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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 440453" data-attributes="member: 5079">Even if I had known more about the show, I think it would have surprised me.&nbsp; Even my early impressions based on the first episode or two proved to be, if not false, at least only partially accurate.&nbsp; The show, and its characters, for as broad as they were portrayed, was also more nuanced than I expected.&nbsp; As noted, I had Basil pegged early as the surly misanthrope but, as it turned out, those weren&#039;t even close to being his main characteristics.If anything surprised me about the show, it&#039;s that I didn&#039;t find it that politically incorrect.&nbsp;&nbsp; There were obviously a few very notable exceptions, with a couple casual used slurs and the Major&#039;s racist ponderings, but those were so random and infrequent they were practically non sequiturs. While I am inherently opposed to censoring the past to mollify modern sensibilities, those scenes could be clipped from the series with nary a difference other than posterity.It&#039;s interesting to me that the jokes around Colonel and Mrs Hall were Basil trying to avoid giving offense, a doubly clever way for the show to be tactless and tactful simultaneously.I think great things can be done with variations of a theme or idea so recycling isn&#039;t inherently bad, but sooner or later it&#039;s just a dead horse being beaten.I started to wonder if perhaps Connie Booth was the bigger creator contributor to FAWLTY but apparently not.&nbsp; I always find it curious when creators produce magic but can rarely, possibly never, duplicate it.&nbsp; Cleese did it at least twice, with FT and AFCW -- and I presume at least partially responsible for Monty Python --&nbsp; but otherwise seemingly decades of nothing else comparable.&nbsp; I don&#039;t know much about Booth, but she doesn&#039;t appear to have been particularly prolific or successful otherwise.&nbsp; What alchemy was involved in the two of them producing such a great show?None, literally none.&nbsp; I&#039;m surprised to see BLACK ADDER is an 80s show; I would have guessed it to be contemporaneous with Monty Python. As for Atkinson, every time I see an image of him I feel like he&#039;s challenging me to a staring competition.&nbsp; Maybe comedic awkwardness is his schtick, but I find him vaguely unnerving.&nbsp;&nbsp; Noted about the early episodes of BLACK ADDER.&nbsp; I&#039;m not a completist by any means, so if the first season is a drag I might just skip it.&nbsp; (Assuming I land on BLACK ADDER, of course.)I also didn&#039;t know what gurning means.&nbsp; After reading about it via Google, I&#039;m still not sure I know what it is ...Your recommendations are appreciated.&nbsp; Given my hit-or-miss mood for watching TV, it might be 2 days, 2 weeks or 2 months before I dive into another series.&nbsp; But, eventually, I will return to this thread.I barely like Cosby&#039;s famous sitcom let alone the obscure follow up, so that American remake wouldn&#039;t be a obstacle for me watching the original.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 440453, member: 5079"] Even if I had known more about the show, I think it would have surprised me. Even my early impressions based on the first episode or two proved to be, if not false, at least only partially accurate. The show, and its characters, for as broad as they were portrayed, was also more nuanced than I expected. As noted, I had Basil pegged early as the surly misanthrope but, as it turned out, those weren't even close to being his main characteristics. If anything surprised me about the show, it's that I didn't find it [I]that[/I] politically incorrect. There were obviously a few very notable exceptions, with a couple casual used slurs and the Major's racist ponderings, but those were so random and infrequent they were practically non sequiturs. While I am inherently opposed to censoring the past to mollify modern sensibilities, those scenes could be clipped from the series with nary a difference other than posterity. It's interesting to me that the jokes around Colonel and Mrs Hall were Basil trying to [I]avoid [/I]giving offense, a doubly clever way for the show to be tactless and tactful simultaneously. I think great things can be done with variations of a theme or idea so recycling isn't inherently bad, but sooner or later it's just a dead horse being beaten. I started to wonder if perhaps Connie Booth was the bigger creator contributor to FAWLTY but apparently not. I always find it curious when creators produce magic but can rarely, possibly never, duplicate it. Cleese did it at least twice, with FT and AFCW -- and I presume at least partially responsible for Monty Python -- but otherwise seemingly decades of nothing else comparable. I don't know much about Booth, but she doesn't appear to have been particularly prolific or successful otherwise. What alchemy was involved in the two of them producing such a great show? None, literally none. I'm surprised to see BLACK ADDER is an 80s show; I would have guessed it to be contemporaneous with Monty Python. As for Atkinson, every time I see an image of him I feel like he's challenging me to a staring competition. Maybe comedic awkwardness is his schtick, but I find him vaguely unnerving. Noted about the early episodes of BLACK ADDER. I'm not a completist by any means, so if the first season is a drag I might just skip it. (Assuming I land on BLACK ADDER, of course.) I also didn't know what gurning means. After reading about it via Google, I'm still not sure I know what it is ... Your recommendations are appreciated. Given my hit-or-miss mood for watching TV, it might be 2 days, 2 weeks or 2 months before I dive into another series. But, eventually, I will return to this thread. I barely like Cosby's famous sitcom let alone the obscure follow up, so that American remake wouldn't be a obstacle for me watching the original. [/QUOTE]

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