Xyzzy Shiva0067
When Soap hit the Danish TV station (yes ... singular) back in the day we were blown away with the comedy. I think the best shows we had then was the Dave Allen show (he was hilarious), but when Soap came around it opened up something new and exciting.
Richard Mulligan was brilliant, especially when he went "invisible". The movement is almost iconic and is still done from time to time among my generation. And we all know what that means.
Is Billy Crystal even doing comedy anymore? He really became an iconic figure in comedy after Soap, if i remember correctly.
Another comedy show that still holds up is Faulty Tower's. Well ... if you ask me. Cleese is a difficult one, when it comes to comedy. Either you love him or you hate him. My dad hated him, and I just loved him.
Live at the Hollywood Bowl is the pinnacle of Monty Python's shows. Not discounting the movies and the original Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Cheers - Kaffekop
A lot of people were brilliant on Soap!, including Katherine Helmond (Jessica Tate), Mulligan, Crystal, Jay Johnson (who still does standup comedy and ventriloquism), and Robert Guillaume (Benson, the butler). The invisibility storyline was absolutely hilarious, as were the alien abductions.
If you want to see a couple of other really excellent performances by Mulligan, see the film "Little Big Man" with Dustin Hoffman. Mulligan plays General George Armstrong Custer. It's a fairly short role, but he does a great job with it. Also, the movie S.O.B., a very loose autobiography written and directed by Blake Edwards (of Pink Panther fame). Mulligan plays the Edwards character in the film (with a different name). Plus, you get to see Julie Andrews' breasts.
Billy Crystal has worked steadily since his Soap! days. Films like "Forget Paris", "When Harry Met Sally", and "Monsters, Inc.", TV shows, documentaries, voice acting, not to mention hosting the Academy Awards show a couple of times. He's actually got a couple of projects in the works at the time of this writing.
Aahhh, "Fawlty Towers", another incredibly brilliant show. It's really too bad they only made 12 episodes. The work that they had to have put into the choreography alone must have been mind-boggling. My favorite scene has to be where Basil tries to beat his car to death with a tree branch. I, too, love John Cleese (and all the Pythons). Such a great slapstick actor, and at the same time such a wit! Hard to find both in the same package. My favorite character in the show, though, is Manuel. Andrew Sachs pretty much stole every scene in which he appeared.
I think all the Pythons are either love'em or hate'em. I was fortunate enough to see Eric Idle live a number of years ago. I left the theater with an aching jaw from laughing so much. My favorite Python effort? Holy Grail. Hands down.
Take care,
Xyzzy