We were lucky in Australia to get so much British comedy here. Absolutely brilliant comedy. You can watch it over and over and still crack up laughing 😂
They had it on the local PBS stations in the states but just not on the main networks, I think the only things that got on the main networks were things like "The Avengers" & "The Tom Jones Show" as a couple examples.
The Fawlty Towers episode was called “The Germans. In the episode, while suffering the effects of concussion, Basil Fawlty repeatedly offends some German guests. Despite warning his staff "Don't mention the war", he keeps ignoring his own advice.
@@JohnImrie 🤣 my Sister in Law is from Bavaria, she thinks the episode is hilarious, also during one Christmas, the Great Escape came on TV, my parents panicked trying to find the remote to turn it off, she just said it’s part of both our history and the British shouldn’t be embarrassed about winning the war
Its criminal the way the clip show gutted that joke. It shows the punchline without any of the setup. They just needed to show the next line fro the distraught German exclaiming Basil: "it's funny!" German: "Its not funny for any German!"
Most tv in the UK only do 6 to 8 episodes per season and usually don't flog them to death over endless episodes and seasons. You are right 'leave them wanting more' is the prevailing thought
One of Fawlty Towers' jokes was how the letters on the sign at the start were never arranged correctly so it always spelled something unique and stupid to get us laughing immediately.
I wish they would have continued the clip about the pet shop owner insisting that the parrot was not dead, when the buyer says, "He would be pushing up the daisies by now if you hadn't nailed his feet to the perch," Fifty years later, and it's still hilarious!
I loved Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. The scripts were so clever and funny. It's well worth trying to find whole episodes, it's hilarious. Fawlty Towers was brilliant too especially the episode about Manuel's pet rat and the health inspector. Australia has had a lot of British TV series.
Still one of my all-time favourite programmes and I regularly rewatch. Best part was meeting someone who worked in the civil service way back when who said despite it being a comedy, it really wasn't far from the truth.
Our Australian Prime Minister at the time, Bob Hawke used to watch it. When the actor ( sorry forgotten name at the moment) came to Australia Bob invited him into his office and sit in his chair! It was shown on the news. 😊
Every politician said "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Primeminister" (the sequel) was so on the nose it was scary, yet it was hilarious... Well worth watching....
One of the interesting things about Fawlty Towers is that John Cleese wrote a very condensed script which made each episode almost a double episode (so 12 episodes with 24 episodes worth of content) each holding on average 2 intertwined storys which usually collide. It was based on a hotel and owner who the monty python team stayed with. The reason for the short run was that Cleese was exploring themes of British sociatal taboos but didnt want to start repeating plots and ideas so he finished the show and went onto a new project. Yes Minister became Yes Prime Minister when the character became PM, the other famous Show that satired the Government and famous people was Spitting Image, there are a number of comedies and shows which poke fun at politics and also poke fun at religion
That and his marriage to Connie Booth fell apart in between the two series. Ironically he thought it would help their marriage to work and write together.
extra little trivia for you... fawlty towers was sold around the world, in germany they only ever broadcast 11 episodes for obvious reasons... and in the spanish dubbed version, manuel was portrayed as italian
Fawlty Towers essentially contains all the classic elements of a farce. Multiple plot lines, people speaking very quickly and frequently misunderstanding each others, characters dashing in and out of doorways.......
Basil sees Manuel carrying three trays Basil: Manuel, there's too much food on those trays Manuel: Qué? Basil becomes irritated pointing at the trays in turn Basil: There is too much food ON... THOSE... TRAYS Manual responds repeating the pointing gesture at the trays Manuel: No, no, no Mr Fawlty it is 'uno, dos, tres'
Try Allo allo.....set in a French Cafe during WW2. All Nations had the piss taken (incl' us Brits) out of them! Took a few episodes to get going, but turned into an absolute Classic. You'd have to know at least some of British humour to get the jokes and situations etc.
Allo! Allo! was based on a (serious) wartime drama series called 'Secret Army, dealing with British spies in WW2. Amazing how it became the inspiration for a comedy series.
I can’t believe you’ve never seen any of the Classic British Comedy’s , we have them all the time here in Australia we never get tired of the it’s full of laughter even if you’d seen it before , “Keeping up Appearances “ “ Vicar of Dibley “ “A fine Romance “ “The good life “the list goes on Tyler have a trial watch for a belly laugh🤣🤷♀️
In the Graham Norton show they have great interactions lasting almost an hour and being on the BBC are never interrupted by commercials. On the political comedies, some script writers recently said that the reality (e.g. Trump & Johnson) is so bananas that whatever they might come up with would end up more tame than actual events.
With no commercial breaks on the BBC a programme can develop and flow smoothly with no annoying interruptions, unlike American tv. In fact some of the greatest BBC shows were slow starters in terms of audience figures, Only Fools And Horses, being a prime example. The first series didn't have massive audiences, but the BBC could see its potential and stuck with it, and it became one of the most popular comedy shows ever. I doubt an American network would do the same because without big audiences from the start there'd be a lack of interest from advertisers and the programme would be scrapped.
Liked Porridge.abnd Fawlty Towers. but what about The Two Ronnies, thery where hilarious.and one of the best was “Keeping up Appearances “ "and Only Fools and Horses with David Jason
Fawlty Towers should be at the top of anyone's list of 'Comedy Shows I Haven't Watched, But Need To'. (Unless, of course they have already seen it.) Not only is it a small body of work, but it is comedy so good that there is no way that it could be made now, given how easily some people are offended. Do yourself a huge favour, dude, and watch it. You'll not only laugh, you'll learn more about the British psyche than 100 episodes of anything else would teach you.
“The Office” The actor on the right was McKenzie Crook from “Pirates of the Caribbean” The one on the left was Martin Freeman, who played Bilbo Baggins in the 3 “Hobbit” movies
Note: The predecessors to Monty Python, "Do Not Adjust You Set" and "At Last The 1948 Show", were both on ITV. BUT the predecessor to the predecessors, "I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again", was on BBC radio. Detail on Wikipedia. Radio was a huge force in comedy in the UK.
@@Isleofskye Our house had electricity installed in the early 1950s and along with it came piped radio via Rediffusion. Downside - only two channels, there were four but we only had two (cost?). Upside - the radio (Light programme) was always on and the quality was very good (for the time). So I listened to all of the comedy programmes Goons, Jimmy Clitheroe, Al Read, Ken Dodd, The Navy Lark, Beyond Our Ken, Take It From Here, Hancock's Half Hour etc. etc. Net result is I have ingrained silliness (just look at my avatar 😄)
@@sharonsnail2954 lol. Me too.I have a real sense of the ridiculous and absurd. If I see something unusual then I will try to add to the absurdity or try to create it. The three of us(All between 55 and 69(me) saw these 3 Female students in the distance and spaced ourselves out at 30-yard intervals and as the 3 Ladies went past these 3 students, my Mate said "Good day to you" which surprised them and they started giggling as they walked on.Then my next mate said a cheery "Good Morning" again with no warning at all and he carried on walking and they were looking at each other and,finally, I gave the impression I was going to walk past them and at the last moment , I smiled at them and said "It's a lovely day" without waiting for an answer and they turned round and all 3 of us continued as if we did not know each other and that was in a London Borough:)
@Tyler Rumple We had "Steptoe & Son", which you dragged over the pond as "Sanford & Son". Our "Man About the House" became your "Three's Company". Our "Please Sir" became "Welcome Back Kotter".
It is amazing how few episodes need to be made to create a classic show. "The Office" (which I never liked personally) in UK 2 seasons of 6 shows with 2 Christmas specials so 14 shows total. In US 9 season with total of 201 episodes. There are always exceptions, but it is amazing when you look back as some of the great comedy shows just how few episodes were actually made. Also, a lot of the comedy shows would have ONLY been 30-minutes long.
Graham Norton is the most popular talk show host today, and over the past decade or more. Before him, and perhaps even more popular, often equally funny, and also attracting top celebrities (eg Muhammed Ali several times, Helen Mirren, Orson Wells, Meg Ryan, the Beckhams, Billy Connolly) for a total of 50 years up to 2007, was Michael Parkinson.
Parkinson had REAL, intense, probing 50+ minute interviews. Graham is more Light Entertainment, as you know like Jonathan Ross. Wogan/Harty/Clive James and various others also did this.
