I realize people keep heaping praise on this sitcom, and it does have a number of laughs and a lot of wit. BUT...
Let's face it, it's a one-joke comedy. The premise depends on Basil Fawlty screaming like a banshee and being obnoxious, then occasionally quickly switching into sycophancy if the situation requires. Good for one comedy sketch, but not really for a series, which is probably why Cleese decided to stop things after twelve episodes.
There are clever episodes, such as his dealing with the hard-of-hearing guest while he tries to hide his gambling winnings from his wife, and his attempt to do so backfires even when it goes according to plan. But other episodes fail, such as his overdone joke about forgetting his wedding anniversary and making his employee play his wife, or the one with the Germans, where we're supposed to find the use of racial epithets and ethnic hatred funny. And Manuel being a "funny little foreign person who doesn't know proper English" is both trite and hardly amusing.
Let's face it, it's a one-joke comedy. The premise depends on Basil Fawlty screaming like a banshee and being obnoxious, then occasionally quickly switching into sycophancy if the situation requires. Good for one comedy sketch, but not really for a series, which is probably why Cleese decided to stop things after twelve episodes.
There are clever episodes, such as his dealing with the hard-of-hearing guest while he tries to hide his gambling winnings from his wife, and his attempt to do so backfires even when it goes according to plan. But other episodes fail, such as his overdone joke about forgetting his wedding anniversary and making his employee play his wife, or the one with the Germans, where we're supposed to find the use of racial epithets and ethnic hatred funny. And Manuel being a "funny little foreign person who doesn't know proper English" is both trite and hardly amusing.