As the programme was originally scheduled to air in the time-slot occupied by "Fawlty Towers", John Cleese was to have introduced the first episode in a sketch referring to a technicians' strike (then in progress) that hindered the production of the series, explaining (in character as Basil Fawlty) that there was no programme that week, so a "tatty revue" would be broadcast instead. However, the 1979 general election intervened, and the programme was pulled as too political, being replaced with a rerun of the American sitcom "Rhoda".