• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

LTTP: Monty Python's Flying Circus

cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,195
Coral Springs, FL


So I started watching this on Netflix, and while some of the comedy is dated, conceptually, it's amazing how much they got away with.

The meta-ness of the sketches is insane. They break the fourth wall constantly, and then chop what's left into tiny bits.



Hopefully the later seasons hold up as well.
 
Ferrio

Ferrio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,047


Watch the movies too, Meaning of Life is my favorite and under appreciated . Everyone likes holy grail or life of brain more :(
 
affeinvasion

affeinvasion

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,949
It's really a fascinating mix of stuff that's too smart for television and too dumb to believe they came up with it. It can be incredibly well-written and then just straight-up silly. Really influential.
 
ClivePwned

ClivePwned

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,617
Australia
I'm a long time fan and will be getting the Bluray set of the TV series later in the year as part of the 50th anniversary of the show.
If they look half as good as the classic Doctor Who blurays, that'll be great.

Some of the stuff behind the scenes is amazing as well (how they ended up ownership of the mastertapes, the Life of Brian Backlash, etc), and a lot of that stuff is on Netflix as well.

based on some threads around here, some of the language will make some people's heads explode.
 
Oscillator

Oscillator

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
1,787
Canada
Ferrio said:
Finally!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

previewbskg0.jpg


" You always talk, you Americans! You talk and you talk, and you say, " Let me tell ya somethin' " and " I just wanna say this "! Well you're dead now, so shut up!! "
 
LL_Decitrig

LL_Decitrig

User-Requested Ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
10,334
Sunderland
The final season after John Cleese left is only six episodes, and Cleese's absence from the cast is painful (though they did credit him for the writing in some of their sketches.) The continuation of this partnership in film was an unexpected joy. The best was yet to come.
 
Sanjuro

Sanjuro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,010
Massachusetts
The albums are not to be missed too. A lot of great songs and audio renditions of their famous skits. When I was a kid, I think I owned just about all of them.
 
Skiptastic

Skiptastic

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
3,684
Great show overall but Series 2 is on another level. One of the greatest seasons in television history.
 

Deleted member 7883

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,387
So much of the latter episodes fall flat honesty. I love the series and grew up with it, but the shows decline toward the end doesn't really get talked about enough.
kids in the hall is better
This is my favorite sketch

 
Yautja_Warrior

Yautja_Warrior

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,691
United Kingdom
Really looking forward to the Limited Edition 50th Anniversary blu-ray set (all 45 episodes fully restored + unseen and excised footage, sketches and much more)

Non Limited Edition individual Series 1 - 4 blu-ray sets will be released at some point after too.
 

mclem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,448
My favourite thing Python are responsible for isn't actually directly a Python thing, but it's some beautiful satire.

When Life is Brian was released, there was a deeply uncomfortable interview/debate between then and some notable religious broadcasters who regarded it as blasphemous. Includes rare scenes Michael Palin being angrier than John Cleese!



...but that's not the real treat. The delight is when the satirical sketch show Not The Nine O'Clock News latched onto this...:

 
UnderSiege

UnderSiege

Member
Mar 5, 2019
2,693
Quite a few years since I last watched a whole episode. But I really, really love Flying Circus. Love the insanity, silliness, the stream-of-consciousness presentation and the way they just went for it, which made even the lesser bits work in the context of the whole episode.
Although I recently rewatched Holy Grail and Life of Brian, and they both fell a bit flat for me, besides a few really good moments. That was disappointing, seeing as I thought of Life of Brian as one of the best comedies of all time. Really want to rewatch the whole of Flying Circus soon (also, Meaning of Life), hoping and thinking that that holds up better to me.
 
LL_Decitrig

LL_Decitrig

User-Requested Ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
10,334
Sunderland
Holy Flying Circus, a docudrama about the Life of Brian period, is quite fun. In particular Michael Cochrane and Roy Marsden are wonderfully disgusting as Malcolm Muggeridge and the Bishop of Southwark in the television debate with Cleese and Palin about whether Life of Brian was blasphemous.

 
Joni

Joni

Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,508
A lot of it is great, but at the same time, there are some sketches that do go on longer than they should have. But if you like them, be sure to pick up Do Not Adjust Your Set and At Last the 1948 Show as well.
 

Deleted member 15440

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,191
mclem said:
My favourite thing Python are responsible for isn't actually directly a Python thing, but it's some beautiful satire.

When Life is Brian was released, there was a deeply uncomfortable interview/debate between then and some notable religious broadcasters who regarded it as blasphemous. Includes rare scenes Michael Palin being angrier than John Cleese!



...but that's not the real treat. The delight is when the satirical sketch show Not The Nine O'Clock News latched onto this...:

Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

watching the talk show clip and it's really incredible how this malcolm person shows that racist religious talking points have not changed at all in the last 40 years.

"you couldn't make this movie about mohammed, the muslims and anti-racists would destroy you"
"western civilization is entirely based on christianity and is sadly in decline"
"all the great art and artists in the last 2000 years are part of the tradition you're mocking"

i could go on twitter right now and find guys with avatars of marble statues or renaissance paintings saying exactly the same things this instant.
 

mclem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,448
aeolist said:
watching the talk show clip and it's really incredible how this malcolm person shows that racist religious talking points have not changed at all in the last 40 years.

"you couldn't make this movie about mohammed, the muslims and anti-racists would destroy you"
"western civilization is entirely based on christianity and is sadly in decline"
"all the great art and artists in the last 2000 years are part of the tradition you're mocking"

i could go on twitter right now and find guys with avatars of marble statues or renaissance paintings saying exactly the same things this instant.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah, it's very much "the more things change, the more things stay the same".

A few years ago the BBC made a comedy dramatisation about the controversy.
 
LL_Decitrig

LL_Decitrig

User-Requested Ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
10,334
Sunderland
ZealousD said:
Case in point about "straight-up silly".

Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Interesting thing here is it's just a basic slapstick gag with a bit of misdirection to set the scene. Just about any Laurel and Hardy film will have variations of the same gag. The absurdist humour of the setting is the bit that appears silly, but almost anybody will howl with laughter at the resolution.
 
The Doomed One

The Doomed One

Member
Nov 28, 2017
589
OP, enjoy the best sketch comedy ever. I'm happy that Netflix picked it up for younger generations to see.
As I was growing up in the 80s, Monty Python was a staple of late-night Croatian TV, I grew up on it and most of my sense of humor is derived on the black humor of Monty Python and Alan Ford comic book.
Do watch the movies as well, Life of Bryan is my favorite.
And some of my favorite sketches: (who am I kidding, all of them are my favorite)

 
SatelliteOfLove

SatelliteOfLove

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,960
South Carolina
The fact things would just hit you blindside over and over with the sheer absurdity smoothing the transitions made it. "You just left bonkers, now New Bonkers!" Brilliant Stupidity.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.