Sunday, August 31, 2008
TV Rebels: Monty Python's Flying Circus
It's time for another edition of TV Rebels. We originally had special permission to publish the first 6 essays on TV shows and actors that will be featured in the upcoming book TV Rebels: 100 People and Programs That Shaped the Medium by authors Lou Orfanella and Oscar De Los Santos...and as we mentioned in April, we have now gotten rights to 6 additional essays (for a total of 12!), so we will be bringing you one each month until at least November! Upcoming TV Rebel columns coming soon are about Rod Serling and Desi Arnaz. The book is in the works and will be released in 2009.
So without further adieu, we bring you the ninth essay of TV Rebels:
Monty Python's Flying Circus: "-and now for something completely different!"
by contributing author Kelly L. Goodridge
It was 39 years ago when Monty Python's Flying Circus and the satirical comedy of six men known as the "Pythons" altered the face of television comedy. John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman, all Pythons and graduates of Oxford and Cambridge, created a kind of side-show television circus sketch comedy that commented on, questioned and poked fun at life. Monty Python's Flying Circus is known for its ingenuous brand of "Pythonesque" humor and for subverting the standard formats that other sitcoms deemed necessary in the late 1960s. The show includes satire, farce, sarcasm and parody, and is difficult to categorize, especially with sketches such as "The Funniest Joke in the World," the "Dead Parrot" sketch, "The One-Man Wrestling Match," and "The Ministry of Silly Walks." Michael Mills, BBC's Head of Comedy, initially gave the Python team thirteen 30-minute shows, the first of which aired on BBC-1 on October 5, 1969. However, 44 more episodes followed and aired over four seasons. The show was produced by John Howard Davies and the first 39 episodes were titled Monty Python's Flying Circus, but the final six episodes, which aired without Cleese, were called Monty Python (The Museum of Broadcast Communications). Although the final episode aired on Dec. 5, 1974, the television series and five Monty Python films have a cult following today (The Pythons Autobiography By The Pythons).
Originally, the comedy series was to be called "Baron Von Took's Flying Circus," after a comment made by Mills. However, Barry Took, the comedian that is credited as "London's Longest Laugh," and who Mills coined "Baron Von Took" brought the Pythons to the BBC and suggested the show unite two teams of young writers -- Michael Palin and Terry Jones alongside John Cleese and Graham Chapman (BBC News "Took: Comedy with a Twist"). "The content of Monty Python's Flying Circus was designed to be disconcerting to viewers who expected to see typical television fare" (The Museum of Broadcast Communications). The show's humor is evidenced in each of the comedic actors' ability to play diverse roles and characters, including women. In addition, each Python also refined character traits such as "Captain Fantastic," off the wall language accents and trademark lines such as Cleese's "You bastard!" The show's sketches are loaded with innuendo and risqué humor, sight gags, disrespect for authority and animation merged with live action. Gilliam's arrangement of cut-out art and skewed scale set against surrealist landscapes offered something new. Gilliam asserts, "Nobody had ever seen anything like it and I was animator. Just like that" (The Pythons Autobiography By The Pythons 119).
Rather than following traditional sketch format, the Pythons were innovators and rebels of sorts with their jokes and sketches, which have had a lasting effect on the medium (Saturday Night Live and SCTV). In fact, The BBC credits Monty Python's Flying Circus as "one of the most popular comedy series ever" (BBC News "Took: Comedy with a Twist"). At any rate, the television series was a precursor to their films and if the official Monty Python website, Pythonline.com is any indication -- the show impacted and continues to impact culture. Pythonline offers "The Daily Python" news, books, audio recordings, clothing, toys, a 16 DVD boxed set of "The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus" with all 45 television episodes, as well as DVD's of their films -- And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974), Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979), Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982), and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983). The website also includes the "Latest Global Python Sightings" and appearances of the Pythons (with the exception of Graham Chapman, who died of cancer in October 1989), polls for visitors to take where one can select their favorite movie or "Vote for the Top Ten Monty Python Skits of all time!!", as well as a link to buy tickets for their current musical hit comedy Spamalot on Broadway or in Las Vegas, London, or Melbourne.
Works Cited
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and
Michael Palin with Bob McCabe. The Pythons Autobiography By The
Pythons. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, First St. Martins Griffin ed.,
November 2005.
Pythonline.com, the official Monty Python website. <http://pythonline.com/>.
BBC News. "Took: Comedy with a Twist." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1903971.stm>. Sunday, March 31, 2002.
Hammill, Geoff. "Monty Python's Flying Circus: British Sketch Comedy/Farce/Parody/Satire Series." The Museum of Broadcast Communication (mbc). <http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/montypythobn/montypython.htm>.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, May 15
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Guilt Boots" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie panics when he learns that Jim is considering selling the tire store to his rival, and Mandy’s forced to confront a long-running lie, on part one of the first season finale.
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Big Decisions" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Tensions rise when Georgie finds out the truth about Mandy’s boss, and Georgie does all he can to buy the tire store before Jim sells it, on part two of the first season finale.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 12)
Thursday, May 15
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Watching Ellie/Seinfeld/Day by Day) - Catch Julia on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Mo Amer (Mo/Ramy) - Mo is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Glenn Howerton (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/A.P. Bio/The Mindy Project/That '80s Show) - Glenn appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Keyla Monterroso Mejia (Abbott Elementary/Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Brandon Kyle Goodman (Human Resources) - Keyla and Brandon are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - E! News has an interview with Stanley at 11pm on E!.
- Method Man (Method & Red) - Method Man is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) and Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood/The Last O.G./The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - CBS Mornings has CBS Deals with Anthony and Cedric sometime between 7-9am.
- Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Mario and Kit Hoover talk about Access Daily on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 9am hour.
- Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Nick chats about his Broadway show The Last Five Years on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette talks about Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke, author of Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, is revealing to Drew her cover photo on AARP magazine in celebration of her 50th birthday on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/One Day at a Time) - Valerie and Drew are sharing some gadgets to help with menopause symptoms on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Terry Crews (Everybody Still Hates Chris/Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry talks about NBC's America's Got Talent on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Dulé Hill (The Wonder Years) - Dulé Hill is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts