Monty Python's Flying Circus

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Monty Python's Flying Circus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monty Python's Flying Circus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monty Pythons Flying Circus (known during the

final series as just Monty Python) is a British sketch
comedy series commissioned by David
Attenborough,[1] created by the comedy group Monty
Python and broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974.
The shows were composed of surreality, risqu or
innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational
sketches without punchlines. It also featured
animations by Terry Gilliam, often sequenced or
merged with live action. The first episode was
recorded on 7 September and broadcast on 5 October
1969 on BBC One, with 45 episodes airing over four
series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for
German TV.
The show often targets the idiosyncrasies of British
life, especially that of professionals, and is at times
politically charged. The members of Monty Python
were highly educated. Terry Jones and Michael Palin
are Oxford University graduates; Eric Idle, John
Cleese, and Graham Chapman attended Cambridge
University; and American-born member Terry Gilliam
is an Occidental College graduate. Their comedy is
often pointedly intellectual, with numerous erudite
references to philosophers and literary figures. The
series followed and elaborated upon the style used by
Spike Milligan in his ground breaking series Q5,
rather than the traditional sketch show format. The
team intended their humour to be impossible to
categorise, and succeeded so completely that the
adjective "Pythonesque" was invented to define it and,
later, similar material.
The Pythons play the majority of the series characters
themselves, including the majority of the female
characters, but occasionally they cast an extra actor.
Regular supporting cast members include Carol
Cleveland (referred to by the team as the unofficial
"Seventh Python"), Connie Booth (Cleese's first wife),
series Producer Ian MacNaughton, Ian Davidson, Neil
Innes (in the fourth series), and the Fred Tomlinson
Singers (for musical numbers).
The series' theme song is the first segment of John
Philip Sousa's The Liberty Bell, chosen because it was
in the public domain and thus could be used without
charge.
Contents
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_Flying_Circus
Monty Pythons Flying Circus
Genre
Sketch comedy
Surreal comedy
Satire
Black comedy
Created by
Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Terry Gilliam
Eric Idle
Terry Jones
Michael Palin
Written by
Monty Python
Neil Innes
Douglas Adams
Directed by
Ian MacNaughton
John Howard Davies
Starring
Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Terry Gilliam
Eric Idle
Terry Jones
Michael Palin
With
Carol Cleveland
Ian Davidson
Connie Booth
Opening
theme
"The Liberty Bell" by John Philip

Sousa
Composer(s) Neil Innes

Fred Tomlinson Singers
Country of
United Kingdom
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Contents
origin
No. of series 4
1 Title
2 Recurring characters
No. of
episodes
2.1 Frequently recurring characters (six

or more appearances)
2.2 Characters who made multiple
Production
Running
time
appearances
3 Popular character traits
3.1 Chapman
3.2 Cleese
3.3 Gilliam
3.4 Idle
3.5 Jones
3.6 Palin
45 (List of episodes)
approx. 2530 minutes

Broadcast
Original
channel
BBC1 (19691973)
BBC2 (1974)
Original run 5October1969 5December1974

Chronology
Followed by And Now for Something
Completely Different
4 Lost sketches
5 Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
6 Stage incarnations
7 Landing of Flying Circus
8 Awards and honours
9 Legacy
10 Production
11 Transnational Themes in Monty Python's
Flying Circus
12 See also
13 References
14 External links
Title
The title Monty Python's Flying Circus was partly the result of the group's reputation at the BBC.
Michael Mills, the BBC's Head of Comedy, wanted their name to include the word "circus" because the
BBC referred to the six members wandering around the building as a circus, in particular "Baron Von
Took's Flying Circus", after Barry Took, who had brought them to the BBC.[2] The group added "flying"
to make it sound less like an actual circus and more like something from World War I. The group was
coming up with their name at a time when the 1966 Royal Guardsmen song Snoopy vs. the Red Baron
had been at a peak. Manfred von Richthofen, the WWI German flying ace known as The Red Baron,
commanded a squadron of planes known as "The Flying Circus." The words "Monty Python" were
added because they claimed it sounded like a really bad theatrical agent, the sort of person who would
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have brought them together, with John Cleese suggesting "Python" as something slimy and slithery, and
Eric Idle suggesting "Monty".[3] They later explained that the name Monty "...made us laugh because
Monty to us means Lord Montgomery, our great general of the Second World War".[4]
The BBC had rejected some other names put forward by the group including Whither Canada?, The
Nose Show, Ow! It's Colin Plint!, A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin, The Toad Elevating Moment and Owl
Stretching Time.[3] Several of these titles were later used for individual episodes.
Recurring characters
In contrast to many other sketch comedy shows, Flying Circus had only a handful of recurring
characters, many of whom were involved only in titles and linking sequences. Continuity for many of
these recurring characters was frequently non-existent from sketch to sketch, with sometimes even the
most basic information (such as a character's name) being changed from one appearance to the next.
Frequently recurring characters (six or more appearances)