After watching your reaction, here are my recommendations - check out the Monty Python film The life of Brian, this is the story of Jesus as told by the Monty Python team, the Blackadder series were epic, each Season covering the lineage of the Blackadder Sons. My favourite Season will be that including Queenie, played brilliantly by Miranda Richardson (the fourth and final season was set during WW2). The final scene you ended on was from one of my favourite shows The Young Ones. Honorable mentions who should've been included are French and Saunders and Last of the Summer Wine which ran for years.
Graham Norton (real name Walker) comes from County Cork, IE. He went to the Grammar School in my town, a fee paying boarding and day school and has a riverside walk named in his honour. He is the voice of the BBC's Eurovision Song Contest TV coverage taking over from the late Sir Terry Wogan.
I would call Monty Python's Flying Circus the absolute legend of British comedy. There were a lot of other good shows, but nothing quite like Monty Python. And its no coincidence that one of the Python guys, John Cleese, is also the main man in Fawlty Towers.. But of course there are also other famous examples of British comedy shows, like the Rowan Atkinson shows - Mr Bean, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line are the best examples. And also some other ones like Only Fools and Horses and Allo, Allo are legend. I'm sure we will see some of them in part 2 of the video. You should really search YT for those shows, there is plenty of clips around and its great fun.
UK TV leaves American TV in the dust! Twelve episodes of Fawlty Towers has been on repeats for decades and we never get tired of watching those twelve episodes! The cop series, The Bill, ran for 27 years, and Coronation Street, which began in 1960, is still running to this day!
@@drdelewded When East Enders did not win The ITV Award then you knew the game was crooked but,at least,we know,El Dorado is the obvious winner though they might give it to "United" which I remember,fondly,from 1965-67..
UK TV shows are normally written by one writer - for dramas and typically two for comedies. - The comedies benefit from having two people who can bounce ideas and jokes off each other. There are writers of both genres who have repeated successes. Because of the shorter runs of TV series in the UK and the amount of work a single or pair of writers can out out is limited so 6-12 per season would be normal. It's also normal for a TV drama to vary between 3 and 6 episodes only. In the US, even on a comedy series "created" by one or two writers, its entirely normal for them to have a "team" and its also quite normal for the creator to leave the show after a season or two and just receive money for a show that is entirely written by a team. These shows typically run for far too long and aren't taken off air until every penny can be wrung out of them. Partly because of the shorter seasons and the importance of the writers, and partly because of Fawlty Towers, many writers work to the 6 shows per season, 2 seasons and out. John Cleese who wrote Fawlty Towers with his wife was adamant that the show should stop before it ran out of ideas and just became a "product". You will hear many younger show creators referring ti this rule - Ricky Gervais is an example, McKenzie Crook (of the Office) did a show more recently called Detectorists, again, same rule, 6 episodes, two series and out - he was finally persuaded by public demand to do a third. He has done no more. This rule of not diluting shows by doing to many series is s much part of British culture, that often if a show that was loved announces its making another season, people will get upset. In the case of shows like Fleabag, people - myself included - were upset that a second season was announced. It had been such a perfect piece of art, it needed no followup. As it turned out, the second season was brilliant too, but people were nervous about it when it went to air. People just accept that a story is over, or characters have moved on.
Top Ten BBC shows for me: To the Manor Born Starring Penelope Keith (story of a rich woman who loses her house and land) Doctor who (1963 - 1989) (Time Travel - Peter Davison was the best Doctor) The Good Life - Starring Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith (four people living in a posh London suburb) Allo Allo (comedy set in France during WWII, makes fun of the English, the French and the Germans) Oh, Doctor Beaching (Comedy set in a railway station) Hi-De-Hi (same cast as Oh, Doctor Beaching, set in holiday camp) Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister - Paul Eddington (et in Whitehall and later number 10 Downing Street) The Two Ronnies (comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Corbet and Ronnie Barker) The Adventure Game (celebrity game set in space) All Creatures Great and Small Based on the vetenarian books by James Herriot. Talking about the oringinal starrting Peter Davison, ignore the remake).
I watched Fawltey Towers decades ago and can still repeat dozens of its classic lines. Very few comedy series ever made had the characters so fully developed and their lines were pure genius. John Cleese was a comedic genius. He was the same in real life. When it was over it was almost as bad as giving up an addiction. Watch it for real,and you will understand. Yes, it was at Seinfeld level but different. ❤
Yes Minister looks at the inner workings of UK government and the struggles between the MPs given departments to oversee, and the civil servants who have worked in those departments forever, know what they're talking about, and try to keep the status quo. Each episode ends with either a 'win' by the MP Jim Hacker, or by Permanent Secretary (civil servant in charge of a government department)Sir Humphrey Appleby, and also ended with Sir Humphrey agreeing to Jim's final order with 'Yes, Minister', sometimes through gritted teeth following a 'loss'. The political party is never mentioned, and is cleverly written so that we see right and left elements in the show. Civil servant Bernard Woolley was appointed as Jim's personal secretary, mainly to keep an eye on him by the civil service. Most times he sat quietly throughout the scene and ended up with the best line at the end. Yes, Minister ran for three series. It ended with a Christmas special where the civil service persuades him to run for party leadership and, therefore, become Prime Minister. Thus a natural sequel continued as Yes, Prime Minister with all of the main characters. The writers had MPs and civil servants advising them (anonymously), which made it extremely authentic. Paul Eddington (Jim Hacker, MP) was so good at showing thought processes on his face that some parts of dialogue were highlighted so Paul could do this rather than the characters have a short conversation. The result was funny, probably funnier than the dialogue. Nigel Hawthorne (Sir Humphrey Appleby) learnt many had many long-winded pieces of dialogue which he said as one unedited take. As as his character was a master of manipulation and obfuscation, using technical jorgon and circumlocations to baffle opponents, these were usually very convoluted. Derek Fowlds (Bernard Woolley) has said he would just sit there in awe watching the verbal sparring match between Paul and Nigel.
I'm 32 and was raised on many good old BBC comedy shows just not all of them! My favourites would be.. 1.Only fools & horses 2. One foot in the Grave 3. Keeping up appearances/ two ronnies. Harry Enfield and chums. Little Britain too if that was BBC? Panel show... mock the week definitely! Also Live at the Apollo for stand up! Lenny Henry was good too I thought! Best shows in general.. i would say Luther, Line of Duty, Sherlock. Graham Norton show. Jeckyll & Hyde was good little series back in around 06?
"The Les Dawson Show" was excellent, as were "Hancock's Half Hour", "Harry Worth", "Love Thy Neighbour", "Bless This House", "Please Sir", "Liver Birds".
Monty Python was extraordinary, but it was the heir of radio shows like The Goon Show and I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again (also featuring John Cleese, and others who starred in another oddball comedy show of the period, The Goodies).
I know much of your channel is geared toward the UK and I am english myself but I think you could throw in some Australian references now and again and still maintain your audience or even expand it. Many things about Australian or NZ humour for example english people laugh at too, and its all in the same language. Just a thought for your future.
It's not so much that British shows are so short. Rather it is that American shows are so long, and it's due to the pressure to get a show to 100 episodes so that it can be licensed out for syndication, which is where the really money is to be made in American television.
Aussies grew up watching all these shows on our television. Didn't realise they weren't shown in America. I have watched Fawlty Towers about 100 times!! Yes, Minister was followed by Yes, Prime Minister.
Not related to BBC, but related to Ricky Gervais, Karl pilkington and Stephen Marchent . It's really classy comedy ,you may have heard of , as at one time or maybe more . It was aired on sky TV. Take a look at Idiot Abroad. If you cannot find any funny moments in this , you must be an alien 😂 Loved all your reactive videos I've watched ,and it's lots. But you remind me of a character out of two comedies ,that spring to mind. Screech from "saved by the bell" Or the second eldest male in " third rock from the sun" , oh and it ain't made as an insult. Coz the work actors do ,is from I've seen , exhausting !! Top job ,keep the videos coming !!
One of the great characters in Yes Minister is the senior civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by Nigel Hawthorne, whose job is to look after minister Jim Hacker. He lives on in common speech, "the Sir Humphreys" is used to refer to the cabal of senior civil servants who really rule the country.
