Fawlty Towers - Gourmet Night/The Germans/Communication Problems/The Psychiatrist
John Cleese has always maintained thatFawlty Towerswas inspired by a real hotel that was run by a proprietor who treated guests as an inconvenience to running a business. No one in the world, however, can possibly match the sheer insolence and incompetence of Basil Fawlty, perhaps the most brazenly rude character in the history of customer disservice. "Gourmet Night" is Basil's brilliant idea to raise the quality of the clientele of his dingy little establishment, but when his new cook gets blind drunk, he responds by importing the food from another restaurant, with the usual Fawlty foul-ups. Basil's fevered flogging of his sputtering car is a surreal series highlight. In "The Germans," perhaps the best-loved episode of the series, John Cleese hits all-time heights of impertinent provocation when his wife, Sybil, is in the hospital for an ingrown toenail (much to Basil's glee). Simple instructions not to mention "the war" to the German guests sends Basil into a flustered frenzy of conversations that all wind back to WWII, culminating in his stork-like goose step as he offers his impersonation of Adolf Hitler. "Communications Problems" finds Basil once again plotting behind his wife's back, this time for a little off-track betting. His horse comes in, but his effort to hide his winnings becomes complicated when a guest is robbed and Basil's sneaking and sudden handful of cash make him the prime suspect. Complicating matters is dotty Major Gowan, the reality-impaired resident whose forgetfulness only lands Basil in worse trouble. Basil's prudish hypocrisy gets a workout in "The Psychiatrist" when a handsome young chap sneaks a girl into his room. Compounding Basil's strange behavior is the discovery that another guest is a psychiatrist, sending Basil into a tizzy as he is sure the man is analyzing his every utterance. As his attempts to catch the adulterers in the act turns into a bedroom farce, Basil finds himself caught in a position both compromising and absurd--his duck-walking climax has to be seen to be believed.--Sean Axmaker