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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 438821" data-attributes="member: 5079">I had a feeling of deja vu as I watched the fourth episode, &quot;The Hotel Inspectors&quot;.&nbsp; I nearly skipped to the fifth episode, thinking I had already watched this one.&nbsp; Then I realized this is one of the episodes butchered by the American pilot CHATEAU SNAVELY.&nbsp; While many of the situations and gags were identical, they obviously work much better in the original.&nbsp; In fact this episode has the distinction of earning a rare laugh-out-loud from me; twice in fact.&nbsp; (I&#039;m more of a chuckle quietly to myself kind of guy.)&nbsp; I think this is the most intricately plotted episode to date, and I can see why the story didn&#039;t translate when Americans tried to dis- and re- assemble it. Each plot point builds to the next, each gag leads to later gags. This episode addressed something I had started to wonder about: why the guests never seem to react much to Basil&#039;s overt rudeness.&nbsp; I was halfway through the episode and seriously wonder why no one has punched this guy yet; surely the English weren&#039;t that polite and forgiving.&nbsp; And there it was, Basil finally getting a well deserved thrashing from an object of his bullying.The moment of Polly and Basil gaslighting the guest into thinking Basil had told her, not the guest, to shut up by way of shifting eye gazes was inspired.&nbsp; (And the moment of my LOL.)&nbsp;&nbsp; Four episodes in and still unclear how Polly feels about Basil.&nbsp; He&#039;s been quite awful to her and she&#039;s not obtuse to his behavior -- as she warned her visiting friends about him in episode three -- yet she&#039;s awfully fast to jump in to help him, unsolicited.&nbsp; In the first episode, she made the call to Mrs. Fawlty pretending to be the contractor and in this most recent episode she saved Basil with her quick thinking about the eye contact.&nbsp; The mystery is whether she actually likes him, despite his nature, or she&#039;s just aiding her employer.Random thought left over from the previous episode.&nbsp; I think that was the only time so far that we&#039;ve seen the second floor landing, which had a curious steps-up / steps-down feature.&nbsp; I have never seen this in a real or fictional building before.&nbsp; Did it serve a purpose?Some nuance of characterization as well, when Basil expressed embarrassment a few times about his misunderstandings.&nbsp; A character like this could easily be just misanthropy and bluster; added shading to his personality make him feel real and even relatable, despite his often over-the-top, awful behavior. I must admit I&#039;ve never heard of the character, the comic strip or the movie.&nbsp; With a quick glance at Wikipedia and skimming through a few YT clips, I&#039;m not clear what connection there is between the strip and the movie.&nbsp; The movie looks interesting though -- I mean any movie that earned the ire of Churchill must be worth a watch.&nbsp; Also, gorgeous Technicolor.&nbsp; On the downside, Deborah Kerr -- one of my least favorite actors.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 438821, member: 5079"] I had a feeling of[I] deja vu [/I]as I watched the fourth episode, "The Hotel Inspectors". I nearly skipped to the fifth episode, thinking I had already watched this one. Then I realized this is one of the episodes butchered by the American pilot CHATEAU SNAVELY. While many of the situations and gags were identical, they obviously work much better in the original. In fact this episode has the distinction of earning a rare laugh-out-loud from me; twice in fact. (I'm more of a chuckle quietly to myself kind of guy.) I think this is the most intricately plotted episode to date, and I can see why the story didn't translate when Americans tried to dis- and re- assemble it. Each plot point builds to the next, each gag leads to later gags. This episode addressed something I had started to wonder about: why the guests never seem to react much to Basil's overt rudeness. I was halfway through the episode and seriously wonder why no one has punched this guy yet; surely the English weren't [I]that [/I]polite and forgiving. And there it was, Basil finally getting a well deserved thrashing from an object of his bullying. The moment of Polly and Basil gaslighting the guest into thinking Basil had told her, not the guest, to shut up by way of shifting eye gazes was inspired. (And the moment of my LOL.) Four episodes in and still unclear how Polly feels about Basil. He's been quite awful to her and she's not obtuse to his behavior -- as she warned her visiting friends about him in episode three -- yet she's awfully fast to jump in to help him, unsolicited. In the first episode, she made the call to Mrs. Fawlty pretending to be the contractor and in this most recent episode she saved Basil with her quick thinking about the eye contact. The mystery is whether she actually likes him, despite his nature, or she's just aiding her employer. Random thought left over from the previous episode. I think that was the only time so far that we've seen the second floor landing, which had a curious steps-up / steps-down feature. I have never seen this in a real or fictional building before. Did it serve a purpose? Some nuance of characterization as well, when Basil expressed embarrassment a few times about his misunderstandings. A character like this could easily be just misanthropy and bluster; added shading to his personality make him feel real and even relatable, despite his often over-the-top, awful behavior. I must admit I've never heard of the character, the comic strip or the movie. With a quick glance at Wikipedia and skimming through a few YT clips, I'm not clear what connection there is between the strip and the movie. The movie looks interesting though -- I mean any movie that earned the ire of Churchill must be worth a watch. Also, gorgeous Technicolor. On the downside, Deborah Kerr -- one of my [I]least [/I]favorite actors. [/QUOTE]

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