[thanatoid]

"Arfa Daily" wrote in
:

snip

Again, the actual humour in Fawlty Towers was not that
'classic'. It worked so well because it was written by
Cleese himself, in conjunction with Connie Booth, with whom
I understand he was having a relationship. The 'supporting'
actors were chosen carefully to 'fit in', and did so
admirably well. Much of the individual episodes were also
ad-lib'd at the time of shooting, and according to a
documentary I saw about the making of it, most scenes were
little - if any at all - rehearsed. Cleese said that the
episodes were basically written on a week by week basis,
and took on average no more than 10 minutes to conceive and
structure, and produce the scripted dialogue for. So what
was actually produced, is a testament to the writing,
acting, and creativity skills of the main characters.

Interestingly, there was only ever 12 episodes. Everyone
always thinks that there was a lot more. Prunella Scales
was actually amused by it all. She said that over a very
long career, she has played many many parts in TV, film and
theatre, including some really 'heavyweight' parts. And yet
the one thing that she is always remembered for, is her
part as the long suffering wife of Basil ...

Thanks for the interesting info. I believe those 6 hrs or so are
among the most brilliant stuff ever made for the idiot box in
ANY country ever - and I am familiar with TV in several very
different countries.


--
"Anytime I hear the word "culture", I reach for my iPad."
- 21st Century Humanoid