[TV] Specsavers John Cleese advert.

AmexRuislip · Dec 24, 2015

John Cleese has agreed to revive Basil Fawlty for Specsavers ad.
Is this going to ruin a classic comedy sketch as we knew it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35175405

Badger · Dec 24, 2015

Fawlty Towers stopped being funny years ago, so I doubt it will make much difference.

vegster · Dec 24, 2015

Amazing what hard cash can do to ones moral code.

studio150 · Dec 24, 2015

We all know he needs the money following divorces but some things are best left alone. Stopped the show after 12 episodes to maintain the quality, but believe this will spoil the memories we all have of the original

beorhthelm · Dec 24, 2015

a straight redux would probably disapoint. sounds like its been reworked a bit for modern era, with Cleese its going to be funny.

thedonkeycentrehalf · Dec 24, 2015

He did this years ago when he ran a training video company so it is nothing new.

Garage_Doors · Dec 24, 2015

Badger said:
Fawlty Towers stopped being funny years ago, so I doubt it will make much difference.

They only made 12 episodes many many years ago, so are you saying you found it funny back then then found not so after further viewings?

Garage_Doors · Dec 24, 2015

thedonkeycentrehalf said:
He did this years ago when he ran a training video company so it is nothing new.

Seen a lot of his training sale videos very funny, " names Morgan, big M small organ"

Badger · Dec 24, 2015

Programme_Seller said:
They only made 12 episodes many many years ago, so are you saying you found it funny back then then found not so after further viewings?

I just found it funny when I was a child, but I don't find it funny at all as an adult.

BN9 BHA · Dec 24, 2015

Badger said:
I just found it funny when I was a child, but I don't find it funny at all as an adult.

So you actually meant , you stopped laughing at it rather than it stopped being funny

Ninja Elephant · Dec 24, 2015

Badger said:
I just found it funny when I was a child, but I don't find it funny at all as an adult.

Badger said:
Fawlty Towers stopped being funny years ago, so I doubt it will make much difference.

Totally agree. I loved it until a few years ago and can't sit through it now. People have told me my humour has changed but I still love Only Fools and Porridge, for context. I just don't think Fawlty Towers is actually funny.

Badger · Dec 24, 2015

bn9 bha said:
So you actually meant , you stopped laughing at it rather than it stopped being funny

No, I meant it doesn't age very well as a comedy. Like a lot of comedy shows which were funny at the time, but aren't really funny now.

BN9 BHA · Dec 24, 2015

Badger said:
No, I meant it doesn't age very well as a comedy. Like a lot of comedy shows which were funny at the time, but aren't really funny now.

See what you mean now, but I'm a big fan of classic British comedy, I don't really find most stuff on TV today that funny.

Badger · Dec 24, 2015

bn9 bha said:
See what you mean now, but I'm a big fan of classic British comedy, I don't really find most stuff on TV today that funny.

Oh I love a lot of classic comedy, it's a lot better than Mrs Brown's Boys and the like. FT just doesn't float my boat, I'm aware a lot of people still love it though.

BN9 BHA · Dec 24, 2015

Badger said:
Oh I love a lot of classic comedy, it's a lot better than Mrs Brown's Boys and the like. FT just doesn't float my boat, I'm aware a lot of people still love it though.

Mrs Brown's boys is not the favourite comedy show of NSC users :lolol:

I'm not the sort of person that could sit and watch a FT box set over and over, but I do laugh if I watch it now and again.

ArfurW8 · Dec 25, 2015

Ninja Elephant said:
Totally agree. I loved it until a few years ago and can't sit through it now. People have told me my humour has changed but I still love Only Fools and Porridge, for context. I just don't think Fawlty Towers is actually funny.

I never liked FT, and maybe humour has changed, but this afternoon on Gold I watched a programme on Morecambe and Wise, followed by Steptoe and son and then a couple of episodes of Only fools and I chuckled all the way through.

Official Old Man · Dec 25, 2015

Couple of things-
If you like Faulty then get to see the Fawlty Dinner experience (Thistle/now the Waterfront, Brighton) very very very funny if you are a fan.
Meanwhile didn't Cleese make a mint from the recent Python O2 shows?

Cowfold Seagull · Dec 25, 2015

Badger said:
Fawlty Towers stopped being funny years ago, so I doubt it will make much difference.

Oh I still find Fawlty Towers absolutely hilarious. Totally irreverent of course, and it couldn't be made today with that content, but it doesn't stop it from being funny in my book.

Which leads me to wonder if some sort of spin off series could be made today. Off the top of my head, perhaps with Basil and Sybil in a retirement home? Andrew Sachs is still around of course, so he could reprise his role as Manuel. Maybe Connie Booth could co-write, and appear in it too. Obviously the humour would need to be far more politically correct.

No, on second thoughts it would never work. Best to carry on laughing at the old episodes, and let sleeping dogs lay.

CorgiRegisteredFriend · Dec 25, 2015

Next thing we know they will be announcing a film version with different actors playing the key roles! Sacrilege!

Blackadder · Dec 25, 2015

CorgiRegisteredFriend said:
Next thing we know they will be announcing a film version with different actors playing the key roles! Sacrilege!
]

I understand where you are coming from but I am actually looking forward to this film.

I still like FT and OFAH,

I liked Monty Python's "Meaning of Life" when it first came out. Thought it was crap when I watched it again recently. Life of Brian is still a classic.

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[TV] Specsavers John Cleese advert.

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