American Reacts Fawlty Towers S01E02 The Builders

[@martynclarke5167]

When Basil says to the ladies 'you have to go to Gleneagles for dinner tonight' he's referencing the Gleaneagles Hotel in Torquay, the real hotel where the Monty Python team stayed once and John Cleese got the idea for Fawlty Towers due to the eratic manager there.

[@MrJohnL21]

The manager's name was Donald Sinclair. John Cleese seemed to develop a bit of a fixation about this person because his name crops up in Mr. Cleese's scripts elsewhere. Unfortunately, the Gleneagles Hotel has since been demolished.

[@martynclarke5167]

@@MrJohnL21 yep, demolished not that long ago, one of the apartment blocks that now stands there is called 'Sachs Lodge', a reference to Andrew Sachs who played Manuel.

[@dogwithwigwamz.7320]

Great stuff. I love well informed news.

[@zimjun7]

So that was the place! I remember him saying that he was a "delightfully rude man." hahaha

[@sallyannrowlands1154]

I've been to see it 😂

[@willmartin2078]

So pleased your reacting to fawlty towers, classic 👍

[@TheYorkie72]

There were only supposed to be 6 episodes made but Cleese and Booth decided to write a second series 4 years later. So just 12 we’re made and each one is an absolute classic

[@ayethein7681]

It's interesting to see the shows with interviews with the actors about the making of the show.

[@PerryCJamesUK]

These full length reactions are so good. Let's hope they continue.

[@lifelover515]

People sometimes post excerpts but that doesn't get it. It's not just the cracking script and the inspired characterisation, but the sheer pace that works the magic. That's why whole episodes are the only way to go, so well done there. David Kelly RIP and well spotted, btw.

[@LemoUtan]

Nice pickup on the gnome delivery at the beginning callback at the end. This dramatic device is known as "Chekhov's Gnome".

[@raphaelperry8159]

When Basil strikes Manuel's head against the wall you can see Manuel kicking the bottom of the wall to make the thumping noise his head should make (because it's a wooden stage set piece) and you can see it wobble as he kicks it). This only adds to the physical comedy of the scene.

[@annedunne4526]

The actor who plays " O Reilly" here is the Irish award winning actor David Kelly. And yes he was one of the grandfathers in Charlie and the chocolate factory.

[@stevencarr4002]

Prunella Scales was brilliant.

[@misterprecocious2491]

Yeah, it's a shame what happened to her.

[@snafu313]

John Cleese has said in interviews that they had a certain concept in mind for Sybil Fawlty, but when Prunella Scales came in to read for the part, she had a concept very different from what John Cleese and Connie Booth had in mind. They realized that Prunella's concept actually worked much better, and they went with it in the writing.

[@bernadettelanders7306]

Connor watching you laugh added to the fun. I had tears of laughter running down my face watching that episode - again 😂

[@madusa-alundra-media5914]

This is one of my favourite episodes but it just gets better and better. A legendary show!! The whole cast are bloody marvellous 😂😂😂

[@Tassilago]

I'd love to keep watching these with you. Cheers from Sweden 🤗

[@martinbaker613]

Manuel was played Andrew Sachs, who is German by birth. He actually has an excellent English accent and was very well known for his career as a voiceover artist 😏👍🏼

[@steddie4514]

In the dubbed Spanish version Manuel is Italian 🤣

[@Mysticalmagicalcastle]

He is actually Jewish as well. 😊

[@neuralwarp]

He had a rather nasty telephone prank played on him once by two tv presenters. They never properly apologised.

[@martinbaker613]

@@neuralwarp Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that... nasty 🤔

[@jackal59]

@@steddie4514 Not quite. The first time they played the dubbed version in Spain, they kept that Manuel was from Barcelona. There were objections, so they changed it to Mexico City. Also, Sachs dubbed the German version of the show himself; in that one, Manuel had a Bavarian accent.

[@jackal59]

This just gets better and better. "Basil the Rat," the last episode, is a comic explosion.

[@lynette.]

Yes please you have got the characters now so much more fine comedy to come.

[@worthalook4870]

Always starts light but ends up in a frenzy haha love this show

[@NeilusNihilus]

The best eps are yet to come! keep watching.

[@maudeboggins9834]

Fawlty Towers was pure genius. Brilliantly, written & wonderfully acted.

[@kevinjones4559]

Dennis Compton was a famous England cricketer of the 1940/50s, an era that Fawlty would have liked to have lived in.

[@williamevans9426]

When I was in halls at university in the md-1980s, there'd be periodic 'Fawlty Towers' evenings when as many of us as possible would crowd around an aging 32-inch CRT-type TV and VCR in one of the communal rooms, to watch back-to-back episodes across an evening, even though we all know them word-for-word! Try to watch 'Gourmet Night' which is, I think, next in season one and is one of the best of all (as is 'The Kipper and the Corpse').

