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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 439139" data-attributes="member: 5079">I didn&#039;t realize it had been so long since I watched the last episode.&nbsp; I wish I had started FAWLTY TOWERS back in February when the weather was lousy; I&#039;d be done by now.&nbsp; Moving onto episode 5, &quot;Gourmet Night&quot;.&nbsp; While this episode didn&#039;t have the giant laugh of the previous one, I think I found it the most consistently funny episode to date. Having watched sitcoms my entire life, there are certain setups that lead to obvious payoffs. A swanky soiree is going to lead to chaos.&nbsp; If I had made a hundred guesses on what the plot twist in this episode would be, I wouldn&#039;t have gotten even close. The chef, Kurt, getting drunk after his romantic interest in Manuel was rejected is not something I would have predicted, especially in a mid-70s TV show. The complete casualness of this revelation -- without a hint of the dated elements seen in other aspects of the show -- was surprising.&nbsp; UK TV (and, I suppose, culture as a whole) must have been far more advanced that USA of the time.&nbsp; Not even how Phyllis&#039; brother in MTM was handled this nonchalant.The episode was filled with many inspired bits of comedy, verbal and physical. My favorite was Basil&#039;s mad dashes to the restaurant, which reminded me of a favorite bit of comedy from I LOVE LUCY.This episode is the first with a British reference I didn&#039;t get, specifically the condiment the snotty boy was requesting.&nbsp; I thought everyone was saying, &quot;solid cream&quot;, which I assumed was a kind of cream cheese. Apparently he was asking for salad cream, which I&#039;ve never heard of.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 439139, member: 5079"] I didn't realize it had been so long since I watched the last episode. I wish I had started FAWLTY TOWERS back in February when the weather was lousy; I'd be done by now. Moving onto episode 5, "Gourmet Night". While this episode didn't have the giant laugh of the previous one, I think I found it the most consistently funny episode to date. Having watched sitcoms my entire life, there are certain setups that lead to obvious payoffs. A swanky soiree is going to lead to chaos. If I had made a hundred guesses on what the plot twist in this episode would be, I wouldn't have gotten even close. The chef, Kurt, getting drunk after his romantic interest in Manuel was rejected is not something I would have predicted, especially in a mid-70s TV show. The complete casualness of this revelation -- without a hint of the dated elements seen in other aspects of the show -- was surprising. UK TV (and, I suppose, culture as a whole) must have been far more advanced that USA of the time. Not even how Phyllis' brother in MTM was handled this nonchalant. The episode was filled with many inspired bits of comedy, verbal and physical. My favorite was Basil's mad dashes to the restaurant, which reminded me of a favorite bit of comedy from I LOVE LUCY. This episode is the first with a British reference I didn't get, specifically the condiment the snotty boy was requesting. I thought everyone was saying, "solid cream", which I assumed was a kind of cream cheese. Apparently he was asking for salad cream, which I've never heard of. [/QUOTE]

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Who played JR Ewing?