Fawlty Towers/YMMV

• Crosses the Line Twice: The Major's cheerfully casual racism really shouldn't be funny, but... yeah.

I took her to see India at the Oval... and the strange thing was that throughout the morning she kept referring to the Indians as 'niggers'! No, no, no, I said. Niggers are the West Indians. These people are WOGS!

• Ensemble Darkhorse: Veteran actor David Kelly -- not the late UN weapons inspector -- appears in one episode for six minutes. Andrew Sachs claims that those six minutes of David Kelly are just about all that fans of the show ever talk to him about. The six minutes also follow David Kelly more than anything else he's ever done.
• Funny Aneurysm Moment: One of the best scenes in the whole series is where Manuel sets fire to the kitchen during a fire drill. The real building (for exteriors, anyway) burned down in 1991.
• Jerkass Woobie: Basil. He's an unquestionably horrible human being to be sure, but he's married to an equally horrible (if more socially adept) woman, many of the customers he acts so put upon by really are obnoxious and irritating, and the universe just enjoys watching him suffer.
• Memetic Mutation: "Don't mention the war!"
  • "I do apologise, he's from Barcelona."
    • "Que?"
  • Man hits car with branch.
• Misaimed Fandom: The climax of "The Germans" and indeed most of the show is actually making fun of racist attitudes. Hasn't stopped the former from being popular among people with those views, which alarms John Cleese.
• Seinfeld Is Unfunny: Fawlty Towers' use of broad humor based on obnoxious behavior, slapstick, and shock has been so influential that the series may seem a bit stale to some modern viewers.
• Tough Act to Follow: Cleese and Booth didn't make more episodes because the expectations would've been too high to satisfy. They were already reluctant to do the second series because of that.
• Values Dissonance: The Major's conversation with Basil about explaining the difference between "wogs" and "niggers" to his ex-girlfriend. Which would never, ever, EVER be shown on television (other than HBO) today, even in a comedic satirical context. The fact that Basil doesn't seem to be particularly uncomfortable about the conversation shows this even more so. Anyone today (who is normal, that is) would be squirming. What makes this even more awkward is that the doctor operating on Basil's wife appears to be West Indian (as in black, from the Caribbean).