[@-Niv]

thanks for the reaction it's so fun i love the show and your reactions so combined together is really fun to watch and also it makes me relive memories from fawlty towers so thank you

[@RCassinello]

What I love the most about Fawlty Towers is that none of the lines are spare. Everything anyone says, no matter where in the episode, it is a part of the plot, and it WILL be relevant. The Gnome in this episode is a perfect example of that, but it is equally true in all the other episodes, too.

[@johnloony68]

Just wait until you meet Mrs Richards

[@booth2710]

OMG Yes. Joan Sanderson playing the old battle axe !

[@stewedfishproductions7959]

"What! What! What...?"

[@Naylte]

@@booth2710 You're Watt.

[@Extra_050]

If you recognise the actor David Kelly (Mr O'Reilly) as Grandpa Joe in the 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate factory (and well spotted) then you might recognise another, more subtle thing, that materialises in more recent films. In a scene in the second Shrek film, the King (voiced, of course, by Basil Fawlty's actor John Cleese) makes an excuse to the Queen about a "hunting wound" in his leg to distract from the Fairy Godmother. That is a throwback to this and other Fawlty Towers episodes where Basil has convenient, spontaneous "shrapnel pains" in his knee to distract either his wife or an awkward guest when he's in a tricky situation.

[@webbsfan1]

David Kelly also played a one armed waiter in Robins Nest with Richard O'Sullivan.

[@Naylte]

He got it in the war. ;P

[@Extra_050]

@@Naylte Korean, of course.

[@tcborg]

@@Naylte Dont mention the war!

[@curtrupp4259]

David Kelly is also in waking Ned Divine

[@bustedfender]

Script, casting, action, direction, design, pace, timing… all perfect. Each episode a gem in its own right.

[@jasonritchie8475]

My favourite episode, 'The Rat', features the Major a little more 😂

[@BoldRam]

So glad you're finally doing full episodes Connor. 2 episodes in and you're already seeing the writing and characters as it was meant to be. 👌👌🙏🙏

[@grazynafrey7545]

Beautiful reaction. I don't know how you manage to squeeze all those scenes in 30 minutes. Looking forward to you watching the next episodes.

[@voh3445]

Thanks so much for reacting to this, it’s wonderful to see an American enjoying something so very, very British ;) x

[@paulhadfield7909]

mr o'reily was also in 'robins nest' as the one armed waiter, another funny comedy

[@johnloony68]

Actor David Kelly. - well spotted as he was Grandpa Joe in “Charlie & the Chocolate Factory” (the 2005 version, not the 1981 version)

[@experi-mentalproductions5358]

1971

[@johnloony68]

I wrote 1971. Bloody autocorrect. Grrrr

[@ChristopherStendeck]

​@@johnloony68 Autocorrect is making me look like a maniac today. I sympathize. 😅

[@bernadettelanders7306]

@@ChristopherStendeck I was editing stacks a few day ago, drives you nuts doesn’t it 😂. But I see other peoples boo boos and easily work them out - I mightn’t bother fixing mine in future 😂.

[@GoEqBro]

He also played Michael O’Sullivan in‘Waking Ned Devine’.

[@OneDarkMartian]

One of the great sitcoms ever made. Every episode is a work of comedy genius. I never tire of rewatching them. I still cry laughing every time.

[@BillConk]

In an interview for the boxed set, Cleese said he feels this was the least satisfactory of the twelve shows, although everyone else had told him it was a funny as expected. He said they later discovered there had been a visiting group of seventy from the Icelandic broadcasting corporation, and someone had the brilliant idea of putting them all in the front two rows of the audience. Apparently it was recorded in almost complete silence and "just a faint whiff of cod coming from the front row".

[@Blue-qr7qe]

Keep 'em comin', brother. I'm lovin' it -

[@JJBushfan]

You're in luck. There is one episode in which the major has a conversation with Manuel who is hidden behind the counter. He thinks he's talking to a moose's head hanging on the wall.

[@renejean2523]

Japanese, is it?

[@GahMehGrrrr]

​@@renejean2523😅😂

[@torbjornkvist]

John Cleese wrote this series together with his then-wife, American actress Connie Booth (Polly). They both say that the experience, the writing, and the acting, wrecked their marriage, it was just too much. Fawlty Towers is a comical masterpiece, perhaps the best ever.

[@rde4017]

FT is the best sitcom of all time and by a huge country mile!

[@blakesliberator3197]

Watching someone's reactions to this classic British humor really adds another element to it. The BEST is yet to come.

