Waldorf Salad

Not one of the series' strongest episodes, Waldorf Salad features yet another obnoxious guest, a brusque American (Bruce Boa) who insists that he and his wife (Claire Nielson) are served dinner even after the kitchen has closed, the gruff yank paying Basil £20 to keep the chef on for a while longer. But with his chef leaving on time for a date, it is up to Basil to perform kitchen duties, with the inevitable disastrous results.

Watching the loud-mouthed American bully poor Basil just didn't seem all that funny to me—one actually feels a little sorry for the hotel owner, who is simply trying his best to accommodate his guests. Of course, the deception is eventually rumbled in a hilarious scene where Basil is conducting an argument with his 'imaginary' chef only for the American to walk in and witness the debacle. A great moment, but getting there isn't quite the unforgettable comedic ride that other episodes offer.

"Waldorf Salad" is funny, like the rest of them, but it's just a bit too uptight on the whole. The character of Mr. Hamilton (played acidly by Bruce Boa) is just too much of a jackass and even though Basil, at long last, gets a wake-up call when dressed down in front of a room full of guests, Hamilton doesn't ever get what HE deserves. It's obvious from the beginning that Basil isn't going to beat The Hamiltons with the hotel's usual low standards - they want their screwdrivers made with FRESH orange juice, they want their steak done rare...and they want their Waldorf salad. The usual quota of humorous lines is there (Basil: "What is a Waldorf, anyway? A walnut that's gone off?!") The bit where Basil rifles through a box of potatoes and other vegetables in order to find the right ingredients is quite a hoot. In short, it seems like "Waldorf Salad" underscores what was patently obvious about the hotel from the beginning...that it's a house of problems!

When I first saw this episode I (being an American) wondered just what they were playing at. He may fool non-Americans but I doubt that any of us would be taken in. (In a way it's like the phoney Aussie accents on Month Python; people that weren't familiar with authentic Aussie accents were probably fooled; real Aussies weren't.

I notice from his credits that he made a career of playing Americans, which says something for British production values.

The only Brit I can recall who would have fooled me completely had I not known better was Sid James in "Orders Are Orders" in which he played a big-mouthed movie producer.

An American couple come to stay at Fawlty Towers . Being Americans they expect the best service possible . It goes without saying that they're not going to get it at this hotel

I'm somewhat surprised at some of the comments on this page regarding this episode . On its initial broadcast I thought it one of the very best episodes from the show an opinion that hasn't been diminished by time and multiple viewings . Its agenda is probably not so much satire but parody and this it does perfectly

There's probably a perception in Britain in the 1970s that most Americans are loud philistines only interested in money . This probably a hang-over from the war when the Yanks were over paid over sexed and over here . The British perception amongst the general public is probably even less complimentary with the only people defending Americans being British soldiers who have served in recent war zones . Their praise for Americans is boundless so stop taking things so seriously guys

The episode revolves around the constant premise of the show that Basil finds himself in a tight spot and tries to dig himself out only to dig himself in to a deeper hole . Like Mrs Richards from the season debut and Mr Hutchinson from season one it involves a very difficult guest a Mr Hamilton who is portrayed as a parody of a loud mouthed American philistine . Again it could have descended in to farce but there's an air of reality about the differences between British and American culture and it's the show that made the Waldorf Salad a much better known dish in the British Isles

I used to have the box set of both series and I always fast forwarded past this episode.

I cannot stand Bruce Boa in this episode. He seems to be portraying all that is wrong about foreign visitors to any country. Their insistence of having something they always have at home is irritating in the extreme.

Fawlty's guests are usually treated badly for no good reason (other than they made the mistake of staying in his hotel), the problem with this episode is that Bruce Boa's character DOESN'T get treated badly and he really, really should.

Watching it again on DVD for the first time in about 5 years, I found the episode didn't grate as much as it used to, but Bruce Boa is still extremely annoying.