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Reviews
Fawlty Towers: The Hotel Inspectors (1975)
rating the episodes 1-12, this one ranks number 5!
In this episode, we really get to see how awful Basil Fawlty is. He is extremely rude to a guest called Mr. Hutchison, then he learns that some hotel inspectors are in town. Thinking that Hutchison might be an inspector, Basil begins treating him like royalty. Sybil eavesdrops on one of Hutchison's phone calls and learns his true profession: He is a cutlery salesman! When Sybil informs Basil of this, he goes back to treating Hutchison poorly. Another guest, Mr. Walt, also gets the usual Basil Fawlty treatment when he first arrives. When Basil believes he is the inspector, his behavior takes another 180 degree turn. A memorable scene in this episode has Basil attempting to uncork a bottle of wine with hilarious results. Want to know what Basil Fawlty is all about? Watch this episode!
Fawlty Towers: The Germans (1975)
rating the episodes from 1-12, this one ranks number 4!
This is the episode most people remember. And it is certainly one of the funniest in the series. Sybil is in the hospital for an operation, leaving Basil in charge of the hotel. Disaster strikes, of course, in the form of a moose's head falling on Basil. The next morning, the hotel is to conduct a routine fire drill, when an actual fire breaks out in the kitchen. Refusing to believe there is really a fire, Basil locks Manuel in the burning room. When he won't stop screaming and pounding on the door, Basil finally unlocks it and sees the blaze. After evacuating the guests for a second time, Basil goes for the fire extinguisher, which promptly explodes in his face. That lands him in the hospital with a concussion. Meanwhile, back at the hotel with Polly now at the helm, things are running very smoothly. That is until Basil unexpectedly shows up after bolting from the hospital. When he begins to interact with the German guests who have arrived, things really start to get funny, as he can't stop "mentioning the war." If you're looking for non-stop laughs, this episode certainly delivers!
Fawlty Towers: Gourmet Night (1975)
rating the episodes from 1-12, this one ranks number 7!
This episode is very well put-together, not to mention very funny. Basil, as he does in many of the episodes, tries to raise the stature of Fawlty Towers by staging a gourmet evening and turning away any so-called "riff-raff." So the big night arrives and Kurt, the chef, has decided to get very drunk. In a memorable sequence, Polly tries to tell Basil without saying the word "drunk." The fate of the evening now rests with Basil delivering the gourmet meal promised to the guests. He calls Andre, the owner of a restaurant in town, and asks for his help. But the only suitable dish he can offer is duck. When informed of the change in the menu, one of the guests asks "what do you do if you don't like duck?" Basil replies "well, if you don't like duck, you're rather stuck." The rest of the episode consists of the staff trying to make the evening go as smoothly as possible without letting on about the chaos in the kitchen. One of the best scenes in the whole series is when Basil beats his car with a tree branch after it stalls when he is on the way back to the hotel with the duck from Andre's.