Today's Inspiration: The Most Obnoxious Man In The World

 

Today's headline may seem like an oxymoron. And it probably is.

 

In keeping with my recent theme of recommending things to rent - either from Netflix or your media outlet of choice - my suggestion for the  week is:

Fawlty Towers.

This short lived BBC series (only 12 episodes) never fails to make me laugh. Which should tell you something horrible about me because Basil Fawlty as written and portrayed by the legendary John Cleese is one of the most obnoxious characters to ever grace the small screen.

This pompous, bullying hotel manager/owner makes Steve Carell's character on the office look like a choirboy.

So why am I recommending it under inspirations? 

Because there is something enormously satisfying in watching someone this obnoxious get his deserved comeuppance; as Basil eventually does in every episode. More perfectly - he always does all the damage to himself. And, as violent as these 12 shows are (Fawlty rarely misses a chance to take a swipe at his waiter Manuel), they truly do seem to fall into that category of cartoon violence ala Tweety and Sylvester.

As they say in the disclaimers, "If you have delicate sensibilities or are easily offended" you will want to skip Fawlty Towers. But if you're one of the legion of Python fans that can quote every line from the Holy Grail, you should rent these today.