Comedy icon John Cleese is at it again, this time taking aim at the BBC, claiming the once-great comedy institution has lost its way.

The Monty Python legend and Fawlty Towers mastermind, now 86, didn't mince words, declaring the corporation a humorless bureaucracy.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC radio, Cleese lamented, "In the case of the BBC, there isn’t the executive understanding of how to nurture comedy, which is why there’s not much great comedy these days."

Ouch! Sounds like someone's not a fan of the current state of British television.

Cleese singled out former director-general John Birt as the culprit, accusing him of turning the BBC into a bureaucratic nightmare. "Bureaucrats aren’t very good at humour," Cleese quipped, "because they try to decide things in committee."

Can you imagine Basil Fawlty's antics being vetted by a committee? The horror!

For those who remember the sheer brilliance of *Fawlty Towers*, co-written by Cleese and Connie Booth in the '70s, prepare for some bad news: Cleese says he won't be gracing the BBC with any new work.

Addressing the Slapstick comedy festival in Bristol, Cleese didn't hold back, "If you put a script in now it has to go through a f***ing committee who have no idea what they are doing."

He went on to say: "There has been nothing funny since *The Office*. It is sad and it is because the people in charge have no idea how to make comedy happen."

Strong words indeed! Is Cleese right? Has the BBC truly lost its funny bone?

He argues the "whole process has been replaced by a bureaucratic process which does not begin to work."

Cleese didn't stop there, saying British comedy "used to be really good at it and now we are not and that is very sad."

"There weren’t committees when we started," he emphasized. "Comedy now has to be clean. You must not play for laughs." Wait, what's comedy without laughs?!

But fear not, comedy fans! Cleese is planning a book on writing comedy, hoping to shed light on the "difficult" art form. Maybe he will teach the BBC a thing or two?

He insists, "The people organising comedy have never been very good but at the moment particularly at the BBC they are clueless."

Cleese clarified, "I don’t think it is a lack of talent — except among the executive classes. Those classes have no idea what they are doing."

So, it seems the problem, according to Cleese, isn't the comedians themselves, but the suits calling the shots.

Is this the end of an era for BBC comedy? Or will Cleese's critique spark a much-needed change?

Only time will tell if the BBC can rediscover its comedic mojo. But one thing's for sure: John Cleese isn't afraid to speak his mind, and we're here for it!

Perhaps the BBC should consider taking a page from Cleese's book and embrace a little more risk-taking and a lot less bureaucratic meddling.

After all, who wants comedy decided by committee?

It’s safe to say Cleese won't be appearing on *Strictly Come Dancing* anytime soon, at least not on the BBC!

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