“USA” was the working title used for the Fawlty Towers episode “Waldorf Salad”.
“Waldorf Salad” is the third episode of the second series, although it was the first episode of that series to be recorded. It was filmed on 21 January 1979 and first broadcast on BBC Two on 5 March 1979. The working title “USA” reflected the episode’s focus on cultural differences between British and American hotel guests.
The story centres on Mr Hamilton, an outspoken American guest who expects a meal after the kitchen has closed and orders a Waldorf salad. Basil has never prepared one, so he pretends that the absent chef is cooking while attempting the dish himself. The resulting confusion drives the episode’s escalating arguments.
The title “USA” is easy to mistake for an episode title, but the familiar broadcast title is “Waldorf Salad”. Other working titles from the series included “Death” for “The Kipper and the Corpse” and “Rat” for “Basil the Rat”. The episode’s humour was deliberately built around contrasting British reserve with American directness.