Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
Jan 7th 2016, 6:00 pm
#16
Oscar nominated
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Jan 7th 2016, 6:12 pm
#18
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
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Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
I can't think of any comedy other than Fawlty Towers that has aged as well over the 40 years (!!!
) since it was made.
Try looking at reruns of Are You Being Served. It's only recently that I have realised just how laden it is with smutty innuendo.
Jan 7th 2016, 6:27 pm
#19
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 14,227
Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
Steptoe.
Jan 7th 2016, 6:33 pm
#22
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 20,185
Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By are timeless classics. Made more so by the fact they're rarely played on North American tv.
Jan 7th 2016, 6:37 pm
#23
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,455
Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
I think that Blackadder shows the least signs of aging over thirty-odd years, though it "cheats" a bit by being a costume production, so most of the cultural flags of clothing, hair, cars, etc. are absent.
Jan 7th 2016, 8:28 pm
#24
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Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
There is some TV today that while old is still funn a couple are even from the 50s... Like I Love Lucy. That show still airs and is as funny as ever.
Seinfeld is showing its age but still airs and makes money, but dated by the lack of cell phones and computers although in the last season jokes were made about this new internet thing.....
Most TV I think is just not good enough to survive the test of time and has to be able to bring i ad$ to survive.
Other forms like a book or old play dont need to constatly bring in money.
An old book can sit years in a library and doesnt need to bring in revenue and ratings constantly like TV does.
Watching old US sitcomes from the 70s and I am a bit amazed sometimes of the things said, but suppose it matched how society was during the time.
Thinking the Jeffersons and the terms honkey and cracker being used often.
All in the Family as well.
Both have survived on cable tv though.
Seinfeld is showing its age but still airs and makes money, but dated by the lack of cell phones and computers although in the last season jokes were made about this new internet thing.....
Most TV I think is just not good enough to survive the test of time and has to be able to bring i ad$ to survive.
Other forms like a book or old play dont need to constatly bring in money.
An old book can sit years in a library and doesnt need to bring in revenue and ratings constantly like TV does.
Watching old US sitcomes from the 70s and I am a bit amazed sometimes of the things said, but suppose it matched how society was during the time.
Thinking the Jeffersons and the terms honkey and cracker being used often.
All in the Family as well.
Both have survived on cable tv though.
I think I last saw them in 2005 when I bought the dvd set in Montreal. My wife loved it.
Some individuals are always badly treated. Del used to mislead Rodney; Alf called his wife a silly moo repeatedly; Steptoe was very manipulative regarding Son; Arthur took advantage of Terry....
Usually the mistreatment is portrayed in such a way as to make it obviously the wrong thing to do.
But there's plenty in Fawlty Towers that's not dated. "too much butter on those trays" followed by the "no senor uno, dos, tres" from Manuel. There are still botched builder's jobs, misbehaving kids, moral judgements...I even saw something the other day where a character was fawning over someone they thought was an inspector while it was an other character.
I'm always mystified at this 'standard' that applies to TV and never to anything else.
Certainly things like feather cuts, flares and mobile phones the size of a house brick will date something, or maybe special effects are not very good.
But we can watch endless Marx Brothers movies, Bogart and Bacall, Hope and Crosby, James Stewart and many others without thinking it's dated.
The same thing for reading or watching plays by Shakespeare or Agatha Christie or centuries old opera.
TV can only "get away with it" when it's costume drama.
Some individuals are always badly treated. Del used to mislead Rodney; Alf called his wife a silly moo repeatedly; Steptoe was very manipulative regarding Son; Arthur took advantage of Terry....
Usually the mistreatment is portrayed in such a way as to make it obviously the wrong thing to do.
But there's plenty in Fawlty Towers that's not dated. "too much butter on those trays" followed by the "no senor uno, dos, tres" from Manuel. There are still botched builder's jobs, misbehaving kids, moral judgements...I even saw something the other day where a character was fawning over someone they thought was an inspector while it was an other character.
I'm always mystified at this 'standard' that applies to TV and never to anything else.
Certainly things like feather cuts, flares and mobile phones the size of a house brick will date something, or maybe special effects are not very good.
But we can watch endless Marx Brothers movies, Bogart and Bacall, Hope and Crosby, James Stewart and many others without thinking it's dated.
The same thing for reading or watching plays by Shakespeare or Agatha Christie or centuries old opera.
TV can only "get away with it" when it's costume drama.
Last edited by scrubbedexpat091; Jan 7th 2016 at 8:41 pm.
Jan 7th 2016, 8:37 pm
#25
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Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
US president doesnt need a majority of voter which means voters in most places could be smart and vote for someone else but if the voters in key states vote for the other, the other could win even without getting the majority of the popular vote.