"Fawlty Towers" is based on a real hotel (The Hotel Gleneagles) and hotel owner (Donald Sinclair) in my hometown (Torquay) that the Monty Python gang stayed in when they were filming in the area. The Gleneagles fell into disrepair and was demolished over a decade ago, but a senior living facility was built on the site, and named after the actor (Andrew Sachs) who played the waiter, Manuel, in the series. How beloved is "Fawlty Towers"? The character of Basil Fawlty is practically a patron saint, almost like unto a god for everyone who has ever worked in the service sector of our tourist-trap home borough. Like a lot of British sitcoms, they tried to adapt it for American television, but they made three attempts over the decades, and all of them flopped. The most recent version was "Payne," starring John Larroquette, and it got the closest to nailing the feel of the original. As for "Monty Python's Flying Circus," it was heavily influenced by "The Goon Show," a radio comedy show featuring Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Ray Ellington, Max Geldray, Michael Bentine, and occasional guest stars. "The Goon Show" could get even more surreal than Monty Python because they were on the radio and didn't actually have to show anything, like treasure being buried six feet ABOVE the desert sands.
Monty Python movies:, Life of Brian, The Holy Grail, etc.. Monty Python adopted their style of humour from The Goons radio series, team members being Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Michael Bentine.
Our state-supported PBS network (UNC-TV) aired all of these wonderful BBC comedies, and many other great BBC shows, as early as the 60s, and continues to carry many British productions. I wonder that you have not encountered the PBS network's great programming. Every state has its own methods of supporting public TV. Meanwhile, some of these can be found on RUclips. One of my oldie favorites, "The Vicar of Dibley".
I have many American friends that I visit to play music with once a year. It seem that fans of 1960/70s music over there know of British comedy having started off with Monty Python and followed on to the modern day. They know of Blackadder, The Young Ones, Bottom etc
Fawlty Towers is a work of absolute genius. Fawlty a man with pretensions to social eminence, is a nervous wreck, falling apart before our eyes.....the comedy of embarrassment and compulsive disinhibition of an uptight manager is the hilarious focus. Cleese is "everyman" at these moments.....just f-king up big time. This tradition is given a more naturalistic - less surreal - take in The Office. Gervase is a supreme comic genius. The surreality of Fawlty Towers is a strain coming through from the earlier Monty Python...Yes Minister turns on the contrast between the elected politicians (Ministers) and their bright ideas and a permanent Civil Service (who have seen it all before, government after government!). These classics are rooted in Britain live theatre tradition which is hundreds of years in the making!
The US has Veep. Similar premise to Yes Minister. It was also written by Armando Iannucci as an adaption of his (far superior) The Thick of It, which itself is basically a more modern Yes Minister, but with a LOT more swears.
Fawlty Towers: the basic premise is that Basil Fawlty is insane. The best episodes that i remember are the ones with the Inspector of Hotels, and the one with the psychiatrist guest.
Blackadder (4 seasons), Fawlty Towers (2 seasons), The Young Ones, Mr Bean are all amazing BBC shows, Yes Minister and the seqial Yes Primeminister were political satire, Monty Python did at least 3 movies
Great channel, Tyler! You may not have realised but the comedian in Fawlty Towers that you thought you recognised was an older incarnation of the same John Cleese (of earlier Monty Python fame) who appeared a bit later in the dead parrot sketch. The unabashed favourite comedy of mine has to be the very intelligent Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister, though, with one of its innumerable comic highlights being the slightly risqué but timeless scene in one YPM episode about 'Who reads the papers?"... ruclips.net/video/l63aIA3e-Tc/видео.html
Terry Wogan was the king of the talk show. He was also the voice of The Eurovision Song Contest, both of which Graham has ably proved himself to be Wogan's worthy successor.
@elaines.8038 Personally couldn't stand Wogan as he never let a guest finish answering a question without making it all about him. Graham Norton is far superior imo and Michael Parkinson was the grandaddy of all talkshow hosts.
Heard an interview on BBC radio of a longtime BBC producer (name forgotten) who said that the hallmark of the 'classic Britcom' is 'if it weren't funny, it would be tragic.' Fawlty Towers, Steptoe and Son, even The Office fall into this category.
Graham Norton was originally an actor and comedian from County Cork in Ireland. He eventually started his own tslk show on British TV and it's become huge.
I think the best one I saw was with Mat Damon, Bill Murray and Hugh Bonneville. They all appear pissed and Matt Damon said "this was the best talk show I've ever been on!" It ends with them putting a singer across their laps and drinking champagne from one of her shoes!
@@brentwoodbayoh appearances did not receive. They apparently arrived from their film premier ' well oiled ' and then proceeded to continue the party on the sofa..they were trollied by the end.
If you haven't watched 'Fawlty Towers', watch it! John Cleese was due to stay at a hotel in Torquay (south coast town in England), but the manager was so rude, they all decided to leave...except for John Cleese, who was fascinated by the guy! Cleese then came up with Fawlty Towers
The premise of a good sitcom is a group of disparate people thrown together into a close-knit situation they are not equipped for and cannot easily escape from. This is why you get work environments, military units, prisons, single family homes, even space ships. Monty Python was so popular that at school, if you missed it the night before, you could quote it word for word by the end of the day just by listening to your mates.
Best thing about the bbc is the lack of ads - you have to pay for a tv license (until you’re a senior citizen) but if you’re watching the bbc there’s no ads - title run cards between shows/trailers for their own shows yes - but ads for products weren’t on bbc channels There were a bunch of things they had to agree to to maintain an semi-monopoly on British tv and most of it meant you got a good range of shows The quality of some of the props etc was poor but it usually meant that the concept for the show had to be solid and the script well paced and the characters well written/played. Prefer a scruffy but good show to a gold plated turd.
TYLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That tall guy throwing the dead parrot on the floor in Monty Python WAS the same Guy as The Hotel Owner in Fawlty Towers: JOHN CLEESE..😀 You were spot on, my friend in that FAWLTY TOWERS like THE OFFICE AND EXTRAS(Ricky Gervais's Second Sitcom Series) all went on, deliberately,for just TWO SERIES to leave the public wanting more and FAWLTY TOWERS is coming back soon after a 40+ absence with John Cleese once again at the helm. Most older viewers would have The Office/Monty Python and Fawlty Towers in their Top 5 so heaven knows what the Top 4 are as we can see "Luther" was Number 5. Only Fools and Horses will be one of the 4 but the others?
It HAS to be number 1. Not because I say so, not bcus watchmojo might deem it so. But the proof is in the pudding. Multiple surveys over the years have put Only fools as Britain's no.1 comedy/most loved show
"The United States should have a comedy based on the government" - the government in usa IS the comedy 😂 If this list doesn't have "Keeping up appearances", "Only Fools and Horses", "Goodnight Sweetheart", "One Foot in the Grave", "Mr Bean", "Birds of a Feather", "Vicar of Dibley", "Some mother's do have 'em", "The Young Ones", "Red Dwarf" ... I'm not sure how many of those are BBC based, but they are WAY more famous than The Office or Luther, and a staple of British television. I highly recommend checking them out!
I tink all of thse you've mentioned were BBC, apart from Red Dwarf (Channel 4). The other traditional main channel, (ITV), best known codey is probably Rising Damp
"Fawlty Towers" is the best and funniest ever British TV comedy. Only 12 episodes, but all excellent. Don't rely on clips or brief extracts (that would spoil it). Watch full episodes properly.
Graham Norton appeared in 'Father Ted' and... you should watch it. the handful of times he appeared were hilarious!! he also commentates on the Eurovision Song Contest - he just needs to be a little more cutting to match up to the late great Terry Wogan.
The best sitcoms are all about disparate people that are essentially forced to be together and unable to get away from each other e.g families ,workplace, neighbours etc... Porridge is probably the ultimate example 😄
As a Junior level Hotel manager when Fawlty Towers first emerged onto UK TV screens, I was working in a major 5 star hotel in London at the time. On each evening when this was shown, I knew from experience at my hotel, all of the Management team had a 30 minute break and laughed themselves silly at the show. This was repeated at other hotels across the UK. Within the Hotel trade Press, the general view held was that John Cleese had succeeded in getting the subject matter spot on. It was said after he only completed 12 episodes, that its end was partially down to the break-up with Connie Booth who was involved with the script writing, but Cleese also said that he had run out of ideas. The irony was at the time, that the hotel Industry as a whole then said that had he approached them, they would have supplied him with so many other stories and hotel based ideas, which would have kept him writing for many more years. There was a twist though in how Cleese did extend the Hotel "theme" He had his own Production company and he produced a whole series of Training Videos, for the Hotel and Hospitality Industry, covering varied departments as expected in every hotel, eg, Porters, Reception, Housekeeping, Bar, Restaurant and the Kitchens. Each film was around 40 minutes long, split into two halves; the first half showed him playing the dept character in the wrong way, being uncouth, rude, etc, then the second half showing how to do everything thing in the CORRECT manner. At the time too, he involved some of the best known Comedy actors of the time too, playing customers and other hotel staff, and the whole series of training films were shot at various Holiday Inns of the time in London. He later sold the Production company and also the rights to the Training films for a massive profit.
