The Brits are a stuffy, haughty and quite socially conservative. Their taste in own a entertainment is strictly high brow. They are quite reserved in their socializing, and always maintain the most highly dignified behaviour. They never miss their afternoon Tea Time.
WHAT?!?!?!?! Well, these qualifications seem to be rampant, far-flung and long lasting. It is very hard to dispel and correct any untruth (Lie!) after it has been spoken, printed, published, recorded or transmitted over any medium, be it Smoke Signals, Carrier Pigeon, Drums or even by casting "SEND HELP" bottled-notes into the Oceanic System.
If there were any true believers out there, they surely haven't seen any of the ½ Hour episodes of MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS. All it would take would be one show to dispel and negate any of these ridiculous stereotypes. Two Shows would get a viewer sort of interested; Three and you're starting to get the general idea; Four qualifies you as a Fledgling Anglophile and Five Show, you're hooked.
Seriously though, we would never attempt to tell you or anyone else that X is funny,Y is not and unless you agree with me, there must be something wrong with you. Judging comedy is a most subjective art and too much analyzing of a Comedy, can be harmful in rendering it no longer as being funny. Either it makes us laugh or it doesn't There's certainly not any special brain power to it; and certainly, Rocket Scientists would have no advantages in judging what is funny. Some have a great sense of humor, in others their sense of humor is greatly and there are those in every walk of life who are completely devoid of any funny bone at all.
When the folks at the BBC, like Ian MacNaughton, made the overtures to bring 5 of their top writers together under the umbrella of a TV Series to be patterned along the lines of THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS, or just TW3 for short. The roll call read like a true All-Star Dream Team of scribes. The list read as follows: The team of Graham Chapman & John Cleese, Writing Partners Terry Jones & Michael Palin and Solo Act, Eric Idle. The addition of the Popular Animator, the American, Terry Gilliam just acted as the final touch needed. It was like a butter cream frosting being put on a 5 layer German Chocolate Cake.
With a all of the resources of the British Broadcasting Corporation at available and what certainly appears to have been a more than adequate budget at their disposal, the series was launched. Like any young undertaking, It took a little while to shake down the loose ends and see what adjustments would be needed.
One difficulty that they had was in choosing the Title of their new enterprise. All sorts of ideas were kicked around; for they were dealing with the outputs from six very fertile, creative minds. "OWL STRETCHING TIME" was a finalist in the big sweepstakes and the title does indeed appear in the closing of at least one episode.
As for describing MONTY PYTHON, it is really no easy task. The sketch humor is full of such off the wall material, the likes of which, have never seen the light of day before. Additionally, the Episodes are so tightly edited and quickly and without warning, they can end one bit abruptly, only to return to the first and eventually mix them both or even start another skit.
Various occupations are often targets for their razzing, as well as any and every of the old established British Institutions. The Parliament, The Royal Family, The World Wars, The British Class system, Sports, Politicos,etc. You name it and they've kidded it.
They also maintain a close relationship with British Drama of years gone by. That is accomplished with their often used recurring of the nonsensical idiot character of "Mr. Gumby".
As for picking a "favourite" episode, we can only offer those which contain some particular routines and sketches. That being the case, let us consider the following, outrageous skits, such as: "The Ministery of Silly Walks.", "Dennis Moore (the Highwayman)", "Inspector Dimm in Court", "The Dead Parrot Sketch" and of course, last but not least "The Lumberjack Song." As for any disappointments, there have been very few and they were of little consequence. But there is one nasty fault that does make a big difference to the Series as a whole. In its last season, the line-up did not include John Cleese. Apparently his schedule at that time did not allow his presence. He was committed to some other project, like "FAWLTY TOWERS", for example. While there was probably much of his writing in that last season's product, THE PYTHONS greatly missed Mr. Cleese.
The Pythons have been translated into other languages and they made a number of rather successful Theatrical Films. They continue to captivate those of new Generations, as well as the 30+Years viewer, just like yours truly. They even have that successful Broadway Show, SPAMELOT.
