Iconic British comedy series “Fawlty Towers” is being rebooted, and lead actor John Cleese had to clarify whether the show will be ‘woke’ in an article published Thursday.
“Fawlty Towers” is arguably one of the original non-woke slapstick television comedy series, following on from a precedent set by Cleese’s, 83, former comedy troupe “Monty Python.” The original show was set in a fictional hotel in the English seaside town of Torquay, running for two seasons of six episodes in 1975 and 1979.
Cleese is now reprising his role as hotel owner Basil Fawlty in a reboot of the series, scripted by himself and his daughter, Camilla Cleese, according to Deadline. But the show won’t be returning to its old home at the BBC, who Cleese believes is a right-leaning news channel. Instead, they’re developing the show with Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment.
When asked if he wanted to take the show back to the BBC, Cleese said “no, because you wouldn’t get the freedom.” The new story follows Cleese’s character as he runs a hotel in the Caribbean, set 40 years after the original series.
In harsh juxtaposition to Cleese’s claims regarding the BBC, the Guardian published an article where the upcoming show was described as an “anti-woke nightmare,” given the absolute lack of political correctness that made the original show such a classic that still holds up today.
‘They obviously know better than I do what’s going to be in it’@JohnCleese reacts to The Guardian suggesting a remake of Fawlty Towers is a “nauseating idea” pic.twitter.com/s3UOQwTKTD
— GB News (@GBNEWS) February 10, 2023
In response to the Guardian article, Cleese said: “They obviously know better than I do what’s going to be in it. Maybe they should write an episode for me that they would find acceptable. Might not be very funny, but I’m sure it would really please some of their readers.”
He further noted that the “idea that it’s all going to be about wokery hadn’t particularly occurred to me.” (RELATED: Make ‘The Daily Show’ Great Again: Our Top Picks To Replace Trevor Noah)
“If you put it in the Caribbean, it becomes very multi-racial. People in the hotel business come from everywhere, so you can bring lots of different people together. The characteristic of Fawlty Towers was the pressure cooker atmosphere created in the hotel,” he noted.
It sounds like the show won’t be too far right or too far left, but somewhere in the middle where common sense comedy still exists. Thank goodness. Let’s just hope they don’t mention the war. I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it.