The "It's" Man (Palin), a Robinson Crusoe-type castaway with torn clothes and a long, unkempt
beard who would appear at the beginning of the programme. Often he is seen performing a long or
dangerous task, such as falling off a tall, jagged cliff or running through a mined field a long
distance towards the camera before introducing the show by just saying, "It's..." before being
abruptly cut off by the opening titles and Terry Gilliam's animation sprouting the words 'Monty
Pythons Flying Circus'. It's was an early candidate for the title of the series.
A BBC continuity announcer in a dinner jacket (Cleese), seated at a desk, often in highly
incongruous locations, such as a forest or a beach. His line, "And now for something completely
different," was used variously as a lead-in to the opening titles and a simple way to link sketches.
Though Cleese is best known for it, Idle first introduced the phrase in Episode 2, where he
introduced a man with three buttocks. It eventually became the shows catch phrase and served as
the title for the troupes first movie. In Series 3 the line was shortened to simply: "And now..." and
was often combined with the "It's" man in introducing the episodes.
The Gumbys, a group of slow-witted individuals identically attired in gumboots (from which they
take their name), high-water trousers, braces, and round, wire-rimmed glasses, with toothbrush
moustaches and knotted handkerchiefs worn on their heads (a stereotype of the English, working
class holidaymaker). They hold their arms stiffly at their sides, speak slowly in loud, throaty
voices punctuated by frequent grunts and groans, and have a fondness for pointless violence. All
of them are surnamed Gumby: D.P. Gumby, R.S. Gumby, etc. Even though all Pythons played
Gumbys in the show's run, the character is most closely associated with Michael Palin.
The Knight with a Raw Chicken (Gilliam), who would hit characters over the head with the
chicken when they said something particularly silly. The knight was a regular during the first
series and made another appearance in the third.
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A nude organist (played in his first appearance by Gilliam, later by Jones) who provided a brief
fanfare to punctuate certain sketches, most notably on a sketch poking fun at Sale of the Century
or as yet another way to introduce the opening titles. This character was addressed as "Onan" by
Palin's host character in the ersatz game show sketch "Blackmail".
The "Pepperpots" are screeching middle-aged, lower-middle class housewives, played by the
Pythons in frocks, and engage in surreal and inconsequential conversation. "The Pepperpots" was
the in-house name that the Pythons used to identify these characters, and were never identified as
such on-screen. On the rare occasion these women were named, it was often for comic effect,
featuring such names as Mrs. Scum, Mrs. Non-Gorilla, or the duo Mrs. Premise and Mrs.
Conclusion. "Pepperpot" refers to what the Pythons believed was the typical body shape of
middle-class, British housewives, as explained by John Cleese in How to Irritate People. Terry
Jones is perhaps most closely associated with the Pepperpots, but all the Pythons were frequent in
performing the drag characters.
Brief black-and-white stock footage, lasting only two or three seconds, of middle-aged women
sitting in an audience and applauding. The film was taken from a Womens Institute meeting
and was sometimes presented with a colour tint.
Characters who made multiple appearances

"The Colonel" (Chapman), a British Army officer who interrupts sketches that are "too silly" or
that contain material he finds offensive. The Colonel also appears when non-BBC broadcast
repeats need to be cut off for time constraints in syndication.
Arthur Pewtey (Palin), a socially inept, extremely dull man who appears most notably in the
"Marriage Guidance Counsellor" and "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketches. His sketches all take the
form of an office appointment with an authority figure (usually played by Cleese), which are used
to parody the officious side of the British establishment by having the professional employed in
the most bizarre field of expertise. The spelling of Pewtey's surname is changed, between
appearances.
The Reverend Arthur Belling is the vicar of St Loony-Up-The-Cream-Bun-and-Jam. He is known
for his bizarrely eccentric behaviour. In one sketch (within Series 2, played by Chapman), he
makes an appeal to the insane people of the world to drive sane people insane; and in another
sketch (within Series 3, played by Palin), he politely joins a couple and "converts" them to his
loony sect of Christianity by smashing plates on a table, shaking a baby doll, bouncing a rubber
crab from a ping-pong paddle, and spraying shaving cream all over his face.
A somewhat disreputable shopkeeper, played by Palin, is a staple of many a two-person sketch
(notably "Dead Parrot Sketch"). He often speaks with a strong Cockney accent, and has no
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consistent name.
Mr. Badger (Idle), a Scotsman whose speciality was interrupting sketches ('I won't ruin your
sketch, for a pound'). He was once interviewed, in a sketch opposite Cleese, regarding his
interpretation of the Magna Carta, which Badger believes was actually a piece of chewing gum on
a bedspread in Dorset. He has also been seen as an aeroplane hijacker whose demands grow
increasingly eccentric.
Mr. Eric Praline, an eccentric, disgruntled man, played by Cleese and who often wears a Pac-aMac. His most famous appearance is in the "Dead Parrot". His name is only mentioned once onscreen, during the "Fish Licence" sketch, but his attire (together with Cleese's distinctive, nasal
performance) distinguishes him as a recognizable character who makes multiple appearances
throughout the first two series. An audio re-recording of "Fish Licence" also reveals that he has
multiple pets of wildly differing species, all of them named "Eric".
Mr. Cheeky, a well-dressed moustachioed man, referred to in the published scripts as "Mr. Nudge"
(Idle), who pointedly annoys uptight characters (usually Jones). He is characterized by his
constant nudging gestures and cheeky innuendo. His most famous appearance is in his initial
sketch, "Nudge Nudge", though he appears in several later sketches too, including "The Visitors",
where he claimed his name was Arthur Name.
Biggles (Chapman, and in one instance Jones), a WWI pilot. Derived from the famous series of
fiction stories by W. E. Johns.
Luigi Vercotti (Palin), a mafioso entrepreneur and pimp featured during the first series,
accompanied in his first appearance by his brother Dino (Jones). He appears as the manager for
Ron Obvious, the owner of La Gondola restaurant and as a victim of the Piranha Brothers . With
his brother, he attempts to talk the Colonel into paying for protection of his Army base.
The Spanish Inquisition would burst into a previously unrelated sketch whenever their name was
mentioned. Their catchphrase was 'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!' They consist of
Cardinal Ximinez (Palin), Cardinal Fang (Gilliam), and Cardinal Biggles (Jones). They premiered
in series two and Ximinez had a cameo in "The Buzz Aldrin Show".
Frenchmen: Cleese and Palin would sometimes dress in stereotypical French garb, e.g. striped
shirt, tight pants, beret, and speak in garbled French, with incomprehensible accents. They had one
fake mustache between them, and each would stick it onto the other's lip when it was his turn to
speak. They appear giving a demonstration of the technical aspects of the flying sheep in episode
2 ("Sex and Violence"), and appear in the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch as the developers of "La
Marche Futile".
The Compre (Palin), a sleazy nightclub emcee in a red jacket. He linked sketches by introducing
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them as nightclub acts, and was occasionally seen after the sketch, passing comment on it. In one
link, he was the victim of the Knight with a Raw Chicken.
Spiny Norman, a Gilliam animation of a giant hedgehog. He is introduced in Episode 1 of Series 2
in "Piranha Brothers" as an hallucination experienced by Dinsdale Piranha when he is depressed.
Later, Spiny Norman appears randomly in the background of animated cityscapes, shouting
'Dinsdale!'
Cardinal Richelieu (Palin) is impersonated by someone or is impersonating someone else. He is
first seen as a witness in court, but he turns out to be Ron Higgins, a professional Cardinal
Richelieu impersonator. He is later seen as himself impersonating Petula Clark.
Ken Shabby (Palin) appeared in his own sketch in the first series. In the second series, he appeared
in several vox populi segments. He later founded his own religion and called himself Archbishop
Shabby.
Raymond Luxury-Yacht (Chapman) is described as one of Britain's leading skin specialists. He
wears an enormous fake nose made of polystyrene. He proudly proclaims that his name, 'is spelled
"Raymond Luxury-Yacht", but it's pronounced "Throat-Warbler Mangrove"'.
A Madman (Chapman) Often appears in vox pops segments. He wears a bowler hat and has a
bushy moustache. He will always rant and ramble about his life whenever he appears and will
occasionally foam at the mouth and fall over backwards. He appears in "The Naked Ant", "The
Buzz Aldrin Show", and "It's a Living"
Other returning characters include a married couple, often mentioned but never seen, Ann Haydon-Jones
and her husband Pip. In "Election Night Special", Pip has lost a political seat to Engelbert Humperdinck.
Several recurring characters are played by different Pythons. Both Palin and Chapman played the
insanely violent Police Constable Pan Am. Sgt. Jones, and Palin portrayed Harry 'Snapper' Organs of Q
division. Various historical figures were played by a different cast member in each appearance, such as
Mozart (Cleese, then Palin), or Queen Victoria (Jones, then Palin, then all five Pythons in Series 4).
Some of the Pythons' real-life targets recurred more frequently than others. Reginald Maudling, a
contemporary Conservative politician, was singled out for perhaps the most consistent ridicule. ThenSecretary of State for Education and Science, and (well after the programme had ended) Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher, was occasionally mentioned, in particular referring to Thatcher's brain as being in
her shin received a hearty laugh from the studio audience. Then-US President Richard Nixon was also
frequently mocked, as was Conservative party leader Edward Heath, prime minister for much of the
series run. The British police were also a favourite target, often acting bizarrely, stupidly, or abusing
their authority, frequently in drag.
Popular character traits

