Fawlty Towers episode removed from streaming

[Sarah]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53020335

An episode of sitcom Fawlty Towers has been taken off UKTV's streaming service because it contains "racial slurs".

The BBC-owned platform said it had made The Germans unavailable while it carries out a review.

In the 1975 episode, Basil Fawlty declares "don't mention the war" around German guests, while the Major uses highly offensive language about the West Indies cricket team.

Actor and creator John Cleese described the move as "stupid".

Speaking to The Age newspaper, he said the episode was clearly a critique of racist attitudes.

"One of the things I've learned in the last 180 years is that people have very different senses of humour," he said.

"Some of them understand that if you put nonsense words into the mouth of someone you want to make fun of, you're not broadcasting their views, you're making fun of them."

'Audience expectations'
UKTV also operates channels including Gold, and a spokesman said: "UKTV has temporarily removed an episode of Fawlty Towers The Germans from Gold's Box Set.

"The episode contains racial slurs so we are taking the episode down while we review it. We regularly review older content to ensure it meets audience expectations and are particularly aware of the impact of outdated language.

"Some shows carry warnings and others are edited. We want to take time to consider our options for this episode."

• Netflix and iPlayer at odds over BBC comedies
• Ant and Dec sorry for acting as people of colour
• Little Britain pulled from iPlayer and Netflix

The BBC's commercial arm BBC Studios took over many of UKTV's channels and its digital player last year.

The Germans is still available to view on Britbox, which is part-owned by the BBC, with a message saying it "contains some offensive racial language of the time and upsetting scenes". It is also on Netflix, carrying a warning about "language, [and] discrimination".

This week, many channels and comedy figures have been making moves to reassess what is acceptable in today's society, following mass Black Lives Matter protests after the death of George Floyd.

HBO Max temporarily removed Gone With The Wind because of its "racial depictions", and Little Britain was removed from the BBC iPlayer and Britbox because "times have changed".

Netflix has also removed Little Britain plus David Walliams and Matt Lucas's Come Fly With Me, and The League of Gentlemen and The Mighty Boosh.

Meanwhile, Ant and Dec apologised for impersonating "people of colour" on Saturday Night Takeaway, and requested ITV remove the 2003 and 2004 sketches from its catch-up service.

Last week, comedian Leigh Francis issued an emotional apology for having dressed as black celebrities in the noughties impression show Bo' Selecta.

 

[tommie]

My birth year is coming true I guess.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

For whatever it's worth, here's what my January 2020 self had to say about said episode during a rewatch of the series:

And then there's the whole of The Germans. From Major Gowen's loud and causal categorisation of racial epithets to the whole association of Germans with Naziism to Basil's goose-step. It revels in its insular, fusty, stiff upper lipped backwardness. It encapsulates everything that's wrong with attitudes of the time. And it's ugly. But that's the entire point.

It saddens me slightly to learn that Major Gowen's racist slurs were removed from a 2013 re-run of the series on BBC. Not just because it messes with a form of art (which it does), but also because this form of censorship re-writes history somewhat. Yes - the script is of its time. It's dated. And the language is not acceptable in 21st Century Britain.

But, think about it. That language wasn't really acceptable in 1975. It just wasn't hidden from view. The whole point of it is that Gowen is an antiquated Blimp. His loud casual racism in the foyer is uncomfortable because it's unacceptable. That's why it's important. Nothing about the scene says that racism is acceptable. Quite the opposite. It reinforces just how ugly it is.

I just can't get on board with the attitude that removing ugliness from sight is helpful. Making something invisible risks empowering the thing you're trying to hide. It means people might look back at an idealised, airbrushed past and wonder what the big deal was. It risks creating a culture where people who didn't experience such a time know next to nothing about past attitudes or atrocities and care even less. I find Freddie Bentley's attitude towards World War II far more concerning and offensive than I do Basil Fawlty or Major Gowen's.