Electoral College and all that.
Now I dont think Trump could carry the right states to het the electoral votes but the democrat may win without having a majority of the popular vote.
But if Trump can carry Texas, Florida and all the small red states he may very will.
California and NY are the biggest blue states and CA gets the most votes but a few big state are outnumbered by the small red states.
Hence why California is not battleground despite it being the biggest. Its guaranteed blue win
Electoral College and all that.
Now I dont think Trump could carry the right states to het the electoral votes but the democrat may win without having a majority of the popular vote.
But if Trump can carry Texas, Florida and all the small red states he may very will.
California and NY are the biggest blue states and CA gets the most votes but a few big state are outnumbered by the small red states.
Hence why California is not battleground despite it being the biggest. Its guaranteed blue win
A little off topic, but interesting nonetheless.
I wondered about the Reagan attempt, but he had a political track record, and it came to pass.
Trump on the other hand has come from nowhere. I did wonder when he first put his name on the list whether he might be a democrat mole, destined to insert chaos into the republican ranks. But the train is still motoring on down the line and whether you like him or not he has to be taken seriously.
I forget who said it, but it went like this.. 'never overestimate the intelligence of the voting public'.
At a time when the average american feels increasingly, and mistakenly, threatened by everything from the neighbour next door to the cop on the beat and that funny looking man down the road with a darkish skin and a beard, anyone, like Hitler in the 1930's who promises stability and strong leadership, will attract support.
And like Hitler, he's told everybody what he plans to do, and like Hitler nobody is taking him seriously.
I wondered about the Reagan attempt, but he had a political track record, and it came to pass.
Trump on the other hand has come from nowhere. I did wonder when he first put his name on the list whether he might be a democrat mole, destined to insert chaos into the republican ranks. But the train is still motoring on down the line and whether you like him or not he has to be taken seriously.
I forget who said it, but it went like this.. 'never overestimate the intelligence of the voting public'.
At a time when the average american feels increasingly, and mistakenly, threatened by everything from the neighbour next door to the cop on the beat and that funny looking man down the road with a darkish skin and a beard, anyone, like Hitler in the 1930's who promises stability and strong leadership, will attract support.
And like Hitler, he's told everybody what he plans to do, and like Hitler nobody is taking him seriously.
Jan 7th 2016, 9:21 pm
#27
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Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
Jan 7th 2016, 9:38 pm
#28
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 14,227
Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
Keeping up appearances is one of those comedies that I ended up liking despite how naff it is. I've no idea why Hyacinth falling into a bush every time that dog barks is funny, but somehow it is.
Jan 7th 2016, 10:00 pm
#29
Nuther day in paradise.ca
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Ajax, Ontario
Posts: 7,263
Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
Love Thy Neighbour may raise a few eye brows today more than "flowery tarts"
Jan 7th 2016, 10:03 pm
#30
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Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
Posts: 2,744
Re: Would Fawlty Towers be accepted today?
I think most who watched "Fawlty Towers", realised that Basil was the person getting laughed at and not the victim like Manuel. The present crop of comediens like Frankie Boyle are not even funny, simply nasty. It may be dated but will be remembered long after Boyle and the rest have disappeared from the memory cells.
Fawlty Towers is still funny in places. It's got the 'good-to-laugh-at' nagging wife gives husband his comeuppance. Or Basil with his put on airs just looks like a snob etc. The scene where Basil beats his stalled car with a tree branch is comedy gold ! Better than Del Boy falling through an open hatch on the bar counter. Funny the first time, but not the classic some people seem to think it is.
I have a problem with Basil physically assaulting Manwell and Manwell just seems to take it and come back smiling. All the staff seem to have Basil 'sussed' somehow, though.
I accept that it's a comedy and slapstick at that. However, as for allowed today ? Um, dunno. The joke was always on Basil anyway. Despite his know-it-all persona.
Although, people like Gordon Ramsay get away with their televised bullying on a reality t.v. show.
Frankie Boyle tried his hand at funny then changed tack to controversial and has looked like an unfunny idiot ever since. I also fail to understand why Jimmy Carr or any of his audience think his jokes are funny. Especially those jokes involving sex crimes against women and children. Patrick Kielty isn't as good as he was when he was young and hungry for success. Kevin Bridges the young Scottish comedian is fantastic.
In the same vein, would, 'Rising Damp' be allowed today ? The racism from Rigsby to Phillip. The harassment the lonely spinster Miss Jones sometimes got from Rigsby etc.
Last edited by Snap Shot; Jan 7th 2016 at 10:19 pm. Reason: Thought of something else