachs, but it turned out to be Geoffrey Hutchings. And there's the BMC ADO16 playing a major comic role.

Replies From View

Quote from: TheMonk on February 20, 2020, 01:05:11 PM
Well I sat through that. What an odd, pointless exercise.
The grab bag of scenes from various episodes approach means it completely lacks the careful plotting that made Fawlty Towers good.
Some scenes are lifted almost wholesale but with worse performances and sloppy timing.
The set looks pretty close though. Bizarre.

It's little odd things as well like the "17" and arrow signs being written on both sides.  So the audience can see the joke, but it makes no sense within the reality of the hotel itself.

I remember reading years ago that they decided this pilot didn't work mainly because of their version of Basil Fawlty.  So when they next had a go at it, they dropped him - they dropped Basil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers because it was decided he wasn't working.  It seemed bonkers to read that at the time, but watching this pilot it's clear that he doesn't really bring anything to this one.  His performance is rubbish and the wife is in charge anyway.

Replies From View

In fact it is on the wikipedia page for the later American remake, Amanda's:

QuoteCleese, in a 2009 interview, described the occasion when American television producers spoke to him about their development of Amanda's:
QuoteThe most extraordinary remake was with Bea Arthur. I remember at a party I met these chaps from Viacom, who said they were working on a new Fawlty Towers. My ears pricked up at the sound of cash registers and said, "That's wonderful, are you going to change anything?" They said, "Well we have changed one thing, we've written Basil out". And that's absolutely true, they took Basil and Sybil's lines and gave them all to Bea Arthur.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda%27s

Spiny Norman

"They" only in a very general sense then - I don't see anyone who was involved creating Snavely recurring in Amanda's credits.

Gurke and Hare

Why did only half of The Golden Goyles get to do an American Fawlty Towers then?

Replies From View

Quote from: Gurke and Hare on February 22, 2020, 10:50:03 PM
Why did only half of The Golden Goyles get to do an American Fawlty Towers then?

Died.

Glebe

Been watching Tales of the Unexpected online, Topol-starring last ever episode 'Mr. Know-All' features Steve 'Kurt' Plytas (also features Eamonn Walker from In Sickness and in Health and there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-her appearance from Erika Hoffman, who played Anna in OFAH's 'From Prussia with Love').

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Glebe on March 16, 2020, 06:52:27 PM
Been watching Tales of the Unexpected online, Topol-starring last ever episode 'Mr. Know-All' features Steve 'Kurt' Plytas (also features Eamonn Walker from In Sickness and in Health and there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-her appearance from Erika Hoffman, who played Anna in OFAH's 'From Prussia with Love').

That version makes quite a few changes to the Maugham story, which is worth a read if you haven't haven't before.

Trio, one of three anthology films based on Maugham's short stories is also well worth watching; Nigel Patrick plays 'Mr Know-all' I think is remarkably unrecognisable. Also in Trio, is The Verger, which you would have seen in Tales!

gilbertharding

I thought Tales of the Unexpected was all Roald Dahl. Fuck my hat!

Glebe

Quote from: Ignatius_S on March 17, 2020, 02:49:03 PMThat version makes quite a few changes to the Maugham story, which is worth a read if you haven't haven't before.

Trio, one of three anthology films based on Maugham's short stories is also well worth watching; Nigel Patrick plays 'Mr Know-all' I think is remarkably unrecognisable. Also in Trio, is The Verger, which you would have seen in Tales!

Cheers for the info Ignatius... and, ooh, you've just reminded me, Bruce 'Harry Hamilton' Boa makes an appearance in 'The Verger' (which stars Richard Briars and Patricia Routledge)!

Quote from: gilbertharding on March 17, 2020, 03:02:53 PMI thought Tales of the Unexpected was all Roald Dahl. Fuck my hat!

It ran for nine series and only a few of the later ones are adapted from Dahl stories.

Spiny Norman

By the way the German Fawlty Towers was just the one pilot episode. It did get aired in 2000 but no more were ever made. Got this straight from its cast & crew.
Quote from: Glebe on March 17, 2020, 03:49:45 PMIt ran for nine series and only a few of the later ones are adapted from Dahl stories.
Isn't there a completely different Tales of the unexpected too?

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Glebe on March 17, 2020, 03:49:45 PM
Cheers for the info Ignatius... and, ooh, you've just reminded me, Bruce 'Harry Hamilton' Boa makes an appearance in 'The Verger' (which stars Richard Briars and Patricia Routledge)!...

Meant to tell you that Boa is in the cast of The Cricket Match, which is adapted from A G Macdonell's (brilliant) novel England their England - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493341/. There is very little information on IMDB about it, but Paul Shane was in it as the charabanc driver (Stephen Frears directed it and you probably know that he cast Shane in a few, incredibly received television plays) and Fulton Mackay narrated it. I think it was part of a sporting anthology. It must have been repeated as my dad taped it and we watched it a fair bit. Much later I read the book and the match section really conjured this adaptation in my mind. As mentioned the book is brilliant - a lovely satire of the interwar period and some of the characters were based on real people - such as JB Morton, who was a great friend and prove to have a far-reaching influence on English comedy.

Going back to Boa, he plays an American who doesn't quite understand the rules of cricket - when he bats, it's like he's playing baseball; after flinging the bat away, he runs in diagonals before stopping, thinking he's safe at a base, whilst everyone watches open-mouthed. When fielding and picks up the ball, he runs at one of the running batsmen and with a blood-curdling yell, throws the ball at him... it hits. It's a lovely little part and Boa plays it brilliantly.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Spiny Norman on August 23, 2021, 07:36:10 PM
By the way the German Fawlty Towers was just the one pilot episode. It did get aired in 2000 but no more were ever made. Got this straight from its cast & crew.Isn't there a completely different Tales of the unexpected too?

I think that's mentioned in the last documentary they did about FT - Cleese, IIRC, liked it a lot and thought it was a real shame there wasn't more made.

re: Tales of the Unexpected - yes, you're right, there was another show called that; an American one and was earlier that the one over here; it's not meant to be very good though.

It's sometimes compared to another anthology series from the 1970s, this time Australian, The Evil Touch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069580/. Anthony Quayle narrated and the likes of Vic Morrow, Darren McGavin, Leslie Nielsen and Kim Hunter. This one is very well-regarded and have seen one  or two episodes on YouTube and thought it was superior - don't think there's been a DVD release, but did find a company offering an unofficial version but a bit reluctant to take a punt.

Spiny Norman

Yes, but the sole youtube video SEEMS to contain a clip from a scene from another episode.

It's not impossible that unaired episodes might have been overlooked - except that in this case, they weren't, because they definitely don't exist.

In other words I double checked this and if we ever find #1 then we're done.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

I've only just got round to watching that unpaired pilot of " Snavely". As rubbish as the other posters have said, but wasn't it nice of them to give the waitress the name " Connie" ? A nice little joke later on in the show about how she doesn't want to go up to the surrogate Major character's room because he tried to rape her once  too.

Glebe

Thanks for the stuff about Bruce Boa, Ignatius!

Johnboy

This one popped into my head yesterday -

Sybil (on phone) : I know, I know.. I know.

Basil : Then why's she telling you then??