Another damaging element of this censorship is the hierarchy it creates. Who decides that slurs against West Indian people are more offensive than epithets used to describe Spanish people. I find them both offensive and would have something to say if I encountered someone using them in the way that these characters do. But I don't agree that any of them should be removed from a programme which has the context of the era in which it was made and the characters who are using it and and the situation in which it is used. The 1975 audience laughed at the idiocy and foolishness of the person using it. And the same is true 45 years later. So what's the problem?

I'm grateful that the DVDs are uncensored and give the audience credit for being able to understand the context and make up their own minds about it. We know it's not big. We know it's not clever. But we also know it exists. And that's truly empowering.

 

[Swami]

Absolutely ridiculous, the only word to describe this decision is craven.

Good job Fawlty Towers isn't being made today, it would never get off the ground.

Unfortunately society is now being driven by a significant body of people who go out of their way to simultaneously cause offense and take offense, and especially do so maliciously. It speaks volumes that so many Germans love that particular episode of Fawlty Towers, and they got the point that John Cleese was trying to make.

There is a very simple solution though, the off switch on the remote control.

Swami

 

[Angela Channing]

Removing programmes from online services is a distraction because people are now arguing about whether these shows should continue to be available instead of discussing the far more important issues of diversity and racial equality. The BBC should continue to make it available but add an announcement before the offending episode indicating that the programme contains language and attitudes that many viewers will find offensive and that the BBC does not endorse these and is working to achieve greater racial equality.

The BBC would have been better to focus on ensuring that they have more black, Asian and minority ethnic people in senior positions and closing the significant pay gap between white and black employees. They are using Fawlty Towers to give the impression they support the objectives of the Black Lives Matter movement when the reality is the BBC are not doing enough to address the racial inequality that exists within their own organisation.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Well that didnt take long

Political correctness and "Wokeness" (if ever there is a word i hate its that one) gone crazy and now i may cringe at the Majors comments but they were a different era, time and place.

I can still quote you FT and the germans epiosde is funny, so thats 2 Prawn Goebels, an Eva Prawn

Dont mention the war, i think i said it once but got away with it.

The silly walk, its over 40 years old but it still makes me smile far more than any other comedy

The jokes on Basil Fawlty and its a send up.

There will be nothing left to watch on TV

The BBC should continue to make it available but add an announcement before the offending episode indicating that the programme contains language and attitudes that many viewers will find offensive and that the BBC does not endorse these and is working to achieve greater racial equality.

Absolutely

 

[Barbara Fan]

PS The curent climate will kill off any attempt at Satire

 

[Sarah]

John Cleese is not a bit happy either:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53020335

 

[Swami]

Well that didnt take long

Political correctness and "Wokeness" (if ever there is a word i hate its that one) gone crazy and now i may cringe at the Majors comments but they were a different era, time and place.

I can still quote you FT and the germans epiosde is funny, so thats 2 Prawn Goebels, an Eva Prawn

Dont mention the war, i think i said it once but got away with it.

The silly walk, its over 40 years old but it still makes me smile far more than any other comedy

The jokes on Basil Fawlty and its a send up.

There will be nothing left to watch on TV




Absolutely

What's equally bad is that so-called stand-up comics like the truly dreadful Frankie Boyle go completely out of their way to cause offense, and not a word is said.

I will never trade the likes of Fawlty Towers (and the likes of Porridge, Only Fools, Open All Hours, The Fall and Rise Of Reginald Perrin, One Foot In The Grave etc) for the likes of totally inane, politically correct fare that is dished out today.

Swami

 

[Daniel Avery]

What's equally bad is that so-called stand-up comics like the truly dreadful Frankie Boyle go completely out of their way to cause offense, and not a word is said.

Here in America, very few "mainstream" stand-up comics will perform on college campuses any more due to this. It's been creeping in for years, of course, but comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and others have given up on that whole age group because they're so obsessed with being overly-PC, practically lying in wait hoping to find something to feign "offense". If you go to see an edgy comic, you should expect edgy humor...
https://www.thewrap.com/comedians-avoiding-campus-when-did-universities-lose-their-sense-of-humor/

 

[Rove]

Pathetic. Those in charge of making these decisions should not hide behind the skirts of their respective organizations. Have the guts to call a press conference, face the world and explain your decision. Of course this won't happen when a neat, single page press release will suffice. Comedy has always pushed the boundaries. What I like others may take offence. For those that do I request a simple solution. Move along.

