Talk:The Germans

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[edit] German TV

This was the only episode from the series to be omitted when is was aired in Germany, for reasons of cultural sensitivity.
Is this actually true? I'm sure that I've heard that it's been broadcast in Germany. Silverhelm 07:29, 9 November 2005 (UTC).

I definitely saw it on German TV while living in Berlin in 1992. The original English soundtrack was played, with German subtitles.

It was left out of the first German screening of the series. Paul B 12:56, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm terribly sorry, but as a German i must tell you that both answers are wrong. Films are very very rarely shown on German TV with the original English soundtrack, only for a special interest audience sometimes late at night, and TV series are never. The Germans episode was not left out, in fact it is often repeated solely. To us it naturally is the most funny one, because in real life the English often really appear to BE obsessed with the war. Just us we are with the 1966 world cup final (No, it was not a goal.) 84.190.198.33 00:27, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

I disagree that this episode is "quite popular in Germany" just as AFAIK the entire Fawlty Towers series was never shown widely there. I've just seen the episode for the first time ever on YouTube, although I can vouchsafe that it has previously been recounted to me on several occasions. Or in fact infallably every single time anyone first places my accent. And I have quite a thick accent, you know. Maikel 01:09, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Citations needed generally

We need some sources here. In particular, I am far from convinced that this episode originated the phrase "Don't mention the war" (uncited in the article). I was eighteen at the time and had heard it in countless films and TV shows (albeit none I can yet source definitively). Also the story about Sach's arms is partially inaccurate: according to the <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawlty_towers">main Fawlty Towers article</A> they were chemical burns received when "smoking" clothes made contact with his skin. The source of the frying-pan story is a Cleese interview and I strongly suspect it is apocryphal. Wportre 18:17, 21 August 2007 (UTC)