[@trevorbrooks5250]

Best scripts ever. Each line is a gem

[@stewartcohen-jones2949]

The first two episodes are character setting episodes. The quality really starts to elevate now. Hang in there as it gets into the realm of genius.

[@MrJimithee]

Once you get to know the characters, you'll want to go back and rewatch the early episodes... It's a great show like that, there's no "pilot" they work in any order Always pleased to see someone discover the classics, keep it up Mac

[@antonybrent6232]

😂😂😂👏👏👏. Great reaction as always dude 👍👍

[@hamrammr1]

Great job, Connor. Fawlty Towers is the best.

[@gillcawthorn7572]

I had completely forgotten about Polly continually sketching .

[@paulmurphy5648]

Hi Conner, make sure you read tthe hotel sign at the beginning of each episode. There is a different anagram of Fawlty Towers every time.

[@karenward267]

My favourite was and will always be “Farty Towels”. Pure gold.

[@no-oneinparticular7264]

I thought it was at the end, my mistake. I didn't see it this episode, did I miss it??

[@vilebrequin6923]

​@Karen Ward I'll see your Farty Towels and raise you a Flowery Twats!😅

[@dorothyramser7805]

@@karenward267 you beat me to it!

[@paulbromley6687]

The guy you thought was American is English but from the West Country which has a strong Burr, very like the American sound many of the early settlers came from the West Country.

[@emme4296]

😂 Sybil and Manuel are my favourite characters.

[@modfus]

Polly is brilliantly played by American actress Connie Booth. She co-wrote the series with Cleese who she was married to when this T.V. series was made

[@victordevonshire807]

What a brilliant actress.

[@cdwyer737]

Preemptive like, been looking forward to this!!

[@RCassinello]

Correct, sir, that is David Kelly the actor - famous for many roles in Britain and Ireland- but MOST famous for being the Grandfather in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. :)

[@madusa-alundra-media5914]

I literally can’t wait to see your further reactions 😊

[@bobbyy956]

Hi the accent you were unsure about from mr oriely and men and guy who delivered gnome is an Irish accent

[@andyleclerc3600]

Good catch! That is indeed David Kelly asthe hopelessly incompetent O'Reilly.

[@johnhewett9483]

well done the only reviewer able to show full epidodes. probably the funnuest series ever on british television

[@frozengamer3030]

Keep uploading these episodes.

[@roslynaubrey7766]

I visited my friend in Barcelona when this series was running. They had it in Spanish! But Maunuel was Italian!

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Great way to rewatch this legendary comedy show. Do go on! Basil!!!!

[@smudger671]

Connie Booth has an excellent English accent. I never realised she was American - at least not years ago.

[@Steven-eg8be]

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did when I first watched them, Connor.

[@donkfail1]

Surprised you're getting away with showing so much. Keep it up!

[@marvinc9994]

Connie Booth was SO sexy in those days (lucky old John Cleese)! And, as an American actress, she did an impeccable English accent. _Fawlty Towers_ is one of the many vintage wines in the British Comedy cellar.

[@jonadolfsson7777]

Probably the best comic show ever!

[@gibsonms]

I am so so chuffed that you’re FINALLY watching this!!

[@atherstone55]

My favourite comedy series

[@spankie7728]

i LOVED Fawlty Towers when i was young .. i allmost died ... loling from it :o ! xD

[@VaultedSound]

Also the one after this S01E03 "The Wedding Party" is really good!

[@davescurry69]

Loving these full length reactions, man. You should do the same with YES MINISTER/PRIME MINISTER.

[@diogenesagogo]

Polly asleep on the bed is just the most beautiful sight to behold. She's so lovely. Fell in love then & I still am now.

[@Maesterful]

Yeah she was a beaut. Seeing her undressing in the wedding party episode never gets old 😅

[@alanfoster6589]

The funniest TV show ever to come out of Britain.

[@julianbarber4708]

When this series first aired, Prunella Scales (Sybil) was considered something of a sex symbol.

[@jasonyoung7705]

You're right, its Grandpa Joe

[@jehanariyaratnam2874]

Polly was American but she didn't have the strongest accent so you might not have noticed. The actress was American and married to John Cleese in real life

[@MrDaiseymay]

McJibbin---I hope you are able to watch the last 10 minutes, even more chaos ensues, famously, when Basils Car fails him completely. You must watch, when the psychiatrist stays at the hotel

[@paulhorgan6152]

Classic the wonderful Andrew Sachs, Manuel RIP. Two wonderful Gentle sit down on a sofa with a cuppa or a glass of wine or a beer gentle cuddle up shows watch with a loved one, on a setee Bob Mortimer Paul Whitehouse gone Fishing and McKenzie crooks wonderful The detectorists beuiifull British humour made with a lot of Love ❤❤😂😊 ❤😂🇬🇧

[@jockstrapp21]

Sybil Fawlty / Prunella Scales , my all time secret / odd crush . She's lovely x

[@madalinam6183]

I loved her in this so much. It's easy to laugh at Basil but I always pitied Sybil. Speaking of crushes, I have an enduring crush on her son, Samuel West.