Although there were few recurring characters, and the six cast members played many diverse roles, each
perfected some character traits.
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Chapman
Graham Chapman often portrayed straight-faced men, of any age or class, frequently authority figures
such as military officers, policemen or doctors. His characters could, at any moment, engage in
"Pythonesque" maniacal behaviour and then return to their former sobriety.[5] He was also skilled in
abuse, which he brusquely delivered in such sketches as "The Argument Clinic" and "Flying Lessons".
He adopted a dignified demeanour as the leading "straight man" in the Python feature films Holy Grail
(King Arthur) and Life of Brian (title character Brian).
Cleese
John Cleese played ridiculous authority figures. Gilliam claims that Cleese is the funniest of the Pythons
in drag, as he barely needs to be dressed up to look hilarious, with his square chin and 6'5" (196cm)
frame (see the "Mr. and Mrs. Git" sketch). Cleese also played intimidating maniacs, such as an instructor
in the "Self Defence Against Fresh Fruit" sketch. His character Mr. Praline, the put-upon consumer,
featured in some of the most popular sketches, most famously in "Dead Parrot". One star turn that
proved most memorable among Python fans was "The Ministry of Silly Walks", where he worked for
the eponymous government department. The sketch features some rather extravagant physical comedy
from the notoriously tall and loose-limbed Cleese. Despite its popularity, particularly among American
fans, Cleese himself particularly disliked the sketch, feeling that many of the laughs it generated were
cheap and that no balance was provided by what could have been the true satirical centrepoint. Another
of his trademarks is his over-the-top delivery of abuse, particularly his screaming "You bastard!"
Cleese often played foreigners with ridiculous accents, especially Frenchmen, most of the time with
Palin. Sometimes this extended to the use of actual French or German (such as "The Funniest Joke in the
World", "Hitler in Minehead", or "La Marche Futile" at the end of "The Ministry of Silly Walks"), but
still with a very heavy accent (or impossible to understand, as for example Hitler's speech).
Gilliam
Many Python sketches were linked together by the cut-out
animations of Terry Gilliam, including the opening titles
featuring the iconic giant foot that became a symbol of all that
was 'Pythonesque'. Gilliams unique visual style was
characterised by sudden, dramatic movements and deliberate
mismatches of scale, set in surrealist landscapes populated by
engravings of large buildings with elaborate architecture,
grotesque Victorian gadgets, machinery, and people cut from old
Sears Roebuck catalogues. Gilliam added airbrush illustrations
and many famous pieces of art. All of these elements were
combined in incongruous ways to obtain new and humorous
meanings in the tradition of surrealist collage assemblies.
The surreal nature of the series allowed Gilliams animation to
go off on bizarre, imaginative tangents. Some running gags
derived from these animations were a giant hedgehog named
Spiny Norman who appeared over the tops of buildings shouting,
"Dinsdale!", further petrifying the paranoid Dinsdale Piranha;
and The Foot of Cupid, the giant foot that suddenly squashed
things. The latter is appropriated from the figure of Cupid in the
Agnolo Bronzino painting "Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time".
The famous Python Foot can here be

