Fawlty Towers.

I loved it in it's day but can't stand John Cleese now.

It wouldn't work now because these days you can't hit people from Barcelona round the head because they don't understand you!

Also the star of the show was his wife Cybil and it apparently it will be Basil and his daughter this time, who will be played by his real life daughter.

Doodledog

NotAGran55

An absolute classic comedy show. Part of the genius was the fact that there was only 12 episodes. It needs to stay in the past.

Agreed. It was of its time, and funny for the 70s. Jokes about foreigners, women, people who don't speak English, the disabled and race aren't funny for the 2020s and without them it won't be the same sitcom.

Also, how can an 84 year old Cleese be running the hotel?

I don't actually think it was poking fun at foreigners, the disabled etc - we were meant to be laughing and rather shocked at the bigoted, awful Basil.
We all felt for Manuel (didn't we?).

We did, Callistemon21

Basil was an object of ridicule really.

I imagine that the new series will consist of John's daughter being exasperated with him.

Not sure I'll be watching though

I think it was Prunella Scales as Sybil who in fact made the comedy the success it was. She played the role to perfection.

DH loved it, I couldn’t watch it because it was so cruel to Manuel. Doubt if it would work now.

Just no. Part of its appeal was being very politically incorrect. Made in a different era and there it should stay. You could never make it today.

Callistemon21

Doodledog

NotAGran55

An absolute classic comedy show. Part of the genius was the fact that there was only 12 episodes. It needs to stay in the past.

Agreed. It was of its time, and funny for the 70s. Jokes about foreigners, women, people who don't speak English, the disabled and race aren't funny for the 2020s and without them it won't be the same sitcom.

Also, how can an 84 year old Cleese be running the hotel?

I don't actually think it was poking fun at foreigners, the disabled etc - we were meant to be laughing and rather shocked at the bigoted, awful Basil.
We all felt for Manuel (didn't we?).

We did, and it was. But the jokes were still about the foreigners etc. If we weren't laughing at the deaf lady or the fact that Manuel couldn't speak English, we wouldn't be laughing at Basil. I did think it was funny at the time, but I don't think I would now.

Basil himself was the joke, not the things he said about guests, foreigners etc. just as Alf Garnet was the joke, and also Eddie from Love Thy Neighbour. Maybe some people didn't get the humour and thought it was shocking. Of course it wouldn't work today, and could never be made today. I expect Cleese's daughter knows what they can and can't get away with and they will take that into account. I have no idea what they are planning but I'm sure they are well aware that they are tinkering with a piece of history and will proceed with caution.

I adored the original series and I have over the years returned to watch it as I have many tv series from my younger days. However times have changed now there is a different audience everything is scrutinised and the humour is different. I think it wouldn’t be as successful now in a new format. It would not be anywhere near as funny as it was in its original form.

Hated the programme it was cruel and nasty just the same as the hideous Alf Garnet I never found it remotely funny at all I hope to goodness we have moved on from those days

You change over the years. I used to love Fawlty Towers but last time I watched it I thought it was really nasty. Different times, different values.

Basil Fawlty had the ability to make me laugh and cringe at the same time with his crassness.
David Brent being another one who divides the crowd!

Yes, I agree with those who have said that we were laughing at Basil Fawlty, not at foreigners or any other subject or person. I remember the episode where he gets frustrated with his car; I think it won’t start and he kicks it and hits it with branches. He is the object of ridicule because of his extreme reactions to ordinary events. He is unable to cope with life and that’s where the humour is in Fawlty Towers. The name of the hotel tells us this in itself. There are plenty of situations that could continue to frustrate Basil Fawlty today, but nonetheless I think the programme has had it’s day.

A comedy for its times. Our ideas have changed. I laughed at the time, mostly at Cleese's incompetence and still remember like others will "We're out of dorfs", when someone wanted a Waldorf salad.
If it were the same format now I think there would be an out cry. Another Rufus Sewell as it was pointed out to me after the money? Or do they miss being in the lime light?

Who, and what, were we laughing at?

The 'Germans' episode where Basil acts with supreme crassness - the German guests were intelligent and sensitively 'aware', in sharp contrast to Fawlty. The comedy was making it quite obvious that the individual to poke fun at was Fawlty and his bigotry. Of course he was OTT - that's the nature of 'theatre'.

When the elderly German couple arrive at the desk to book a room to be met with a stunned incomprehension - until Polly engaged with them in their own language - was it not highlighting the fact that there were intelligent and progressive people who didn't think foreigners were a demographic to make jokes about?

The elderly deaf lady - her outstanding feature was her supreme sense of her own importance... there are people like that. The fact she refused to wear her hearing aids was just another aspect of her self-importance. I didn't laugh at her deafness - it was her arrogance that made her look so silly.

The comedy was of its time - the culture and mores of the 70s is quite different to today's climate. But I cannot see why some of the episodes would be pulled and banned. I don't think the show was celebrating bigotry - it was highlighting it, and ridiculing it. The 'goodies' were Polly, often the guests, and even Sybil in her own inimitable way because she was so aware of the ridiculous nature of Basil - and he, Basil, was the joke... along with the Major. These 'types' existed - probably still do - and I don't see why we cannot make fun of them in comedy. IMO one of the best ways to deal with bigotry is to highlight its ridiculousness.