The amazing thing about Monty Python is its played by the same small group of people in different disguises and put on different voices, I think thats 1 reason why they are so funny even now as they all had so much talent. John Cleese that starred in Fawlty Towers had his on sketches of 'The Ministry of Silly walks' 🤣pure talent these guys. We also had The Goon Show on the radio back then with Spike Milligan.
LOL, the actor you think was in the office, is Martin Freeman, whom you most likely know as the Hobbit or as Dr.Watson to the modern Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock….
I remember several years ago working with someone who stayed in a hotel that normally has German guests. He old me one day the hotel showed the Fawlty Towers episode !The Germans". When he saw this come up. He buried his head in his hands and thought "oh s**t. He did say he was surprised as the German guests started laughing.
What made Yes Minster and then Yes Prime Minister (same characters in both) so amazing was that it was about the Main character who is (or at least starts as) a smart, hardworking, honest and earnest man whose goal is to represent the British people. He wants to bring in more modernisation and liberal changes to the establishment and truly believe in trying to make life better for the public who voted him and his promises in to office. AND a story about all the permanent behind-the-scenes staff who are very traditional and resistant to changing ‘how things are done’ and who truly have the real power in day-to-day government. They just view the ever-rotating door of Ministers who are voted in and out by the public as a necessary annoyance, to be humoured and babysat until they are listed out and the next one arrives. All while they get on with the actual running of the country run ‘properly’ despite how the Ministers and the public think it should be. The tension as you watch both battle over every tiny little thing is brilliant and amusing to watch. The sharp and witty script paired with perfect casting just made the show incredibly smart yet funny.
Faulty Towers is hilarious. An era of physical comedy and witty lines. British humor as you say has a lot of irony but is also a bit raunchy. Many of these comedies were made at a time when they didn’t have to worry about Woke police. Luther is more modern and a fairly dark drama.
BBC not so popular now, people do not want to pay a tv license any more. Martin Freeman of Office also in The Hobbit. Extras was after The Office. We loved Monty Python when I was at School. We had so many phrases like "No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition".
@jaybrooke5571; I'd pay a license if it wasn't mandatory as it's good value if compared to other subscription-based services. The BBC has masses of classic old content as well as new and it's far preferable to watch live programmes without advert breaks ruining the feeling of a programme. Where I object to the BBC license is when you have to have one, by law, to watch ANY live programmes, including streaming on youtube etc, and if you have already paid a separate subscription to watch e.g. BT live sport.
I love that within the first minute or so there's already two comedy giants I recognise without question. Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder and John Cleese in... well... literally anything just make comedy
Graham Norton started his life on a VERY late night X rated game show 2nd in Command host. His talent shone through even then. You could tell he would go far.
He started on the comedy circuit in London, doing radio and bit parts on various shows like Father Ted. He covered for Jack Docherty on his daily chat show whilst Jack was on holiday. Graham was far better received than Jack ( who has since sunk without trace ! ) and Graham hasn't looked back since. His chat chow So Graham Norton was hilarious but very, very rude.
A BBC show which is still running after 60 odd years is Blue Peter a kids magazine show which used to be twice weekly and the Early presenters like John Noakes are Legends Noakes was the programmes daredevil and its worth looking at his exploits. Including his sign out with Lulu the Baby Elephant on the live show. Also his Ascent of the ornate India Mills chimney in Darwen Lancashire, just down the road from where we lived when we were very young. And he had no protection unlike in the modern generation including being insured for the task! Another show which had us in stitches but not on the BBC was Drop the Dead Donkey about a fictional TV news channel with a talented cast... And on the same channel Father Ted which rolled out a few years later Lastly the BBC had People like Frank Spencer, Alf Garnett, Morecambe & Wise and the Early Dr Who episodes guaranteed to swipe the Audience figures from the ITV network wholesale! So there's a tiny bit of homework for you Tyler. You'll enjoy what those names lead to. 😊
We were lucky in Australia to get so much British comedy here. Absolutely brilliant comedy. You can watch it over and over and still crack up laughing 😂
Canada as well, we got a mix of US and UK... And our own (SCTV, kids in the hall, Trailer park boys etc)
They had it on the local PBS stations in the states but just not on the main networks, I think the only things that got on the main networks were things like "The Avengers" & "The Tom Jones Show" as a couple examples.
@@gavinhall6040 Yeah it was on the local cable access channels mainly.. Or reruns late at night
Where's part 2?
I'm hoping 'only fools & horses' is number one
The Fawlty Towers episode was called “The Germans. In the episode, while suffering the effects of concussion, Basil Fawlty repeatedly offends some German guests. Despite warning his staff "Don't mention the war", he keeps ignoring his own advice.
"I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it alright"
When Fawlty Towers was first show in Germany there where many complaints, because that episode was not shown.
@@JohnImrie 🤣 my Sister in Law is from Bavaria, she thinks the episode is hilarious, also during one Christmas, the Great Escape came on TV, my parents panicked trying to find the remote to turn it off, she just said it’s part of both our history and the British shouldn’t be embarrassed about winning the war
"Who won the bloody war anyway!"
Its criminal the way the clip show gutted that joke. It shows the punchline without any of the setup.
They just needed to show the next line fro the distraught German exclaiming
Basil: "it's funny!"
German: "Its not funny for any German!"
Most tv in the UK only do 6 to 8 episodes per season and usually don't flog them to death over endless episodes and seasons. You are right 'leave them wanting more' is the prevailing thought
Oldest Show Business Adage:)
Hence the reason the writing is so good.
One of Fawlty Towers' jokes was how the letters on the sign at the start were never arranged correctly so it always spelled something unique and stupid to get us laughing immediately.
hehe "Farty Towels" is my favourite one :)
Flowery T*ats was another one, had me rolling.
I see you have joined in the fun by spelling "Fawlty Towers' "....."Fawlty Toweres" so 😷 :
Watery Fowls. Flay Otters.
I wish they would have continued the clip about the pet shop owner insisting that the parrot was not dead, when the buyer says, "He would be pushing up the daisies by now if you hadn't nailed his feet to the perch," Fifty years later, and it's still hilarious!
You've stunned him!
He's pining for the fjords
This parrot wouldn't voom if you put four million volts through it.
@@Ngamotu83 beautiful plumage, though!
@@SgtAntenor
"He's pining for the fjords" - What kind of talk is that?
I loved Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. The scripts were so clever and funny. It's well worth trying to find whole episodes, it's hilarious. Fawlty Towers was brilliant too especially the episode about Manuel's pet rat and the health inspector. Australia has had a lot of British TV series.
Still one of my all-time favourite programmes and I regularly rewatch.
Best part was meeting someone who worked in the civil service way back when who said despite it being a comedy, it really wasn't far from the truth.
Our Australian Prime Minister at the time, Bob Hawke used to watch it. When the actor ( sorry forgotten name at the moment) came to Australia Bob invited him into his office and sit in his chair! It was shown on the news. 😊
Every politician said "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Primeminister" (the sequel) was so on the nose it was scary, yet it was hilarious... Well worth watching....
I love it. It's so relevant today as well.
I used to find it funny. I don't any more - too realistic.
Well written and so well acted, some of the stuff turned out so accurate
Timeless. More a documentary on the workings of UK government, than a sit-com.
The writers were being secretly informed by a former British politician. But when it became a hit, both sides came to them with their stories!
One of the interesting things about Fawlty Towers is that John Cleese wrote a very condensed script which made each episode almost a double episode (so 12 episodes with 24 episodes worth of content) each holding on average 2 intertwined storys which usually collide. It was based on a hotel and owner who the monty python team stayed with. The reason for the short run was that Cleese was exploring themes of British sociatal taboos but didnt want to start repeating plots and ideas so he finished the show and went onto a new project.
Yes Minister became Yes Prime Minister when the character became PM, the other famous Show that satired the Government and famous people was Spitting Image, there are a number of comedies and shows which poke fun at politics and also poke fun at religion
That and his marriage to Connie Booth fell apart in between the two series. Ironically he thought it would help their marriage to work and write together.
