‘Hotel Boss’ sets out to find the next Basil Fawlty

Just when you thought it might be safe to go back into the water, along comes something that gives you pause to where you might say to yourself….maybe not just yet. In this case, we’re talking the bane of good telly existence, the unscripted reality program. The surprising thing, IMHO, is that with a working […]

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Sans ‘Fawlty Towers’, Torquay named the 9th worst place to live in the U.K.

Based around an exceedingly chaotic and poorly run seaside hotel in Torquay, Fawlty Towers has not only provided laughter to British comedy fans worldwide for the better part of four decades, it is widely considered to be the best British comedy of all-time. Unfortunately, sans Fawlty Towers, the same cannot be said for the Devonshire seaside town of Torquay where the sitcom was based, which now has the coveted distinction of being named one of the worst places to live in the UK, actually #9 on the list.

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At 41, ‘Fawlty Towers’ is still the greatest sitcom of all-time

September 19, 1975 — a day that will live on in history as the day one of the most brilliant situation comedies of all-time debuted on the BBC. Born out of a seemingly uneventful trip to the Torquay Gleneagles Hotel by the original members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers is comedy greatness that has not seen its […]

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‘Fawlty Towers’ in Lego – Mr. O’Reilly would be so proud

Several years ago, 21-year-old Nathan Feist, a student at Cornell University in New York, succeeded where Basil Fawlty (and, O’Reilly) failed by bringing a semblance of functionality to the most dysfunctional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay on the ‘English Riviera’. Exhibited at the BrickFair, Virginia LEGO convention back in 2014, his intricate LEGO recreation of the famous […]

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Fawlty Towers’ Gleneagles Hotel to get retirement living makeover?

40 years ago this coming Saturday, the first episode of, arguably, the best comedy series ever to be shown on telly premiered on BBC2. Fawlty Towers has long been said to have been based on the experiences of the Monty Python comedy team staying at the Gleneagles Hotel in the seaside town of Torquay. The idea came from […]

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How can you possibly put a pricetag on Fawlty Towers?

Ok, maybe the TARDIS was a bit pricey. But, have you ever wanted to abandon the rat race and chuck it all to buy (and run) a cozy little B & B with a view? Worked for Bob Newhart years ago, why not you? More from the real estate bloggers over at Movoto (based on […]

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British sitcoms salute the labor force

Since the beginning of time, well, at least since 1946 when Pinwright’s Progress premiered on the BBC, the British sitcom has always saluted the labor force. After Pinwright’s Progress, the evolution of how the situation comedy dealt with the workforce really took off. Up next in the mid-50’s was Hancock’s Half Hour where Tony Hancock seemed […]

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Book your reservation at Fawlty Towers

To most, if not all, British comedy fans, there is but one Fawlty Towers. Without question, when one speaks the name, visions of an extraordinarily short-fused hotelier by the name of Basil Fawlty come to mind. While Basil is desperate to join the ranks of the “upper class”, he’s forever at odds with guests and […]

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Fawlty Towers "stuff" giveaway

Widely recognized and voted on as the #1 worst hotel on the planet, yet named the #1 television program of all time by the British Film Institute, Fawlty Towers is 30 years old! What better way to mark the anniversary than to painstakingly remaster a new DVD release. Why consider this painstaking? Well, not only […]

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