seen in its original format in the
bottom left corner of "Venus, Cupid,
Folly and Time"
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Notable Gilliam sequences for the show include Conrad Poohs and his Dancing Teeth, the rampage of
the cancerous black spot, The Killer Cars and a giant cat that stomps its way through London, destroying
everything in its path.
Initially only hired to be the animator of the series, Gilliam was not thought of (even by himself) as an
on-screen performer at first, being American and not very good at deep and sometimes exaggerated
English accent of his fellows. The others felt they owed him something and so he sometimes appeared
before the camera, usually in the parts that no one else wanted to play, generally because they required a
lot of make-up or involved uncomfortable costumes. The most recurrent of these was The-Knight-WhoHits-People-With-A-Chicken, a knight in armor who would walk on-set and hit another character on the
head with a plucked chicken when they said something really corny. Some of Gilliam's other on-screen
portrayals included:
A man with a stoat through his head
Cardinal Fang in "The Spanish Inquisition"
A dandy wearing only a mask, bikini underwear and a cape, in "The Visitors"
A hotel clerk in "The Cycling Tour" episode
A fat young man covered in beans in "Most Awful Family In Britain
Despite, or, according to Cleese in the DVD commentary for Life of Brian, perhaps because of, an
obviously deficient acting ability in comparison to the others, Gilliam soon became distinguished as the
go-to member for the most obscenely grotesque characters. This carried over into the Holy Grail film,
where Gilliam played King Arthur's hunchbacked page 'Patsy'.
Idle
Eric Idle is perhaps best remembered for his roles as a cheeky, suggestive playboy, "Nudge Nudge", as a
crafty, slick salesman ("Door-to-Door Joke Salesman", "Encyclopedia Salesman"), and the merchant
who loves to haggle in Monty Pythons Life of Brian. He is acknowledged as 'the master of the one-liner'
by the other Pythons. He is also considered the best singer/songwriter in the group; for example, he
wrote and performed "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from The Life of Brian. Unlike Jones, he
often played female characters in a more straightforward way, only altering his voice slightly, as
opposed to the falsetto shrieking used by the others. Several times, Idle appeared as upper-class, middleaged females, such as Rita Fairbanks ("Reenactment of the Battle Of Pearl Harbor") and the sexuallyrepressed Protestant wife in the "Every Sperm is Sacred" sketch, The Meaning of Life.
Because he was not from an already-established writing partnership prior to Python, Idle wrote his
sketches alone.
Jones
Although all of the Pythons played women, Terry Jones is renowned by the rest to be 'the best Rat-Bag
woman in the business'. His portrayal of a middle-aged housewife was louder, shriller, and more
dishevelled than that of any of the other Pythons. Examples of this are the "Dead Bishop" sketch, his
role as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, Mrs. Linda S-C-U-M in "Mr. Neutron" and the caf
proprietor in "Spam". Also recurring was the upper-class reserved men, in "Nudge, Nudge" and the "It's
A Man's Life" sketch, and incompetent authority figures (Harry "Snapper" Organs). He also played the
iconic Nude Organist that introduced all of series three. Generally, he deferred to the others as a
performer, but proved himself behind the scenes, where he would eventually end up pulling most of the
strings.
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Palin
Michael Palin was regarded by the other members of the troupe as the one with the widest range, equally
adept as a straight man or wildly over the top character. He portrayed many working-class northerners,
often portrayed in a disgusting light: "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch and the "Every Sperm Is
Sacred" segment of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life). In contrast, Palin also played weak-willed,
put-upon men such as the husband in the "Marriage Guidance Counsellor" sketch, or the boring
accountant in the "Vocational Guidance Counsellor" sketch. He was equally at home as the indefatigable
Cardinal Ximinez of Spain in "The Spanish Inquisition" sketch. Another high-energy character that Palin
portrays is the slick TV show host, constantly smacking his lips together and generally being overenthusiastic ("Blackmail" sketch). In one sketch, he plays the role with an underlying hint of selfrevulsion, where he wipes his oily palms on his jacket, makes a disgusted face, then continues. One of
his most famous creations was the shopkeeper who attempts to sell useless goods by very weak attempts
at being sly and crafty, which are invariably spotted by the customer (often played by Cleese), as in the
"Dead Parrot" and the "Cheese Shop" sketches. Palin is also well known for his leading role in the "The
Lumberjack Song".
Palin also often plays heavy-accented foreigners, mostly French ("La marche futile") or German ("Hitler
in Minehead"), usually alongside Cleese. In one of the last episodes, he delivers a full speech, first in
English, then in French, then in heavily accented German.
Of all the Pythons, Palin played the fewest female roles. Among his portrayals of women are: Queen
Victoria in "Michael Ellis", Debbie Katzenberg the American in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, or
as a rural idiot's wife in the "Idiot in rural society" sketch.
Lost sketches
John Cleese was unhappy with the use of scatological humour in Python sketches. The final episode of
the third series included a sketch called "Wee-Wee Wine Tasting", which was censored following the
BBC's and Cleeses objections. The sketch involves a man taking a tour of a wine cellar where he
samples many of the wine bottles' contents, which are actually urine. Also pulled out, though for
unknown reasons, was a sketch where Cleese had hired a sculptor to carve a statue of him. The sculptor
(Chapman) had made an uncanny likeness of Cleese, except that his nose was extremely long, almost
Pinocchio size. The only clue that this sketch was cut out of the episode was in the "Sherry-Drinking
Vicar" sketch, where, towards the back of the room, a bust with an enormously long nose sits.
Some material originally recorded went missing later, such as the use of the word "masturbation" in the
"Summarize Proust" sketch (which was muted during the first airing, and later cut out entirely) or "What
a silly bunt" in the Travel Agent sketch (which featured a character [Idle] who has a speech impediment
that makes him pronounce "C"s as "B"s),[6] which was cut before the sketch ever went to air. However,
when this sketch was included in the album Monty Python's Previous Record and the Live at the
Hollywood Bowl film, the line remained intact.
Some sketches were deleted in their entirety and later recovered. One such sketch is the "Party Political
Broadcast (Choreographed)", where a Conservative Party spokesman (Cleese) delivers a party political
broadcast before getting up and dancing, being coached by a choreographer (Idle), and being joined by a
chorus of spokesmen dancing behind him. The camera passes two Labour Party spokesmen practising
ballet, and an animation features Edward Heath in a tutu. Once deemed lost, a home-recorded tape of
this sketch, captured from a broadcast from Buffalo, New York PBS outlet WNED-TV, turned up on
YouTube in 2008.[7] Another high-quality recording of this sketch, broadcast on WTTW in Chicago, has
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also turned up on YouTube.[8] The Buffalo version can be seen as an extra on the new Region 2/4 eightdisc The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus DVD set. The Region 1 DVD of Before The Flying
Circus, which is included in the The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Collector's Edition
Megaset and Monty Python: The Other British Invasion, also contains the Buffalo version as an extra.[9]
Another lost sketch is the "Satan" animation following the "Crackpot Religion" piece and the "Cartoon
Religion Ltd" animation, and preceding the "How Not To Be Seen" sketch: this had been edited out of
the official tape. Six frames of the animation can be seen at the end of the episode, wherein that
particular episode is repeated in fast-forward. A black and white 16mm film print has since turned up
(found by a private film collector in the USA) showing the animation in its entirety.
At least two references to cancer were censored, both during the second series. In the sixth episode ("It's
A Living" or "School Prizes"),Carol Cleveland's narration of a Gilliam cartoon suddenly has Michael
Palin's(?) voice dub 'gangrene' over the word cancer (although the word 'cancer' was used unedited when
the animation appeared in the movie And Now for Something Completely Different as well as the 2006
special Terry Guilliam's Personal Best). Another reference was removed from the sketch "Conquistador
Coffee Campaign", in the eleventh episode "How Not to Be Seen", although a reference to leprosy
remained intact. This line has also been recovered from the same 16mm film print as the abovementioned "Satan" animation.
A restored Region 2 DVD release of Series 14 was released in 2007, with no additional features.
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus

Two episodes were produced in German for WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk), both entitled Monty
Python's Fliegender Zirkus, the literal German translation of the English title. While visiting the UK in
the early 1970s, German entertainer and TV producer Alfred Biolek caught notice of the Pythons.
Excited by their innovative, absurd sketches, he invited them to Germany in 1971 and 1972 to write and
act in two special German episodes.
The first episode, advertised as Monty Pythons Fliegender Zirkus: Bldeln fr Deutschland ("Monty
Python's Flying Circus: Clowning around for Germany"), was produced in 1971 and performed in
German. The second episode, advertised as Monty Pythons Fliegender Zirkus: Bldeln auf die feine
englische Art ("Monty Python's Flying Circus: Clowning around in the distinguished English way"),
produced in 1972, was recorded in English and dubbed into German for its broadcast in Germany. The
original English recording was transmitted by the BBC in October 1973.
Stage incarnations
The members of Monty Python embarked on a series of stage shows during and after the television
series. These mostly consisted of sketches from the series, though they also included other famous
sketches that had preluded them. One such sketch was the Four Yorkshiremen sketch, written by Cleese
and Chapman, and performed for At Last the 1948 Show; the sketch subsequently became part of the live
Python repertoire. The shows also included songs from collaborator Neil Innes.
Recordings of four of these stage shows have subsequently appeared as separate works:
1. Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (aka Monty Python Live at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane),
released in the UK in 1974 as their fifth record album
2. Monty Python Live at City Center, performed in New York City and released as a record in 1976
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in the US
3. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, recorded in Los Angeles in 1980 and released as a
film in 1982
4. Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go, the troupe's reunion / farewell show, ran for
10 shows at The O2 Arena in London in July 2014. The final performance on July 20 was live
streamed to movie theatres world-wide and was later released on DVD.
In 2005 a troupe of actors headed by Rmy Renoux, translated and "adapted" a stage version of Monty
Pythons Flying Circus into French. Usually the original actors defend their material very closely, but
given in this case the "adaptation" and also the translation into French (with subtitles), the group
supported this production. The adapted material sticks close to the original text, mainly deviating when
it comes to ending a sketch, something the Python members themselves changed many times over the
course of their stage performances.[10][11] Language differences also occur in the lyrics of several songs.
For example, "sit on my face" (which translated into French would be "Asseyez-vous sur mon visage")
becomes "come in my mouth".[12]
Landing of Flying Circus

John Cleese left the show after the third series. Apart from a brief voice-over for one of Gilliam's
animations in episode 41 ("Michael Ellis") and a walk-on role in drag, he did not appear in the final six
episodes that comprised series four. (However, he did receive writing credits for sketches derived from
the writing sessions for the film of Holy Grail). Neil Innes and Douglas Adams are the only two nonPythons to get writing credits in the show Innes for songs in episodes 40, 42 and 45 (and for
contributing to a sketch in episode 45), and Adams for contributing to a sketch about a doctor whose
patients are stabbed by his nurse, in episode 45. (He also had walk-on acting parts in episodes 42 and
44.) Innes frequently appeared in the Pythons' stage shows and can also be seen as Sir Robin's lead
minstrel in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and (briefly) in Life of Brian. Adams had become friends
with Graham Chapman, and they later went on to write the failed sketch show pilot Out of the Trees.
Although Cleese stayed for the third series, he claimed that he and Chapman only wrote two original
sketches ("Dennis Moore" and "Cheese Shop"), whereas he felt everything else was derivative of
previous material. Either the third series, or the fourth series, made without Cleese, are often seen as the
weakest and most uneven of the four series, by both fans and the Pythons themselves. However, with the
fourth series, the Pythons started making episodes into more coherent stories that would be a precursor
to their films, and featured Terry Gilliam onscreen more.
The final episode of Series 4 was recorded on 16 November and broadcast on 5 December 1974. That
year NBC's summer replacement series, Dean Martin's Comedyworld aired several segments from the
Python shows. This paid enough to the BBC-TV distributors, Time-Life Films, to finally pay for the
conversion of the Flying Circus programmes from PAL to the American NTSC system, and meant the
PBS stations could afford the series at last. It was an instant hit, rapidly garnering an enormous loyal cult
following nationwide that surprised even the Pythons themselves, who did not believe that their humour
was exportable without being tailored specifically, even without a language barrier.
In 1974, the PBS station KERA in Dallas was the first television station in the United States to broadcast
episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus, and is often credited with introducing the programme to
American audiences.[13] When several episodes were broadcast by ABC in their Wide World of
Entertainment showcase in 1975, the episodes were re-edited, thus losing the continuity and flow
intended in the originals. When ABC refused to stop treating the series in this way, the Pythons took
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them to court. Initially the court ruled that their artistic rights had indeed been violated, but it refused to
stop the ABC broadcasts. However, on appeal the team gained control over all subsequent US
broadcasts of its programmes.[14] The case also led to their gaining the rights from the BBC, once their
original contracts ended at the end of 1980.
The show also aired on MTV during the network's infancy;[15] Monty Python was part of a two-hour
comedy block on Sunday nights that also included another BBC series, The Young Ones.
In April 2006, Monty Python's Flying Circus returned to non-cable American television on PBS. In
connection with this, PBS commissioned Monty Python's Personal Best, a six-episode series featuring
each Pythons favourite sketches, plus a tribute to Chapman, who died in 1989. BBC America has aired
the series on a sporadic basis since the mid-2000s, in an extended 40-minute time slot in order to include
commercials. Independent Film Channel acquired the rights to the show in 2009, though not exclusive,
as BBC America still airs occasional episodes of the show. Independent Film Channel airs the series
uncut roughly twice a week in a late night time slot. IFC also presented a six-part documentary Monty
Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyers Cut), produced by Terry Jones' son Bill.
Awards and honours