Fawlty Towers returning soon with JC and his real life daughter!
extra little trivia for you... fawlty towers was sold around the world, in germany they only ever broadcast 11 episodes for obvious reasons... and in the spanish dubbed version, manuel was portrayed as italian
Fawlty Towers essentially contains all the classic elements of a farce. Multiple plot lines, people speaking very quickly and frequently misunderstanding each others, characters dashing in and out of doorways.......
The current UK Government is a comedy, it would be laughable if it was not so serious.
Basil sees Manuel carrying three trays
Basil: Manuel, there's too much food on those trays
Manuel: Qué?
Basil becomes irritated pointing at the trays in turn
Basil: There is too much food ON... THOSE... TRAYS
Manual responds repeating the pointing gesture at the trays
Manuel: No, no, no Mr Fawlty it is 'uno, dos, tres'
He won't get that joke. (Tyler)
On... Those...Trays...
= "Spanglish" for One...Two...Three...
Then Manuel tries to correct mr Fawlty in proper Spanish ;
Uno, dos, tres....
Try Allo allo.....set in a French Cafe during WW2. All Nations had the piss taken (incl' us Brits) out of them!
Took a few episodes to get going, but turned into an absolute Classic.
You'd have to know at least some of British humour to get the jokes and situations etc.
Allo! Allo! was based on a (serious) wartime drama series called 'Secret Army, dealing with British spies in WW2. Amazing how it became the inspiration for a comedy series.
I like how you recognised Mackenzie Crook from The Office, but failed to notice the incredible Martin Freeman! 😂What a ledge.
5.18 the goose-stepping clip from Fawlty Towers is one of the most famous of all TV comedy routines now, especially the turn.
I can’t believe you’ve never seen any of the Classic British Comedy’s , we have them all the time here in Australia we never get tired of the it’s full of laughter even if you’d seen it before , “Keeping up Appearances “ “ Vicar of Dibley “ “A fine Romance “ “The good life “the list goes on Tyler have a trial watch for a belly laugh🤣🤷♀️
In the Graham Norton show they have great interactions lasting almost an hour and being on the BBC are never interrupted by commercials. On the political comedies, some script writers recently said that the reality (e.g. Trump & Johnson) is so bananas that whatever they might come up with would end up more tame than actual events.
With no commercial breaks on the BBC a programme can develop and flow smoothly with no annoying interruptions, unlike American tv. In fact some of the greatest BBC shows were slow starters in terms of audience figures, Only Fools And Horses, being a prime example. The first series didn't have massive audiences, but the BBC could see its potential and stuck with it, and it became one of the most popular comedy shows ever. I doubt an American network would do the same because without big audiences from the start there'd be a lack of interest from advertisers and the programme would be scrapped.
Blackadder,Red Dwarf,Fawlty Towers,Porridge & Monty Python Flying Circus are THE all time greatest British comedies and I will die on this hill
Liked Porridge.abnd Fawlty Towers. but what about The Two Ronnies, thery where hilarious.and one of the best was “Keeping up Appearances “ "and Only Fools and Horses with David Jason
@@veronicawilliams7427 I would add "One foot in the grave" too
Bottom, the young ones??
@@jessicapayne8622 loved the young ones but wouldn't consider it top tier (imo) and Bottom never interested me
@@SianBingeboss 😳 these are words I know not of!!! It’s slapstick toilet humour. Smutty filth and childishness. X
Fawlty Towers should be at the top of anyone's list of 'Comedy Shows I Haven't Watched, But Need To'. (Unless, of course they have already seen it.)
Not only is it a small body of work, but it is comedy so good that there is no way that it could be made now, given how easily some people are offended.
Do yourself a huge favour, dude, and watch it. You'll not only laugh, you'll learn more about the British psyche than 100 episodes of anything else would teach you.
Yes and these people that are so easily offended, are not necessarily correct, it's their opinion, which of course they are entitled to.
@@stevepage5813 The reasonable response to seeing a show you are offended by is to not watch it.
“The Office”
The actor on the right was McKenzie Crook from “Pirates of the Caribbean”
The one on the left was Martin Freeman, who played Bilbo Baggins in the 3 “Hobbit” movies
Note: The predecessors to Monty Python, "Do Not Adjust You Set" and "At Last The 1948 Show", were both on ITV. BUT the predecessor to the predecessors, "I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again", was on BBC radio. Detail on Wikipedia. Radio was a huge force in comedy in the UK.
You know your stuff.I am a mere Goon compared to thee...
@@Isleofskye Our house had electricity installed in the early 1950s and along with it came piped radio via Rediffusion. Downside - only two channels, there were four but we only had two (cost?). Upside - the radio (Light programme) was always on and the quality was very good (for the time). So I listened to all of the comedy programmes Goons, Jimmy Clitheroe, Al Read, Ken Dodd, The Navy Lark, Beyond Our Ken, Take It From Here, Hancock's Half Hour etc. etc.
Net result is I have ingrained silliness (just look at my avatar 😄)
@@sharonsnail2954 lol. Me too.I have a real sense of the ridiculous and absurd. If I see something unusual then I will try to add to the absurdity or try to create it.
The three of us(All between 55 and 69(me) saw these 3 Female students in the distance and spaced ourselves out at 30-yard intervals and as the 3 Ladies went past these 3 students, my Mate said "Good day to you" which surprised them and they started giggling as they walked on.Then my next mate said a cheery "Good Morning" again with no warning at all and he carried on walking and they were looking at each other and,finally, I gave the impression I was going to walk past them and at the last moment , I smiled at them and said "It's a lovely day" without waiting for an answer and they turned round and all 3 of us continued as if we did not know each other and that was in a London Borough:)
@@sharonsnail2954 Round the Horne & Beyond the Ken were also brilliant.
@Tyler Rumple
We had "Steptoe & Son", which you dragged over the pond as "Sanford & Son".
Our "Man About the House" became your "Three's Company".
Our "Please Sir" became "Welcome Back Kotter".
Monty Python the dead parrot sketch is still hilarious.
It is amazing how few episodes need to be made to create a classic show. "The Office" (which I never liked personally) in UK 2 seasons of 6 shows with 2 Christmas specials so 14 shows total. In US 9 season with total of 201 episodes. There are always exceptions, but it is amazing when you look back as some of the great comedy shows just how few episodes were actually made. Also, a lot of the comedy shows would have ONLY been 30-minutes long.
Personally I absolutely HATE The Office. But loved Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister
Same here. I don't know why everyone is so obsessed with the damn thing. Really, I don't. Give me Hacker and his friends any day of the week.
I don't find Ricky Gervais at all funny, but I like him as a person.
I never did understand why anyone thought The Office was funny.
@@monicawarner4091because it's funny. But hey some people think Mrs Brown's Boys is funny.
@@stingersplash • To each his own. You found it funny, I found it cringeworthy. We agree about "Mrs Brown's Boys."
Graham Norton is the most popular talk show host today, and over the past decade or more. Before him, and perhaps even more popular, often equally funny, and also attracting top celebrities (eg Muhammed Ali several times, Helen Mirren, Orson Wells, Meg Ryan, the Beckhams, Billy Connolly) for a total of 50 years up to 2007, was Michael Parkinson.
Parkinson had REAL, intense, probing 50+ minute interviews. Graham is more Light Entertainment, as you know like Jonathan Ross.
Wogan/Harty/Clive James and various others also did this.
@sameebah What did old Parky do?
Personally I don't watch this stuff. It's just people coming on to promote stuff. No thanks.
I love “upstairs downstairs” the original tv series. And “to serve them all my days.” Sooooo good!!!!!!!!!
And of course “are you being served?”
After watching your reaction, here are my recommendations - check out the Monty Python film The life of Brian, this is the story of Jesus as told by the Monty Python team, the Blackadder series were epic, each Season covering the lineage of the Blackadder Sons. My favourite Season will be that including Queenie, played brilliantly by Miranda Richardson (the fourth and final season was set during WW2). The final scene you ended on was from one of my favourite shows The Young Ones. Honorable mentions who should've been included are French and Saunders and Last of the Summer Wine which ran for years.
Fawlty Towers is a masterpiece. Here in Canada, we had access to many BBC productions. Mr. Bean is also a true classic.
«Fawlty Towers» is fantastic. I love it. I live in Norway and it was shown alot in the 80s and 90s.
Yes Minister then became Yes Prime Minister. It's a very clever comedy.