God Bless Them for their successes in making us laugh and think at the same time; and obviously, he already has. But for all of the Films, The Broadway Show and other Live Appearances; it is on "the old Tube" that they are truly on their best.
WHAT?!?!?!?! Well, these qualifications seem to be rampant, far-flung and long lasting. It is very hard to dispel and correct any untruth (Lie!) after it has been spoken, printed, published, recorded or transmitted over any medium, be it Smoke Signals, Carrier Pigeon, Drums or even by casting "SEND HELP" bottled-notes into the Oceanic System.
If there were any true believers out there, they surely haven't seen any of the ½ Hour episodes of MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS. All it would take would be one show to dispel and negate any of these ridiculous stereotypes. Two Shows would get a viewer sort of interested; Three and you're starting to get the general idea; Four qualifies you as a Fledgling Anglophile and Five Show, you're hooked.
Seriously though, we would never attempt to tell you or anyone else that X is funny,Y is not and unless you agree with me, there must be something wrong with you. Judging comedy is a most subjective art and too much analyzing of a Comedy, can be harmful in rendering it no longer as being funny. Either it makes us laugh or it doesn't There's certainly not any special brain power to it; and certainly, Rocket Scientists would have no advantages in judging what is funny. Some have a great sense of humor, in others their sense of humor is greatly and there are those in every walk of life who are completely devoid of any funny bone at all.
When the folks at the BBC, like Ian MacNaughton, made the overtures to bring 5 of their top writers together under the umbrella of a TV Series to be patterned along the lines of THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS, or just TW3 for short. The roll call read like a true All-Star Dream Team of scribes. The list read as follows: The team of Graham Chapman & John Cleese, Writing Partners Terry Jones & Michael Palin and Solo Act, Eric Idle. The addition of the Popular Animator, the American, Terry Gilliam just acted as the final touch needed. It was like a butter cream frosting being put on a 5 layer German Chocolate Cake.
With a all of the resources of the British Broadcasting Corporation at available and what certainly appears to have been a more than adequate budget at their disposal, the series was launched. Like any young undertaking, It took a little while to shake down the loose ends and see what adjustments would be needed.
One difficulty that they had was in choosing the Title of their new enterprise. All sorts of ideas were kicked around; for they were dealing with the outputs from six very fertile, creative minds. "OWL STRETCHING TIME" was a finalist in the big sweepstakes and the title does indeed appear in the closing of at least one episode.
As for describing MONTY PYTHON, it is really no easy task. The sketch humor is full of such off the wall material, the likes of which, have never seen the light of day before. Additionally, the Episodes are so tightly edited and quickly and without warning, they can end one bit abruptly, only to return to the first and eventually mix them both or even start another skit.
Various occupations are often targets for their razzing, as well as any and every of the old established British Institutions. The Parliament, The Royal Family, The World Wars, The British Class system, Sports, Politicos,etc. You name it and they've kidded it.
They also maintain a close relationship with British Drama of years gone by. That is accomplished with their often used recurring of the nonsensical idiot character of "Mr. Gumby".
As for picking a "favourite" episode, we can only offer those which contain some particular routines and sketches. That being the case, let us consider the following, outrageous skits, such as: "The Ministery of Silly Walks.", "Dennis Moore (the Highwayman)", "Inspector Dimm in Court", "The Dead Parrot Sketch" and of course, last but not least "The Lumberjack Song." As for any disappointments, there have been very few and they were of little consequence. But there is one nasty fault that does make a big difference to the Series as a whole. In its last season, the line-up did not include John Cleese. Apparently his schedule at that time did not allow his presence. He was committed to some other project, like "FAWLTY TOWERS", for example. While there was probably much of his writing in that last season's product, THE PYTHONS greatly missed Mr. Cleese.
The Pythons have been translated into other languages and they made a number of rather successful Theatrical Films. They continue to captivate those of new Generations, as well as the 30+Years viewer, just like yours truly. They even have that successful Broadway Show, SPAMELOT.
God Bless Them for their successes in making us laugh and think at the same time; and obviously, he already has. But for all of the Films, The Broadway Show and other Live Appearances; it is on "the old Tube" that they are truly on their best.