Fawlty towers is one of the few 70s shows that still comes off well. Smartly written with great straight people (hotel custs) to play off, visual comedy (basil, manuel) with a fantastic mix of physical and spoken comedy.
There are many memorable lines. One I goto when I'm frustrated;
Basil: if he didn't order a cheese salad, poly, then why had he got one?
Poly: I ... I don't know
Basil: I know how he feels
So Basil is annoyed with the customer (who he thinks is a super uptight hotel inspector, but who only sells spoons) while sympathizing with him at the same time.
There are many more things to say, but it's worth pointing out how expertly it uses the British sense of manners to fake a lot of "misunderstandings." It's to politeness what Woody Allen does in Deconstructing Harry with guilt. It's both a formidable defense and weapon. If you haven't seen this movie, try it out. It's worth it. Plus you'll get to meet cookie who helps harry pull off his university speech.
There are many memorable lines. One I goto when I'm frustrated;
Basil: if he didn't order a cheese salad, poly, then why had he got one?
Poly: I ... I don't know
Basil: I know how he feels
So Basil is annoyed with the customer (who he thinks is a super uptight hotel inspector, but who only sells spoons) while sympathizing with him at the same time.
There are many more things to say, but it's worth pointing out how expertly it uses the British sense of manners to fake a lot of "misunderstandings." It's to politeness what Woody Allen does in Deconstructing Harry with guilt. It's both a formidable defense and weapon. If you haven't seen this movie, try it out. It's worth it. Plus you'll get to meet cookie who helps harry pull off his university speech.