Graham Norton (real name Walker) comes from County Cork, IE. He went to the Grammar School in my town, a fee paying boarding and day school and has a riverside walk named in his honour. He is the voice of the BBC's Eurovision Song Contest TV coverage taking over from the late Sir Terry Wogan.
Who was a Limerick man himself.
I would call Monty Python's Flying Circus the absolute legend of British comedy. There were a lot of other good shows, but nothing quite like Monty Python. And its no coincidence that one of the Python guys, John Cleese, is also the main man in Fawlty Towers..
But of course there are also other famous examples of British comedy shows, like the Rowan Atkinson shows - Mr Bean, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line are the best examples.
And also some other ones like Only Fools and Horses and Allo, Allo are legend. I'm sure we will see some of them in part 2 of the video.
You should really search YT for those shows, there is plenty of clips around and its great fun.
I'll be blown away if Only Fools & Horses isn't #1
@@jt5765 Hopefully, it'll be the one where Del falls through the open hatch on the bar!
@@robcrossgrove7927 that 8s the episode also etched into my memory 🤣
I liked "The Goodies".
UK TV leaves American TV in the dust! Twelve episodes of Fawlty Towers has been on repeats for decades and we never get tired of watching those twelve episodes! The cop series, The Bill, ran for 27 years, and Coronation Street, which began in 1960, is still running to this day!
Yeah the key is always innovative after a few years
Fawlty Towers IS returning:)
Whats surprised me is Coronation Street won't make this list.
@@drdelewded When East Enders did not win The ITV Award then you knew the game was crooked but,at least,we know,El Dorado is the obvious winner though they might give it to "United" which I remember,fondly,from 1965-67..
@@Isleofskye I just meant I didn't know that Coronation St wasn't a BBC thing.
UK TV shows are normally written by one writer - for dramas and typically two for comedies. - The comedies benefit from having two people who can bounce ideas and jokes off each other. There are writers of both genres who have repeated successes.
Because of the shorter runs of TV series in the UK and the amount of work a single or pair of writers can out out is limited so 6-12 per season would be normal. It's also normal for a TV drama to vary between 3 and 6 episodes only. In the US, even on a comedy series "created" by one or two writers, its entirely normal for them to have a "team" and its also quite normal for the creator to leave the show after a season or two and just receive money for a show that is entirely written by a team. These shows typically run for far too long and aren't taken off air until every penny can be wrung out of them.
Partly because of the shorter seasons and the importance of the writers, and partly because of Fawlty Towers, many writers work to the 6 shows per season, 2 seasons and out. John Cleese who wrote Fawlty Towers with his wife was adamant that the show should stop before it ran out of ideas and just became a "product". You will hear many younger show creators referring ti this rule - Ricky Gervais is an example, McKenzie Crook (of the Office) did a show more recently called Detectorists, again, same rule, 6 episodes, two series and out - he was finally persuaded by public demand to do a third. He has done no more.
This rule of not diluting shows by doing to many series is s much part of British culture, that often if a show that was loved announces its making another season, people will get upset. In the case of shows like Fleabag, people - myself included - were upset that a second season was announced. It had been such a perfect piece of art, it needed no followup. As it turned out, the second season was brilliant too, but people were nervous about it when it went to air. People just accept that a story is over, or characters have moved on.
Top Ten BBC shows for me:
To the Manor Born Starring Penelope Keith (story of a rich woman who loses her house and land)
Doctor who (1963 - 1989) (Time Travel - Peter Davison was the best Doctor)
The Good Life - Starring Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith (four people living in a posh London suburb)
Allo Allo (comedy set in France during WWII, makes fun of the English, the French and the Germans)
Oh, Doctor Beaching (Comedy set in a railway station)
Hi-De-Hi (same cast as Oh, Doctor Beaching, set in holiday camp)
Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister - Paul Eddington (et in Whitehall and later number 10 Downing Street)
The Two Ronnies (comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Corbet and Ronnie Barker)
The Adventure Game (celebrity game set in space)
All Creatures Great and Small Based on the vetenarian books by James Herriot. Talking about the oringinal starrting Peter Davison, ignore the remake).
Faulty Towers was classic. Still laugh hysterically, even though I know what's coming.
You could make an entire video reacting to Monty Python's sketches.
No Monty Python is overrated.
@@williambailey344
You took the words right out of my mouth.
Have you come here for an argument?
@@meme4013 no but I’ll have one.
@@slightlymaddog no you won't 😉😂
I watched Fawltey Towers decades ago and can still repeat dozens of its classic lines. Very few comedy series ever made had the characters so fully developed and their lines were pure genius. John Cleese was a comedic genius. He was the same in real life. When it was over it was almost as bad as giving up an addiction. Watch it for real,and you will understand. Yes, it was at Seinfeld level but different. ❤
Weird I have only just found you today and subscribed and watched many videos and was about to suggest you make this video! 😜🥰
Yes Minister looks at the inner workings of UK government and the struggles between the MPs given departments to oversee, and the civil servants who have worked in those departments forever, know what they're talking about, and try to keep the status quo. Each episode ends with either a 'win' by the MP Jim Hacker, or by Permanent Secretary (civil servant in charge of a government department)Sir Humphrey Appleby, and also ended with Sir Humphrey agreeing to Jim's final order with 'Yes, Minister', sometimes through gritted teeth following a 'loss'. The political party is never mentioned, and is cleverly written so that we see right and left elements in the show.
Civil servant Bernard Woolley was appointed as Jim's personal secretary, mainly to keep an eye on him by the civil service. Most times he sat quietly throughout the scene and ended up with the best line at the end.
Yes, Minister ran for three series. It ended with a Christmas special where the civil service persuades him to run for party leadership and, therefore, become Prime Minister. Thus a natural sequel continued as Yes, Prime Minister with all of the main characters.
The writers had MPs and civil servants advising them (anonymously), which made it extremely authentic. Paul Eddington (Jim Hacker, MP) was so good at showing thought processes on his face that some parts of dialogue were highlighted so Paul could do this rather than the characters have a short conversation. The result was funny, probably funnier than the dialogue.
Nigel Hawthorne (Sir Humphrey Appleby) learnt many had many long-winded pieces of dialogue which he said as one unedited take. As as his character was a master of manipulation and obfuscation, using technical jorgon and circumlocations to baffle opponents, these were usually very convoluted.
Derek Fowlds (Bernard Woolley) has said he would just sit there in awe watching the verbal sparring match between Paul and Nigel.
I'm 32 and was raised on many good old BBC comedy shows just not all of them!
My favourites would be..
1.Only fools & horses
2. One foot in the Grave
3. Keeping up appearances/ two ronnies. Harry Enfield and chums.
Little Britain too if that was BBC?
Panel show... mock the week definitely! Also Live at the Apollo for stand up!
Lenny Henry was good too I thought!
Best shows in general.. i would say Luther, Line of Duty, Sherlock. Graham Norton show. Jeckyll & Hyde was good little series back in around 06?
"The Les Dawson Show" was excellent, as were "Hancock's Half Hour", "Harry Worth", "Love Thy Neighbour", "Bless This House", "Please Sir", "Liver Birds".
Monty Python was extraordinary, but it was the heir of radio shows like The Goon Show and I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again (also featuring John Cleese, and others who starred in another oddball comedy show of the period, The Goodies).
@majkus; Beyond the Fringe as well
I know much of your channel is geared toward the UK and I am english myself but I think you could throw in some Australian references now and again and still maintain your audience or even expand it. Many things about Australian or NZ humour for example english people laugh at too, and its all in the same language. Just a thought for your future.
It's not so much that British shows are so short. Rather it is that American shows are so long, and it's due to the pressure to get a show to 100 episodes so that it can be licensed out for syndication, which is where the really money is to be made in American television.
British sense of humour here. Half way through a Top 10, Tyler asks how many have been done. I assume we've done 5.
Yes, I was thinking the same.
Sums him up rather don't you think?
@@stevepage5813• 👍😂😂
Aussies grew up watching all these shows on our television. Didn't realise they weren't shown in America. I have watched Fawlty Towers about 100 times!! Yes, Minister was followed by Yes, Prime Minister.
Not related to BBC, but related to Ricky Gervais, Karl pilkington and Stephen Marchent .
It's really classy comedy ,you may have heard of , as at one time or maybe more .
It was aired on sky TV. Take a look at Idiot Abroad. If you cannot find any funny moments in this , you must be an alien 😂
Loved all your reactive videos I've watched ,and it's lots.
