Decker

Holy Shit! This is the greatest reboot news ever! I love those twelve episodes with every fiber of my being.

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John Cleese's Fawlty Towers is Being Rebooted

The famous UK comedy series is returning, now set in the modern day.

The famous British 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers is now on deck for a modern reboot, and original star and Monty Python alum John Cleese is set to return.

Created by John Cleese and Connie Booth, the original Fawlty Towers was a popular two-season sitcom about the misanthropic hotel owner Basil Fawlty and his various escapades while running an English seaside inn filled with oddball employees and strange guests. Produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, operated by film director and writer Rob Reiner, the planned reboot will pick up in modern England, with Basil still running Fawlty Towers.

John Cleese, who become particularly controversial in recent years, will return to write and star in the reboot, joined by his daughter Camilla Cleese, who will also act and write for the series as well. So far, the only character confirmed to return is Basil in modern day Torquay, but the reboot will maintain many of its connections to the original series.In a press release, show creator John Cleese said, "When we first met, [producer Matthew George] offered an excellent first idea, and then he and my daughter Camilla had one of the best creative sessions I can remember."

He added that they "look forward to expanding it into a series."
In the tradition of many other British television shows, Fawlty Towers had a relatively limited run, lasting only 12 episodes across two seasons -- aired over three years through 1976 and 1979. However, the series is wildly regarded as one of the great comedy shows from the BBC library. Even today, re-runs air in rotation often, and it's one of the popular shows on British streaming platforms.

Since Monty Python's Flying Circus debuted in the 1970s, John Cleese has been known as one of the great comedians from England. Yet, in recent years he's become increasingly more controversial with his commentary on social movements and politics, frequently decrying what he describes as "cancel culture" in comedy. He has also publicly supported Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's transphobic comments.

As of now, this is the second reboot or "legacy sequel" that Castle Rock Entertainment has on deck. Currently, a follow up to the popular This is Spinal Tap is in the works, which Rob Reiner will work on as well.

story

I just started the Cheers episode with John Cleese as a guest star and I've never seen it before. Watching John gave me a big smile and then I opened this thread, nice!

Decker

I loved that episode a ton. It should be noted that Cheers was inspired directly by Fawlty Towers. The episode of Cheers that I went to a taping of ("The Visiting Letcher") was supposed to be a return of Cleese's character. Sadly, he couldn't make it and so they recast and slightly rewrote the part.

BobO'Link

I'm not sure just what to think. Cleese is on record saying he and Connie felt as though they accomplished everything they needed to accomplish with their characters and that's why there were no more episodes than were produced. Makes me wonder just what he's found to say to make it worthy of a return after all this time.

Toby Dramit

I'll be curious to see this, however, I can't imagine it being anywhere near as brilliant as the original series was.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. And what can I do for you three gentlemen ...?"




Meathead

I'm cautiously optimistic but definitely will check this out. The original show is pure comedy gold.

I wonder if Fawlty ever stopped talking about the war...?

jpcamb

he brings a lot of joy. I'm in and hope they can capture lightning in a bottle twice.

movieguru

$$$

movieguru

People still don't know the difference between the terms "reboot" and "revival".

Jason

Please, no.

It had it's time, it was brilliant, but let it go. You can't recapture synergy like this again.

Besides, it'll probably just be Basil whining about "wokeness" and "cancel culture". If I wanted that, I would just watch Last Man Standing.

cultshock

Put me in the cautiously optimistic category. If Cleese wasn't involved it would be a hard "no" but since he is, and I love the original show, I'll give it a chance.

jjcool

I was just thinking a small balance in his bank account.

Meathead

Yeah all the alimony he has to pay!

Decker

I don't think so. That is largely consistent with Cleese's social media presence, but I would think there's just tons of content to mine with Basil running a hotel in the age of the Internet and technology.
It's not like Fawlty ran out of material or had run its course story-wise. So when it comes back, there's tons of things they could still explore.

DeFan

Yeah, John Cleese sounds like a jerk these days.

Decker

Guess he heard some negative feedback about this project.

Bill Needle

I certainly believe Cleese can still write for Basil Fawlty, but can he still perform him? I certainly hope so and will definitely watch to find out.