John Cleese delivered the sinister warning that creatives’ livelihoods could be under threat, as he suggested replacing executives with AI – but not writers. Talking on the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show on Radio X this morning, the 84-year-old exclaimed: “It’s very sad now with reality television, where I think we’ll just get rid of the writers because people don’t need them.”
He blasted that “the people in charge don’t know what they’re doing” – and that both unscripted programmes and artificially generated plots could be detrimental to the industry. The star, who is renowned for writing the Fawlty Towers storylines, added that his daughter Camilla recently posed a question to AI – which people would be the most easily replaceable by computers.
“The answer was the executives – because AI is very good at all the things that executives do, and it’s not very good as all the things that creative people do,” he exclaimed. “The creative people should be firing the executives.”
Despite also being an actor, John speaks up passionately for the writers who shape stories behind the scenes. It’s something he’s worked studiously on over the years, taking six weeks to create each Fawlty Towers episode.
“I always said I was a writer-performer – but the writing always came first,” he explained. John went on to reveal that taking so long to painstakingly perfect each show was almost unheard of in his industry.
“Nobody spent more than 10 days on a half hour [episode], and they should,” he lamented.
The showbiz veteran continued: “The reason that my scripts] are good – and obviously, you know, I’m boasting, but they are very good – is because we took six weeks.
“If it’s six weeks, you come up with more ideas and the more funny ideas you have the funnier the show is!”
Expanding on the concept that his writing on Fawlty Towers is a more crucial part of his role than acting, he revealed that he doesn’t mind seeing another man playing Basil.
“I was always aware that different people might play it if it was successful – and it’s very interesting, because sometimes they add things I can’t do,” he mused.
Fawlty Towers is soon to hit London’s West End, as a new play is expected at the Apollo Theatre, almost half a century since the first episode aired way back in 1974.
Adam Jackson-Smith will take on the role of Basil for the run, which begins on May 4 and has been tipped as the “stage comedy event of the year”.
Fans seeking more from John Cleese should check out his full radio interview here.