Monty Python's Flying Circus placed fifth on a list of the BFI TV 100, drawn up by the British Film
Institute in 2000, and voted for by industry professionals.
Time magazine included the show on its 2007 list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time".[16]
In a list of the 50 Greatest British Sketches released by Channel 4 in 2005, five Monty Python sketches
made the list:[17]
#2 Dead Parrot
#12 The Spanish Inquisition
#15 Ministry of Silly Walks
#31 Nudge Nudge
#49 The Lumberjack Song
In 2004[18] and 2007, Monty Python's Flying Circus was ranked #5 and #6 on TV Guide's Top Cult
Shows Ever.[19]
Legacy
The Monty Python troupe produced a number of other stage and screen productions together following
the production of this series.
Douglas Adams, creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and co-writer of the Patient Abuse
sketch, once quoted "I loved Monty Python's Flying Circus. For years I wanted to be John Cleese, I was
most disappointed when I found out the job had been taken."[20]
Lorne Michaels counts the show as a major influence on his Saturday Night Live sketches.[21] Cleese
and Palin reenacted the Dead Parrot sketch on SNL in 1997.
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In computing, the terms spam and the Python programming language[22] are both derived from the
series.
As of 2013, questions concerning the Pythons' most famous sketches are incorporated in the
examinations required of those seeking to become British citizens.[23]
Production
The production team was headed by Ian MacNaughton. Other regular team members included Hazel
Pethig (costumes), Madelaine Gaffney (makeup) and John Horton (video effects designer).
Transnational Themes in Monty Python's Flying Circus

