This Is Supposed To Be a Hotel!

Many have called "Fawlty Towers," the landmark 12-episode British series created by and starring John Cleese, the greatest sitcom of all time. I think, if "The Simpsons" counts as a sitcom, that takes the cake. But if you count Matt Groening's animated masterpiece as a cartoon and not a sitcom, then Cleese and Co. win.

If you've never seen "Fawlty Towers," picture a show centering on the angst and anxiety of the worst man alive. Cleese's Basil Fawlty owns and operates a small, crummy hostel in the coastal city of Torquay, along with his shrewish wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), put-upon waitress Polly (Connie Booth, Cleese's ex-wife) and Barcelona-born waiter Manuel. But his full-time job isn't so much hotel management as misanthropy, mistreating the guests and the staff in equal measure, when he isn't complaining about his lost youth or his loveless marriage.

In a career of defining roles, from A Fish Called Wanda to his years with Monty Python, Basil Fawlty stands out as Cleese's greatest creation. The episode entitled "The Germans," in which a nervous Basil deals with a concussion and a sudden influx of foreign hotel guests, comes together so perfectly, it surely inspired a generation of sitcom writers. In particular, Fawlty's sour attitude and propensity to offend reminds me of Larry David in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." They're both lovable grumps, constantly at odds with those around them, forced into an ever-escalating series of embarrassments, arguments and misunderstandings.

But Cleese had some tools in his arsenal that escape even the multitalented Mr. David, particularly his bizarre, gangly physicality. Various episodes of "Fawlty Towers" find him mock-goosestepping, tripping over large boxes, throwing himself into a truck with the laundry, hiding kippers in his clothing, knocking himself unconscious with a stuffed moose head, tumbling off of ladders and even violently smashing his own car with a tree branch. And those are some of the more understated moments.

I thought to bring up "Fawlty Towers" both because everyone should watch it and because the real hotel that inspired the show has just been purchased by fans of the series. The Patel family has paid $2.8 million for the Gleneagles Hotel of Torquay.

The story of the Gleneagles Hotel has become something of folk legend. The Python troupe stayed there while filming segments for their television show, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and were fascinated by the place's owner, a gruff, unhappy little man named Donald Sinclair. Sinclair would whine and complain to guests about whatever was going wrong for him that day, would chew out customers that dared to complain, and generally didn't care about things like poor service or unavailable amenities. Here's fan webpage Fawltysite with some more details:

The “wonderfully rude” hotel owner (Donald Sinclair) endeared himself to the Monty Python team by throwing Eric Idle's briefcase out of the hotel “in case it contained a bomb,” complaining about Terry Gilliam's table manners, and chucking a bus timetable at another guest after the guest dared to ask the time of the next bus to town.

Donald Sinclair, by the way, always hated the TV show and his association with it, right up until his death in the early 80's.

Based on the Yahoo article, it seems the Patels hope to parlay the hotel's TV connection into big time money, but I'm not so sure that's a great strategy. As hugely popular as the show has become, particularly in Britain, it seems odd to me that people would go out of their way to stay at a hotel that merely inspired a famous TV show. The series itself was filmed on sound stages, and the exteriors used for Fawlty Towers are actually shots of a different hotel, in a completely different city (Bournemouth). So, it's really only the stories associated with the now-deceased former owner that have any relevance for fans of the TV series, and that's a pretty loose connection.

Still, it provided me with an excuse to talk about one of my all-time favorite TV shows, so I'm glad it made the news today. Thanks, Patel Family, and best of luck with your business venture. Just don't hire any Spanish waiters or serve any rat poison-infected veal to any health inspectors and you should be fine.