But you remind me of a character out of two comedies ,that spring to mind.
Screech from "saved by the bell"
Or the second eldest male in " third rock from the sun" , oh and it ain't made as an insult. Coz the work actors do ,is from I've seen , exhausting !! Top job ,keep the videos coming !!
One of the great characters in Yes Minister is the senior civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by Nigel Hawthorne, whose job is to look after minister Jim Hacker. He lives on in common speech, "the Sir Humphreys" is used to refer to the cabal of senior civil servants who really rule the country.
“Still Game” is hilarious
"Fawlty Towers" is based on a real hotel (The Hotel Gleneagles) and hotel owner (Donald Sinclair) in my hometown (Torquay) that the Monty Python gang stayed in when they were filming in the area. The Gleneagles fell into disrepair and was demolished over a decade ago, but a senior living facility was built on the site, and named after the actor (Andrew Sachs) who played the waiter, Manuel, in the series.
How beloved is "Fawlty Towers"? The character of Basil Fawlty is practically a patron saint, almost like unto a god for everyone who has ever worked in the service sector of our tourist-trap home borough.
Like a lot of British sitcoms, they tried to adapt it for American television, but they made three attempts over the decades, and all of them flopped. The most recent version was "Payne," starring John Larroquette, and it got the closest to nailing the feel of the original.
As for "Monty Python's Flying Circus," it was heavily influenced by "The Goon Show," a radio comedy show featuring Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Ray Ellington, Max Geldray, Michael Bentine, and occasional guest stars. "The Goon Show" could get even more surreal than Monty Python because they were on the radio and didn't actually have to show anything, like treasure being buried six feet ABOVE the desert sands.
Yes minister is so good. Such an amazing and clever show.
Monty Python movies:, Life of Brian, The Holy Grail, etc..
Monty Python adopted their style of humour from The Goons radio series, team members being Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Michael Bentine.
Spike being the catalyst for everything we know today.
Jabberwocky wasn't a Python movie.
@@davidkeenan5642 Oops! You’re right!
I love Fawlty Towers, only 12 episodes and they're all such classics.
Our state-supported PBS network (UNC-TV) aired all of these wonderful BBC comedies, and many other great BBC shows, as early as the 60s, and continues to carry many British productions. I wonder that you have not encountered the PBS network's great programming. Every state has its own methods of supporting public TV. Meanwhile, some of these can be found on RUclips. One of my oldie favorites, "The Vicar of Dibley".
Best episode on the vicar of Dibley is when she goes out with Simon and jumps in the puddle or the Christmas special where she eats 3 Xmas dinners
You should definitely do a reaction series to Fawlty Towers - it’s fantastic!
I have many American friends that I visit to play music with once a year. It seem that fans of 1960/70s music over there know of British comedy having started off with Monty Python and followed on to the modern day. They know of Blackadder, The Young Ones, Bottom etc
@kenslater7354; The late great Rik Mayall in all three :(
Fawlty Towers is a work of absolute genius. Fawlty a man with pretensions to social eminence, is a nervous wreck, falling apart before our eyes.....the comedy of embarrassment and compulsive disinhibition of an uptight manager is the hilarious focus. Cleese is "everyman" at these moments.....just f-king up big time.
This tradition is given a more naturalistic - less surreal - take in The Office. Gervase is a supreme comic genius. The surreality of Fawlty Towers is a strain coming through from the earlier Monty Python...Yes Minister turns on the contrast between the elected politicians (Ministers) and their bright ideas and a permanent Civil Service (who have seen it all before, government after government!). These classics are rooted in Britain live theatre tradition which is hundreds of years in the making!
The US has Veep. Similar premise to Yes Minister. It was also written by Armando Iannucci as an adaption of his (far superior) The Thick of It, which itself is basically a more modern Yes Minister, but with a LOT more swears.
Re the Office… when you said you recognised the guy on the right…. Well the guy on the left went on to become The Hobbit!
Love watching Faulty Towers...soo..ridiculously funny😂
Not forgetting The Young Ones 👍🇬🇧
Yeah
Cornfakes cornfakes cornflakes.Cornflakes cornflakes cornflakes.Cornnflakes cornflakes.Corn...flakes.
Fawlty Towers: the basic premise is that Basil Fawlty is insane. The best episodes that i remember are the ones with the Inspector of Hotels, and the one with the psychiatrist guest.
Blackadder (4 seasons), Fawlty Towers (2 seasons), The Young Ones, Mr Bean are all amazing BBC shows, Yes Minister and the seqial Yes Primeminister were political satire, Monty Python did at least 3 movies
Great channel, Tyler!
You may not have realised but the comedian in Fawlty Towers that you thought you recognised was an older incarnation of the same John Cleese (of earlier Monty Python fame) who appeared a bit later in the dead parrot sketch.
The unabashed favourite comedy of mine has to be the very intelligent Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister, though, with one of its innumerable comic highlights being the slightly risqué but timeless scene in one YPM episode about 'Who reads the papers?"...
ruclips.net/video/l63aIA3e-Tc/видео.html
I think it's fair to say there were more misses than hits with Monty Python, but some of it was very funny.
My favourite will always be the How Not To Be Seen and the Lumberjack song!
@@TerryTheNewsGirl Ripping Yarns I loved too, but you don't often see that mentioned any more.
Terry Wogan was the king of the talk show. He was also the voice of The Eurovision Song Contest, both of which Graham has ably proved himself to be Wogan's worthy successor.
@elaines.8038 Personally couldn't stand Wogan as he never let a guest finish answering a question without making it all about him. Graham Norton is far superior imo and Michael Parkinson was the grandaddy of all talkshow hosts.
Heard an interview on BBC radio of a longtime BBC producer (name forgotten) who said that the hallmark of the 'classic Britcom' is 'if it weren't funny, it would be tragic.' Fawlty Towers, Steptoe and Son, even The Office fall into this category.
you absolutely have to watch Fawlty Towers and Luther, both brilliant in different ways.
Graham Norton was originally an actor and comedian from County Cork in Ireland. He eventually started his own tslk show on British TV and it's become huge.
I think the best one I saw was with Mat Damon, Bill Murray and Hugh Bonneville. They all appear pissed and Matt Damon said "this was the best talk show I've ever been on!" It ends with them putting a singer across their laps and drinking champagne from one of her shoes!
@@brentwoodbayoh appearances did not receive. They apparently arrived from their film premier ' well oiled ' and then proceeded to continue the party on the sofa..they were trollied by the end.
17:50 - that sounded almost like a quote of Kenny Everett - "all done in the best possible taste!"
You've got to react to a 'Yes Minister' and/or 'Yes Prime Minister'. You'll love it!!!
He really would.
Tyler have alook at After life. It's very very dark but really, really funny at times, just brilliant
Absolutely Fabulous! LOL! OMG! That show was a riot!
Fawlty towers, Yes minster and Montey Python's flying Circus are pure masterpieces!
"I know English very well I learned it from a book"
If you haven't watched 'Fawlty Towers', watch it! John Cleese was due to stay at a hotel in Torquay (south coast town in England), but the manager was so rude, they all decided to leave...except for John Cleese, who was fascinated by the guy! Cleese then came up with Fawlty Towers
The premise of a good sitcom is a group of disparate people thrown together into a close-knit situation they are not equipped for and cannot easily escape from. This is why you get work environments, military units, prisons, single family homes, even space ships.
Monty Python was so popular that at school, if you missed it the night before, you could quote it word for word by the end of the day just by listening to your mates.
Best thing about the bbc is the lack of ads - you have to pay for a tv license (until you’re a senior citizen) but if you’re watching the bbc there’s no ads - title run cards between shows/trailers for their own shows yes - but ads for products weren’t on bbc channels
There were a bunch of things they had to agree to to maintain an semi-monopoly on British tv and most of it meant you got a good range of shows
The quality of some of the props etc was poor but it usually meant that the concept for the show had to be solid and the script well paced and the characters well written/played.
Prefer a scruffy but good show to a gold plated turd.
TYLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That tall guy throwing the dead parrot on the floor in Monty Python WAS the same Guy as The Hotel Owner in Fawlty Towers: JOHN CLEESE..😀
You were spot on, my friend in that FAWLTY TOWERS like THE OFFICE AND EXTRAS(Ricky Gervais's Second Sitcom Series) all went on, deliberately,for just TWO SERIES to leave the public wanting more and FAWLTY TOWERS is coming back soon after a 40+ absence with John Cleese once again at the helm. Most older viewers would have The Office/Monty Python and Fawlty Towers in their Top 5 so heaven knows what the Top 4 are as we can see "Luther" was Number 5. Only Fools and Horses will be one of the 4 but the others?