The overall humor of Monty Python's Flying Circus is built on an inherent Britishness; it is based on
observations of British life, society, and institutions.[24] However, part of this focus is achieved through
seeing the other through a British lens. [25] [26] The often excessive generalization and utterly banal
stereotypes can be seen as a persiflage of the views held by the British public, rather than poking fun at
the cultures that were depicted. [27] This bears similarities with some contemporary comedians, such as
Sacha Baron Cohen's comedic approach in the film Borat.
For example, while American culture is not often in the foreground in many sketches, it is rather a
frequent side note in many skits. Almost all of the 45 episodes produced for the BBC contain a reference
to Americans or American culture, with 230 references total, resulting in approximately 5 references per
show, but increasing over the course of the show.[28] In total, 140 references to the American
entertainment industry are made. Entertainment tropes, such as Westerns, Film Noir, and Hollywood are
referenced 39 times. Further, there are 12 references to arts & literature, 15 to US politics, 5 to the
American military, 7 to US historical events, 12 to locations in the U.S., 7 to space & science fiction, 21
economic references, such as brands like Pan-Am, Time-Life, and Spam, and 8 sports references. Some
references do double count in various categories.[29] It is also notable that American music is regularly
heard in the show, such as the theme song to the show Dr. Kildare, but most prominently the show's
theme song (Liberty Bell March by John Philip Sousa). While American entertainment was a pervasive
cultural influence in Britain[30] at the time of the production of the series, not all references to American
culture can be seen as conscious decisions. For example, Terry Jones did not know that Spam was an
American product at the time he wrote the sketch.[31] Kevin Kern summarizes in his analysis of
references to the U.S. "that portrayals of American themes reflected three broad responses to American
hegemony: 1) minor or passing references to specific individuals, events, or products of American
culture, 2) American cultural tropes used to serve a general comedic purpose, and 3) satire aimed at
American targets, specifically U.S. economic power, the crassness or banality of American culture, or
American violence and militarism. [32] However, Kern does not see this as exhibiting anti-American
tendencies, but as a natural extension of the Pythons frequent () satirical focus on vulgarity,
banality, violence, and militarism in the United Kingdom () [33]
See also
List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes
Do Not Adjust Your Set
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At Last the 1948 Show
References
Notes
1. ^ "Sir David Attenborough: 'This awful summer?" (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/sirdavid-attenborough-this-awful-summer-weve-only-ourselves-to-blame-7942405.html).
www.independent.co.uk. The Independent, UK broadsheet newspaper.
2. ^ The term flying circus first being applied to Baron von Richthofen's Jagdgeschwader 1
3. ^ a b Palin, Michael (2008). Diaries 19691979: the Python Years / Michael Palin. Griffin. p.650. ISBN0312-38488-2.
4. ^ "Live At Aspen" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpL12ilpDnQ&t=6m20s). Retrieved 10 January 2013.
5. ^ Sketches "An Appeal from the Vicar of St. Loony-up-the-Cream-Bun-and-Jam", "The One-Man Wrestling
Match", "Johann Gambolputty..." and "The Argument Clinic"
6. ^ "Travel Agent / Watney's Red Barrell" (http://www.orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/package.htm).
www.orangecow.org. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
7. ^ Monty Python (18 December 1971). "Monty Python - political choreographer"
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Ija4Dec7o). Monty Python - political choreographer. Spiny Norman.
Retrieved 17 June 2013.
8. ^ Monty Python (18 December 1971). "Lost Sketch- Choreographed Party Political Broadcast from WTTW11" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KO4_feIKO0). Lost Sketch- Choreographed Party Political
Broadcast - Monty Python's Flying Circus WTTW Channel. MontyPythoNET. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
9. ^ "DVD Talk Review: The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus - Collectors Edition Megaset"
(http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/35399/complete-monty-pythons-flying-circus-collectors-edition-megasetthe/). 18 November 2008.
10. ^ Rebecca Thomas (3 August 2003). "Monty Python learns French"
(http://web.archive.org/web/20030806004915/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3112625.stm). BBC
Online News (BBC). Archived from the original (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3112625.stm)
on 6 August 2003. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
11. ^ Clive Davis (31 January 2005). "Monty Python's Flying Circus At Last, in French"
(http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14936-1464143,00.html). The Times Online. Retrieved
4 January 2010.
12. ^ Logan, Brian (4 August 2003). "Ce perroquet est mort: Monty Python in French? Brian Logan meets the
team behind a world first" (http://timesonline.co.uk). The Times (London). p.18. Accessed through ProQuest
(http://search.proquest.com/news/docview/246028389/135346FB80A35F1532C/1?accountid=31191), 1
March 2012.
13. ^ Peppard, Alan (2011-08-25). "Alan Peppard: Bob Wilson hailed in KERA documentary"
(http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/alan-peppard/20110825-alan-peppard-bob-wilsonhailed-in-kera-documentary.ece). The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
14. ^ Monty Python, v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 538 F.2d 14 (2d Cir 1976)
(http://www.law.uconn.edu/homes/swilf/ip/cases/gilliam.htm)
15. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cHoAoaVBz0
16. ^ "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME"
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(http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1651341,00.html). TIME. 6 September 2007.

Retrieved 14 July 2009.
17. ^ "Channel 4s 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches"
(http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/comedy_sketches/results.html).
Channel4.com. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
18. ^ "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!". TV Guide Magazine Group. 30 May 2004.
19. ^ TV Guide Names the Top Cult Shows Ever - Today's News: Our Take (http://www.tvguide.com/news/topcult-shows-40239.aspx) TV Guide: 29 June 2007
20. ^ "Douglas Adams - Biography - IMdb" (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0010930/bio?
ref_=nm_dyk_qt_sm#quotes).
21. ^ "Lorne Michaels - Biography - IMDb" (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0584427/bio?ref_=nm_ql_1).
22. ^ General Python FAQ (https://www.python.org/doc/faq/general/)
23. ^ "Weird but true"
(http://www.nypost.com/p/news/weird_but_true/weird_but_true_250UEa76btMUe1uqAswocM). New York
Post. January 28, 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
24. ^ Dobrogoszcz, Tomasz (2014). Dobrogoszcz, Tomasz, ed. The British Look Abroad: Monty Python and the
Foreign. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
26. ^ Kern, Kevin F. (2014). Dobrogoszcz, Tomasz, ed. Twentieth-Century Vole, Mr. Neutron, and Spam:
Portrayals of American Culture in the Work of Monty Python. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
Bibliography
Landy, Marcia (2005). Monty Pythons Flying Circus. Wayne State University Press. ISBN08143-3103-3.
Larsen, Darl. Monty Python's Flying Circus: An Utterly Complete, Thoroughly Unillustrated,
Absolutely Unauthorized Guide to Possibly All the References From Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson
to Zambesi. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2008. ISBN 0-8108-6131-3
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External links
The Official Monty Python website
(http://www.pythonline.com)
Monty Pythons Flying Circus
Wikiquote has quotations

related to: Monty Python's
Flying Circus
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063929/) at the Internet Movie Database

Museum of Broadcast Television
(http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/montypython/montypython.htm)
British Film Institute Screen Online (http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/469243/index.html)
"Monty Pythons Flying Circus"
(http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/television/comedy/montypython.htm) Nostalgia Central
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Monty_Python%27s_Flying_Circus&oldid=646688111"
Categories: 1969 British television programme debuts 1974 British television programme endings
1960s British television series 1970s British television series BBC television comedy
Black comedy television programs British television sketch shows
English-language television programming Monty Python Satirical television programmes
British satire Postmodernism
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