World Famous Comics: Monty Python's Flying Circus: Set 2, Episodes 7-13
Monty Python's Flying Circus: Set 2, Episodes 7-13
Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Binding: DVD Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC Label: A&E Home Video Number of Items: 2 Picture Format: Academy Ratio Region Code: 1 Release Date: September 28, 1999 Running Time: 55 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1969
Amazon.com essential video: Michael Palin, haggard and exhausted under a scraggly beard and wild hair, crawls out of the ocean (or the forest or a side of a mountain) and croaks the now-infamous "It's...." Suddenly, the "Liberty Bell" march pounds over the cut-out animation of Terry Gilliam. It's another episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. No comedy has inspired such a fanatical following before or since, and the 45 episodes turned out by the group in their all-too-brief three and a half seasons have become classics. This set presents the final seven episodes of their inaugural season, a time of trial and error for the group as they perfected the elusive free-association structure that would define the wacky comedy. Connecting such all-time classics as the Lumberjack Song, the Dead Parrot sketch, and the epic Science Fiction sketch (featuring the tennis mad Blancmanges from outer space) are the ubiquitous letters to the BBC, Terry Gilliam's whimsical and ridiculous animated inserts, and John Cleese announcing, "And now for something completely different" with all the authority of a BBC announcer who suddenly finds his news desk hijacked by mobsters. The Pythons hit their first-season stride in the middle episodes, in which brilliant sketches and strange and wonderful linking gags come together with an absurd logic, but if the final episodes of the series flag compared to their comic peak, their brand of comic madness infects every episode with moments of pure lunatic magic. --Sean Axmaker
It's Monty Python..! Could anyone ever say anything bad about Monty Python? If they can, they haven't been watching , this set contains vital classics like "Dead Parrot Sketch", "Lumberjack", "Upperclass Twit of the Year", "Hells Grannies", "Kilamanjaro Expedition"and loads more! You need this set..and every set for that matter..for your collection!
Albatross! The scene where Eric Idle whines "Oh, you're no fun anymore!" is a deceptive one.
If anything, these guys are even more fun than before. The second half of Monty Python's Flying Circus's first season is even more polished and mad than the first, continuing the tradition of short skits focused on complete insanity.
In these episodes, we have: a serial-killer barber; lecherous art critics; an unfortunate man who tries to eat a cathedral, tunnel to Java and jump the English channel; Ken Shabby, every girl's dad's nightmare; thuggish old ladies; bloodthirsty librarians who want to hire a gorilla; camel-spotting; and prime ministers falling through the earth's crust.
The longest and most bizarre skit is one where people mysteriously start turning into Scotsmen and streaming north of the border. Soon "Scotland will be choked with SCOTSMEN," and England is pretty much abandoned. The culprits: tennis-playing, human-devouring blancmanges from the galaxy of Andromeda.
And, of course, the stuff that has become comedy legend: the scene where John Cleese tries to return a dead parrot to a pet store ("It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace!"), and the Lumberjack Song ("I cut down trees. I skip and jump/I like to press wild flowers/I put on women's clothing/And hang around in bars...").
Of course, no mere description can do justice to the comic brilliance of these dozens of skits. These five Brits (and one American, who did the little cartoons) created some of the most unabashed, naughty, nasty, and just plain weird comedy ever, which still influences everything from Saturday Night Live to author Jasper Fforde.
And all of this by men who often dress up as the world's most unattractive girls, with only a tiny budget and minimal cast. The 70s production values are omnipresent, and they are decidedly unpolitically correct. But in a weird way, these only make it even funnier than it would have been otherwise -- the writing and acting are pure, raw, unrefined comedy.
Probably the most memorable actors here are Cleese and Idle. Cleese does his psychotic shrieks better than anyone, as well as having that rubbery lanky body and howling monkey voice. And Eric Idle does a good job as everyone from a housewife to a wannabe mountain climber, while Michael Palin does a brilliant job as people who are timid or insane.
By this point, the Monty Python guys had polished up their skits and reached a steady plateau of comic brilliance. In other words, it's funny and should be watched.
It's still funny after all these years. "I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay." Who doesn't remember Michael Palin uttering this line in the famous butcher barber/lumberjack skit? How about Upper Class Twit of the Year? And, the Dead Parrot? All of these skits and more can be found on this 2 cd set. If you like the obscurity that is Python, then this is the set to purchase.
The one segment I did not like was aliens turning into Scotsmen. That went on far too long.
This DVD gets Twit of the Year award Great DVD. And VHS. Starters...get this. Its really good. It's worth your while.
The Best Show Ever This, the second half of the first season, is I think the best period of "Monty Python's Flying Circus." A vast majority of the best sketches are here ("Lumberjack Song," "Dead Parrot," "Upperclass Twit of the Year," "Albatross," "Pet Conversions," and "Hell's Grannies), along with what I think are the two single best episodes. Episode 8 ("Full Frontal Nudity") and Episode 9 ("The Ant, an Introduction"). The DVD set looks slightly better than the videos released in 1989 by Paramount. The filmed, location sequences look pretty grainy, but that's how they've always looked. With every episode, there is an opprotunity to jump straight to the sketches, or to read a tidbit. On the extras front, there's a clip from "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl," scenes from other TV episodes, biographies, Pythonisms, a weblink, trivia games, and the always excellent Gilliamnations art gallery.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