I loved Fawlty Towers when I was growing up in the UK. Great cast, great plots and wonderful silliness.
Only Fools And Horses must be in the top 5
I liked it until I saw the bar scene got repeated on shows ad infinitum. Then I got fed up with the damn thing and hope never to see it again.
@@TerryTheNewsGirl😢
It HAS to be number 1. Not because I say so, not bcus watchmojo might deem it so. But the proof is in the pudding. Multiple surveys over the years have put Only fools as Britain's no.1 comedy/most loved show
@@CragusMaximus what about doctor who?
"The United States should have a comedy based on the government" - the government in usa IS the comedy 😂
If this list doesn't have "Keeping up appearances", "Only Fools and Horses", "Goodnight Sweetheart", "One Foot in the Grave", "Mr Bean", "Birds of a Feather", "Vicar of Dibley", "Some mother's do have 'em", "The Young Ones", "Red Dwarf" ... I'm not sure how many of those are BBC based, but they are WAY more famous than The Office or Luther, and a staple of British television. I highly recommend checking them out!
I tink all of thse you've mentioned were BBC, apart from Red Dwarf (Channel 4). The other traditional main channel, (ITV), best known codey is probably Rising Damp
"Fawlty Towers" is the best and funniest ever British TV comedy. Only 12 episodes, but all excellent. Don't rely on clips or brief extracts (that would spoil it). Watch full episodes properly.
The best... well, there is strong competition, though. Like Blackadder, or Allo,Allo for example.
Graham Norton appeared in 'Father Ted' and... you should watch it. the handful of times he appeared were hilarious!!
he also commentates on the Eurovision Song Contest - he just needs to be a little more cutting to match up to the late great Terry Wogan.
Can't stand Graham Norton
@@Tony-c7z9t Couldn't stand Wogan but love Graham Norton.
@@secondtimearound2539 don't take much to get you going then does it
The best sitcoms are all about disparate people that are essentially forced to be together and unable to get away from each other e.g families ,workplace, neighbours etc... Porridge is probably the ultimate example 😄
Graham Norton is brilliant and he also writes wonderful books
His wine isn’t bad either 🍷
As a Junior level Hotel manager when Fawlty Towers first emerged onto UK TV screens, I was working in a major 5 star hotel in London at the time. On each evening when this was shown, I knew from experience at my hotel, all of the Management team had a 30 minute break and laughed themselves silly at the show. This was repeated at other hotels across the UK. Within the Hotel trade Press, the general view held was that John Cleese had succeeded in getting the subject matter spot on.
It was said after he only completed 12 episodes, that its end was partially down to the break-up with Connie Booth who was involved with the script writing, but Cleese also said that he had run out of ideas. The irony was at the time, that the hotel Industry as a whole then said that had he approached them, they would have supplied him with so many other stories and hotel based ideas, which would have kept him writing for many more years.
There was a twist though in how Cleese did extend the Hotel "theme" He had his own Production company and he produced a whole series of Training Videos, for the Hotel and Hospitality Industry, covering varied departments as expected in every hotel, eg, Porters, Reception, Housekeeping, Bar, Restaurant and the Kitchens. Each film was around 40 minutes long, split into two halves; the first half showed him playing the dept character in the wrong way, being uncouth, rude, etc, then the second half showing how to do everything thing in the CORRECT manner.
At the time too, he involved some of the best known Comedy actors of the time too, playing customers and other hotel staff, and the whole series of training films were shot at various Holiday Inns of the time in London. He later sold the Production company and also the rights to the Training films for a massive profit.
Fawlty Towers was an absolute classic. Yes everyday life makes the best comedy. I’m from Australia and this show was very well known.
The episode when Fawlty beats his car with a tiny branch from a tree is hilarious 🤣
The amazing thing about Monty Python is its played by the same small group of people in different disguises and put on different voices, I think thats 1 reason why they are so funny even now as they all had so much talent. John Cleese that starred in Fawlty Towers had his on sketches of 'The Ministry of Silly walks' 🤣pure talent these guys. We also had The Goon Show on the radio back then with Spike Milligan.
LOL, the actor you think was in the office, is Martin Freeman, whom you most likely know as the Hobbit or as Dr.Watson to the modern Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock….
What is it that makes Graham Norton able to be so cheeky, and spicy, yet he avoids getting cancelled or offending anyone? It is ingenious!
He is despicably twatish
I mean it's pretty obvious. You can't cancel gay people. That's ingenious.
Tyler sees a show started in 2001.
Tyler sees a second show started in 2005.
Tyler says the second show came before the first show.
OMG
Classic American 😂
I remember several years ago working with someone who stayed in a hotel that normally has German guests. He old me one day the hotel showed the Fawlty Towers episode !The Germans". When he saw this come up. He buried his head in his hands and thought "oh s**t. He did say he was surprised as the German guests started laughing.
Most brilliant episode, love it. And of course, I'm German.
What made Yes Minster and then Yes Prime Minister (same characters in both) so amazing was that it was about the Main character who is (or at least starts as) a smart, hardworking, honest and earnest man whose goal is to represent the British people. He wants to bring in more modernisation and liberal changes to the establishment and truly believe in trying to make life better for the public who voted him and his promises in to office.
AND a story about all the permanent behind-the-scenes staff who are very traditional and resistant to changing ‘how things are done’ and who truly have the real power in day-to-day government. They just view the ever-rotating door of Ministers who are voted in and out by the public as a necessary annoyance, to be humoured and babysat until they are listed out and the next one arrives. All while they get on with the actual running of the country run ‘properly’ despite how the Ministers and the public think it should be.
The tension as you watch both battle over every tiny little thing is brilliant and amusing to watch. The sharp and witty script paired with perfect casting just made the show incredibly smart yet funny.
Faulty Towers is hilarious. An era of physical comedy and witty lines. British humor as you say has a lot of irony but is also a bit raunchy. Many of these comedies were made at a time when they didn’t have to worry about Woke police. Luther is more modern and a fairly dark drama.
BBC not so popular now, people do not want to pay a tv license any more. Martin Freeman of Office also in The Hobbit. Extras was after The Office. We loved Monty Python when I was at School. We had so many phrases like "No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition".
@jaybrooke5571; I'd pay a license if it wasn't mandatory as it's good value if compared to other subscription-based services. The BBC has masses of classic old content as well as new and it's far preferable to watch live programmes without advert breaks ruining the feeling of a programme. Where I object to the BBC license is when you have to have one, by law, to watch ANY live programmes, including streaming on youtube etc, and if you have already paid a separate subscription to watch e.g. BT live sport.
I love that within the first minute or so there's already two comedy giants I recognise without question. Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder and John Cleese in... well... literally anything just make comedy
Note Tyler....the actor in Monty Python was the same one as in the first comedy series in the hotel.
"The Graham Norton Show"
Reminds me kinda of the old 1980s-1990's talkshow RUR (no idea what that stood for and I don't think it was ever explained)
Graham Norton started his life on a VERY late night X rated game show 2nd in Command host. His talent shone through even then. You could tell he would go far.
He started on the comedy circuit in London, doing radio and bit parts on various shows like Father Ted. He covered for Jack Docherty on his daily chat show whilst Jack was on holiday. Graham was far better received than Jack ( who has since sunk without trace ! ) and Graham hasn't looked back since. His chat chow So Graham Norton was hilarious but very, very rude.
A BBC show which is still running after 60 odd years is Blue Peter a kids magazine show which used to be twice weekly and the Early presenters like John Noakes are Legends Noakes was the programmes daredevil and its worth looking at his exploits. Including his sign out with Lulu the Baby Elephant on the live show. Also his Ascent of the ornate India Mills chimney in Darwen Lancashire, just down the road from where we lived when we were very young. And he had no protection unlike in the modern generation including being insured for the task!
Another show which had us in stitches but not on the BBC was Drop the Dead Donkey about a fictional TV news channel with a talented cast... And on the same channel Father Ted which rolled out a few years later
Lastly the BBC had People like Frank Spencer, Alf Garnett, Morecambe & Wise and the Early Dr Who episodes guaranteed to swipe the Audience figures from the ITV network wholesale!
So there's a tiny bit of homework for you Tyler. You'll enjoy what those names lead to. 😊