Basil Fawlty

...Brent (or Michael Scott) would never have existed if it were not for another abrasive, hopelessly un-self-aware oddball: Basil Fawlty. Basil, as played by Monty Python's Flying Circus alumni John Cleese, is one of the most awkward characters...

In this article: Fawlty Towers, John Cleese, DVD, Consumables, BBC Video, Michael Scott, David Brent, and Monty Python's Flying Circus

...Bateson (obituary, 8 November) omitted a minor but noteworthy event in television comedy. The first person to give life on screen to Basil Fawlty was not John Cleese, but the diminutive, inoffensive-looking Bateson. Cleese took the...

In this article: Timothy Bateson, John Cleese, Doctor at Large, Prunella Scales, and Fawlty Towers

...not quite long enough, a Tyrolean-esque hat and stripy socks. He walks with a lolling gait, on well-sprung tiptoes, a French cousin of Basil Fawlty. Tati's background as a mime meant he was most at home devising visual gags. Terry...

In this article: Jacques Tati, Monty Python, Charlie Chaplin, Terry Jones, Orson Welles, Little Tramp, Belleville Rendez-vous, and Sylvain Chomet

...anniversary of the debut of its enormously influential BBC TV series. Or, perhaps, an especially droll outtake from his tenure as Basil Fawlty, the famously ill-tempered innkeeper on the TV series "Fawlty Towers," which debuted in 1975...

In this article: John Cleese, Monty Python, Eric Idle, Alyce Faye Eichelberger, Cornell University, Graham Chapman, San Diego, and DVD

...unsuspecting populace, who would otherwise be limited to the rock-free BBC. Kenneth Branagh, copping Basil Fawlty's mannerisms so blatantly that he should be paying John Cleese royalties, plays the government minister obsessed with...

In this article: Rhys Darby, Chris O'Dowd, Bridget Jones, Radio Rock, Lester Bangs, and Xerox

...as it turns out. Genealogically speaking, Harvey had his nger on the pulse of British comedy, for Hancock begot Basil Fawlty, and Fawlty begot Alan Partridge, and Partridge begot the immortal David Brent. And Hancock and his...

In this article: Zadie Smith, Tony Hancock, David Foster Wallace, David Brent, Alan Partridge, DVD, and Columbia University School of the Arts

...certainly doomed to fail in school and life. Thanks think-tankers, for stating what Basil Fawlty would called the bleeding obvious. Talking of Basil, while it can be almost comforting getting henpecked by your mum, it feels more like...

In this article: David Haye, Nikolai Valuev, Ronnie Corbett, Bill Cosby, and Sorry!

...and irritate his wife on a daily-basis. He does everything from trying to hide the body of a vacationer Basil thinks he killed by feeding un-fresh fish (he didn't), to trying to entertain a group of German guests by imitating Hitler, and then...

In this article: Fawlty Towers, John Cleese, Sybil, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth, DVD, Manuel, and Prunella Scales

...two spent weeks plotting, writing, and revising in order to perfect them. Set in the English seaside town of Torquay, Cleese plays Basil Fawlty, a character inspired by hotel owner Donald Sinclair, whom Cleese described as "the most...

In this article: Fawlty Towers, John Cleese, DVD, Manuel, Sybil, Connie Booth, Monty Python, Andrew Sachs, and Prunella Scales

It explains why Basil Fawlty bullied Manuel - incompetent bosses are always the nastiest, claims a study. Bullying boss Basil Faulty Photo: PA Researchers have found that leaders who feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities lash out...

In this article: Manuel, University of Southern California, and University of California