This Fine Establishment

From Beyond is quite a feat of engineering, but it was not free from the curse of failed jokes.  This one in particular didn't work for two reasons: 1) it relies on an extremely subtle gag and 2) it was poorly cut.  The setup:  Charles meets the Teems for the first time. He knocks on their front door, looking for a place to stay.  Being the proper gentleman that he is, he speaks with an unusual manner.  It goes a little bit like this:

Charles: Oh, good evening.  Would you be so kind as to allow me into this fine establishment of yours?

Victor: Sorry, it's just a house.  Not a restaurant.

Charles: Must something really be a restaurant in order to be considered an establishment?

Victor: Hold on, let me check.

He consults a dictionary.

Victor: Oh, apparently not, well if my house is an establishment, then you may surely come in.

Charles: Ah, well.  Thank you so very much.

As you can see by the dialogue alone, it's not gut-bustingly funny.  The joke was supposed to be that Victor actually bothers to check the dictionary on the meaning of the word 'establishment' before he even allows Charles to come in.  Not to mention that Charles brings it up in the first place.  However, add to that that the scene was cut poorly (due to camera problems, not editing problems), and you end up with dialogue that actually goes like this:

Charles: Oh, good evening.  Would you be so kind as to allow me into this fine establishment of your-

Victor: -orry.  It's just a house.  Not a restaurant.

Charles: Must something really be a restaurant in order to be considered an establish-

You get the idea.  We were thinking the gag of Victor whipping out a dictionary (which he happens to have handy) and looking up the word (which he finds instantly) would be funny.  It wasn't.  Don't expect this joke to be reappearing anytime soon.

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