[@oc888]

He’s from Ireland he’s Grandpa Joe in Charlie & the chocolate factory ( with Johnny Depp ) as Mr Wonka

[@peterfoakes7569]

It is a classic so few episodes made, in real life, John Cleese was married to Polly the maid, there is a funny episode with the talking moose head

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

4:10 The implication is, in a dreadful style (using soup tins and whatever) Polly has drawn an impressionistic portrait of Basil.

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

13:35 You have to pay attention to see that this layout of the lobby of the hotel is not as it was. A minute later or less, it is pointed out how.

[@papalaz4444244]

If you hear Jeremy Clarkson saying, "Oh spiffing!" in a sarcastic way, it is a Fawlty Towers reference. [not from this ep]

[@alanmackie7012]

This first series came out in 1975. The year that Generalissimo Franco died. I think it was after this episode aired or nobody had broken the news to Manuel yet.

[@RalphWigg1]

The guy you were asking about is Irish.

[@VaultedSound]

McJibbin, you need to go straight to S02E03 "Waldorf Salad" after this. Featuring an American guest with his English wife.

[@Johnny-sj9sj]

God bless America 🇺🇸 and God save Britain 🇬🇧 Nobody else is going to do it!

[@jamesohara4295]

Jack Albertson. a Yank, played grampa in Charlie and the chocolate factory.

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

In Britain at this time (1974), as a pensioner usually, you could buy a 'fixed annuity'; in return for your hard cash and any income you might earn in the remainder of your life, an insurance company would provide you with a fixed amount of £ per month until the end of your life. You might then, as a pensioner, go to a hotel like Fawlty Towers and live there for the rest of your life in return for a price for your room and your food, which might be equal to or less than the income from the annuity. When the first series of Fawlty Towers came out in 1974, this was reasonable. However the second series came out in 1979 when Britain had inflation of up to 25% per year, and those annuities (which were fixed monthly payments and did not rise at all because of inflation) left some of the people who relied on them - in some cases - destitute.

[@WilliamSmith-mx6ze]

"Where's the Generallisimo?" "In Madrid" - harks to the fact that in 1974 General Franco, known as the Generallisimo was still alive at this time.

[@jerryhayes9497]

Excellent 👍

[@victordevonshire807]

P Scales. Lovely. ❤

[@rhwinner]

You might try other shows: Honeymooners Classic 39 comes to mind.

[@BradleyTurl03]

This is actually based on a true hotel manager his name is Donald sinclair born in torbay Devon 1909 served in WWII

[@absolutewarrior4253]

You should watch a show called "bottom" it's just as hilarious as Fawlty Towers but it is a different kind of comedy

[@dinastanford7779]

So much in only 30 minutes

[@DaveThompsonfairlife4all]

What is so interesting in how an American reacts to British comedy? I honestly do not think I have seen one channel of the other way around.

[@SunnyIntervalsORG]

Chekhov's garden gnome.

[@granfall00n]

This works well. Like your reactions. You should try “the fast show” Don’t think anyone is reacting to it yet.

[@anthonystavely9947]

He’s a very good IRISH actor 😂

[@charlesfrancis6894]

After watching the excellent Faulty Towers you could try the series "Porridge " with Ronnie Barker a great comedy with very good acting .

[@papalaz4444244]

John Cleese and Connie Booth spent months writing these in meticulous detail. The BBC filmed it on one night, in long takes, in a 90min slot on a budget of almost nothing. The way the BBC made shows never made any sense.

[@DavidMichaelson-j7n]

One of my favorite lines; "Where's the generalissimo?" [COnfused look] "In Madrid!"

[@ReaperZa23]

O Reilly - Ireland. Which Charlie and the CF? Fawlty is from the 70s

[@stewedfishproductions7959]

In the 2005 Johnny Depp 'C & the CF' - David Kelly (Irish Actor) played 'Grandpa Joe'...

[@dogwithwigwamz.7320]

I wit there really has only been two or three great British Comedy Series. Only Fools and Horses, and Flowery Twats. This is not to disregard nor forget other sketches coming of brilliance. Actually I find recently modern American humour more appealing to my own way of finding a giggle to the more British part. Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers were creations of the 1970`s, whereas Police Squad ( American ) was a creature of the `80,s.