Classic Comedies part 1

Every now and then I will post about some of my favourite comedies. For our first edition I will discuss one of my all time favourite TV shows, Faulty Towers. John Clease, coming off success in Monty Python, decided to start his own show, that he would co-write and co-star in with his wife.

They decide to set this TV show in a hotel, and have Clease play the rude and obnoxious owner. Connie Booth, his wife, would play the intelligent maid. Their other co-stars would be Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales, as the waiter who speaks very little English and Clease's nit-picking wife respectively.

These four actors and their guest stars managed to create one of the funniest things ever to air on television. In fact, in a list of the 100 greatest British Television programs it beats Dr. Who, Monty Python and the Flying Circus, and Yes Minister to come in No. 1.

Choosing the best episode of such a great series is very difficult, not only because only 12 episodes ever aired. The first few that jump to mind are Waldorf Salad, the Germans, Gourmet Night, Basil the Rat, and a Touch of Class. Like Monty Python, Faulty Towers has no end of quotable lines. One of the best being "Don't mention the war!"