"Fawlty Towers"
Waldorf Salad (1979)

Director:

Bob Spiers

Writers:

John Cleese (written by) and
Connie Booth (written by)

TV Series:

"Fawlty Towers" (1975)

Original Air Date:

5 March 1979 (Season 2, Episode 3)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Waldorf Salad | American In The Uk | English | Waiter | Hotel

Cast

John Cleese	...	Basil Fawlty
Prunella Scales	...	Sybil Fawlty
Andrew Sachs	...	Manuel
Connie Booth	...	Polly Shearman
Bruce Boa	...	Mr. Hamilton
Claire Nielson	...	Mrs. Hamilton
Norman Bird	...	Mr. Arrad
Stella Tanner	...	Mrs. Arrad
Terence Conoley	...	Mr. Johnston
June Ellis	...	Mrs. Johnston
Brian Hall	...	Terry
Anthony Dawes	...	Mr. Libson
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Abitha Tibbs
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Ursula Gatsby

Trivia:

John Cleese said that he based Fawlty Towers on a real hotel that he and his fellow Pythons once stayed at. The owner said that Terry Gilliam was "too American" because he ate with his fork in the wrong hand. This may have inspired Basil's treatment of the American guest in this episode.

Goofs:

Continuity: In "The Waldorf Salad", during the conversation between Mr. Hamilton and Sybil after "Is your husband all right?" she takes out a pack of cigarettes, and one second later, after a shot of Mr. Hamilton, it's smoking in her hand.

Quotes:

Mr. Hamilton: What I'm suggesting is that this place is the crummiest, shoddiest, worst-run hotel in the whole of Western Europe.
Major Gowen: No. No. I won't have that. There's a place in Eastbourne.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The John Cleese Interview (1998) (V)

Very well done!

If you enjoyed the episode about the Germans, where Basil was having a go at German people, you should enjoy this one, where Basil is having a go at the Americans.

(Actually you should enjoy all of the episodes because Basil is always having a go at people different to himself.)

An American couple come to stay at the hotel and are less then impressed with the standard of service, mainly because they are so used to things back in America.

Things really take a turn for the worst when they request a Waldorf salad, which isn't very well known in Britain, and things just spiral out of control from there.

This is a very funny episode, the wisecracks are original and well thought out as well as the actual storyline.