 

[tommie]

Here in America, very few "mainstream" stand-up comics will perform on college campuses any more due to this. It's been creeping in for years, of course, but comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and others have given up on that whole age group because they're so obsessed with being overly-PC, practically lying in wait hoping to find something to feign "offense". If you go to see an edgy comic, you should expect edgy humor...
https://www.thewrap.com/comedians-avoiding-campus-when-did-universities-lose-their-sense-of-humor/

At one point you kind of have to accept that people are adults and it's their own responsibility to inform themselves and if they don't... well, that's on them. It reminds me of a story John Waters told about a family renting Pink Flamingos, probably after watching the family-friendly Hairspray, and ended up phoning the police (!) half-way through instead of just turning it off when it must've become glaringly obvious that it wasn't a family-friendly movie.

I get pulling things if the service is aimed at children/teens etc.

 

[Swami]

It's almost as if people are being denied the right to make up their mind if they want to watch something or not.

As I said, the remote control is there, hit the off button or change channel - the choice is straightforward.

Swami

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Germans episode of Fawlty Towers will be reinstated to streaming service UKTV with a warning about "offensive content and language".

They could have simply done this in the first place without the furore. Do they remove all the older titles they "regularly review", I wonder?

 

[Willie Oleson]

Considering people's lust for sensation I could also see it as an interesting (re-)marketing ploy. Like that "should never be watched by women!" movie.
People love warnings, especially the ones they can afford to ignore.

 

[Swami]

I think it's fair to say that the great era of British comedy has long since passed, as far as I am concerned the last great sitcom was One Foot In The Grave. Under current standards, The Green Green Grass was good too.

While acknowledging the fact that there is such a terrible dearth of comedy talent nowadays, virtually non-existent in fact, it has to be said that any aspiring comedy performer hasn't a chance of making their mark today when political correctness and those who take delight in taking offense stifle the potential for comedy output.

I wonder what will be the next target for the PC brigade?

Swami

 

[Gabriel Maxwell]

They could have simply done this in the first place without the furore. Do they remove all the older titles they "regularly review", I wonder?

It’s not what they did, but how they went about it that bothers me — pulling the episode, announcing it via press release, “reviewing” it for a few days (how long does it take to review a line in a half-hour episode?), issuing another PR about the return with a disclaimer, waiting a few more days, finally reinstating it — it all reeks of a hollow corporate stunt capitalizing on a current human rights movement.

Quick! Let’s dig into our library to see what other content made by our predecessors we can loudly distance ourselves from to score some free PR capital (though we have no intention of actually stopping making money from this valuable intellectual property).

It’s a bit like donating to a charity, but instead of quietly doing so out of goodness of your heart, because you genuinely believe in the cause and you’re content with the feeling you’ve helped someone, you make sure you tell everybody about it, to get all the publicity you can and enhance your profile.

 

[Barbara Fan]

like the truly dreadful Frankie Boyle go completely out of their way to cause offense,

He is disgusting and not even remotely funny, I have no idea how he gets on TV

The last "sit coms " I liked were with Ricky Gervais - The Office, Extras and they were years ago

 

[Barbara Fan]

Glad to see common sense has prevailed and The Germans are back up and running. There is so much of it thats funny including the However did they win the war?

There will be nothing left to watch on TV with Wokeness and the Snowflake generation.

All it takes is a sentence or two with a warning about - filmed in 70s/ may now cause offence etc as @Angela Channing said in another eloquentl post

 

[Swami]

He is disgusting and not even remotely funny, I have no idea how he gets on TV

The last "sit coms " I liked were with Ricky Gervais - The Office, Extras and they were years ago

Especially ironic at this time - think back a few years ago to what Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand (a truly detestable individual) did to the great Andrew Sachs, yet some would prefer to complain about a truly brilliant comedy.

A sad state of affairs.

Swami