Great comedy from TV
I’ve already mentioned The IT Crowd, which everyone who has worked in or with IT should see. And last night I was watching again Fawlty Towers, and I had forgotten how truly funny it is. I watched the episode (first on the second DVD of the complete collection) in which the Fawlties decide to have a gourmet night on Thursday nights. Basil, with his social pretentions, is delighted at the chance to attract a upper-class clientele, and he gets to write the ad. Only two couples (both upper-class) show up, probably because he included in the ad the phrase, "No riff-raff".
The evening, of course, strikes directly at the core of his pretentions, beginning with his attempt to introduce the second couple to arrive to the first couple—and he blanks on the name. He tries an increasingly desperate series of dodges to cover—and that contretemps is mild compared to what follows. It was so funny that I tried to describe the introduction routine to The Wife and I couldn’t because I was giggling so hard. Great stuff.
