Worst Fawlty tower episode
This is an excellent series but I think there were one or two of them lacking.
My least favorite is the anniversary what about yours.
Here's my take on the show, starting with the worst episode and ending with the best episode (a hierarchy of sorts, if you will):
The Builders - Though I get that the series was new at the time and the situations and characters weren't as rounded as they later became, this episode just feels flatter than all the others.
Hotel Inspectors - There were some clever moments but it just never really got off the ground. The no-holds-barred wackiness factor that made some of the later episodes work so well was also somewhat absent.
A Touch of Class - It felt to me more like an American sitcom trying to be British than the Fawlty Towers that we came to know and love. But it was still a promising start.
Waldorf Salad - Sybil actually got on my nerves more than the evil American tourist did. Also, why cut out Polly and Manuel? Basil's speech at the end was good though - "This is exactly how Nazi Germany started! Raus! Raus!"
The Wedding Party - It was damn funny, as always. The scene towards the end with the Frenchwoman and Basil saying "Oh, what a terrible dream" was great. I didn't really buy it, though, that Basil thought everybody was sleeping with everybody else.
The Anniversary - This one was good and crazy and full of lies and mistaken identities. But I don't think it's ever mentioned by anyone as a "favorite episode." Hmm, I wonder why...I guess it just lacked chutzpah.
Communication Problems - How can you not love Mrs. Richards?? LOL. Very solid episode.
The Kipper and the Corpse - Basil Fawlty+corpse=unbridled fun. My only criticism is the ending scene with the undertakers...could've been a little tighter in terms of writing. (I think John Cleese mentioned that, too.)
The Psychiatrist - This episode's crazy factor is just through the roof, and it's definitely up there among the greats, I think.
Gourmet Night - All of the angst that Basil goes through is extremely painful to watch, yet you can't take your eyes off of him...you're just waiting for him to have a total nervous breakdown and utterly humiliate himself and destroy his reputation in Torquay forever, which is what makes this episode work.
Basil the Rat - Second-best episode. It's actually just as good as the best episode but doesn't make use of the multiple storylines I singled out for praise, so it loses a point.
The Germans - The best episode. The multiple storylines are what made it work so well, I think. The fire drill+the moose head+the exploits in the hospital+the final insulting of the Germans ("Don't mention the war!") was classic.
The worsts were the pyschiatrist and the wedding party both showing how all the humiliation that Basil has to endure, that was kind of cruel even if he was bit of a tightwad. I mean in the pyschiatrist I think Basil was done wrong considerably, I mean for goodness sake he was only doing his job, the guy sneaking the girl up his room felt like a live version of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner or more or less like Sylvester and Tweety. In the end that episode was a bit unfair because Sybill always catching in a very nasty spot with the hot looking guest.
shareYes i think that psychatrist episode showen the writers were running out of good ideas it was getting a bit weak
shareMy least favorite episode is The Wedding Party. It plays like an ordinary sitcom, not up to Fawlty Towers' high standards. It doesn't have a defining laugh-out-loud moment or a memorable guest.
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