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PBS To Air Six New Monty Python Specials

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pining-for-the-fjords dept.

Freshly Exhumed wrote to mention a PBS release with good news for BritCom Fans. The Public Broadcasting Service is planning to air six new Monty Python specials. From the article: "Each of the exclusive-to-PBS six one-hour programs will focus on one member of the original Monty Python troupe - Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Terry Jones - and showcase favorite clips from the group's television series and movies, mixed with new footage. The five living Pythons - Cleese, Idle, Gilliam, Palin and Jones - will each produce and write their own episode, with the five collaborating on a sixth special to honor deceased member Chapman."

29 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. fr1st NI pr0st by grub · · Score: 3, Funny


    Frist NI pr0st for the Knights who say "Ni"!

    Ni!

    Ni!

    Ni!

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:fr1st NI pr0st by ehrichweiss · · Score: 3, Funny

      We are no longer the Knights Who Say Ni, weeeeeeeeee are now the Knights Who say, Ickyickyickynerfanerlpmphfp.

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      0x09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
  2. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! by HangingChad · · Score: 3, Funny

    With our powers of surprise, fear and...what was that other one?

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  3. You had me at by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 5, Funny

    "new material".

    Any chance to see former Monty Ptyhon members with their favourite bits hanging out, with new material added, is a good thing.

    Well, except for that dead guy - hope they don't trot out his moldy corpse, wire its jaw to a computer, and make him some kind of animatronic "I'm feeling better" kind of bit.

    That would bring me down just a tad.

    Care for a cup of tea? I hear Sartre's going to pop in today ...

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    1. Re:You had me at by ePhil_One · · Score: 4, Informative
      Well, except for that dead guy - hope they don't trot out his moldy corpse, wire its jaw to a computer, and make him some kind of animatronic "I'm feeling better" kind of bit.

      In the past they had an urn on a chair which they claimed were his ashes. I don't recall if they had an animatronic lid or not.

      --
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    2. Re:You had me at by rjmnz · · Score: 4, Informative

      John Cleese (IIRC) brought them in and placed the urn on a small table. Everyone greeted the urn as if Graeme was actually there. At the end there was an orchestrated dispute and the urn got knocked over spilling the ashes. It ended with the pythons scrabbling on the floor attempting to retrieve the "ashes".

    3. Re:You had me at by amliebsch · · Score: 5, Funny
      Well, except for that dead guy

      He's not dead, he's pining for the fjords.

      --
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  4. obligatory by Bananatree3 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I don't think there's a punch-line scheduled, is there?"

  5. BBC? by taskforce · · Score: 4, Interesting
    That's interesting, one might expect them to be shown on the venerable BBC first? I wonder how PBS managed to secure a deal. I'd guess the Pythons have no contract with the BBC running, but still, I would expect it to be the first place they would go.

    Maybe PBS approached them?

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    1. Re:BBC? by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It makes sense. Apart from the movies from some ill-advised, heavily edited syndication on I think Comedy Central in the 90s, Python's US exposure has been on PBS.

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  6. Parrot Routine with Chapman's Body? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This Chapman is no more.

    No no no. He's just asleep.

  7. Their humor by propertechdotnet · · Score: 5, Funny

    Their humor is not dead. It's just pining for the fjords.

  8. A good reason to watch TV for a change... by Starker_Kull · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...It is still amazing how well these shows have held up over 30+ years. Perhaps it is just sentimentality, but Monty Python is still one of the best comedy troupes, if not THE best, I have seen in my life.

    Are we getting less funny? Or is familiarity part of the enjoyment? Or are they really just uniquely brilliant?

    1. Re:A good reason to watch TV for a change... by PFI_Optix · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Are you saying the Wayans are some even slightly remote way comparable to the perfection that is Python?

      You may now die a horrible, painful, agonizing, terrible, excrutiating, cruel death.

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  9. I'm getting skeptical here... by mistermocha · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... which I hate do do, since I so much adore the Monty Python gang. Televised events of this nature seldom do well, and seldom excite me. An attempt to drudge up the past will only prove how far the mighty have fallen. We just might see ol' Graham "Wormy" Chapman on screen. Recently, I saw The Meaning of Life for the first time, and although parts were delightfully pleasing, I could tell that the quality of story was stepping aside for mere shock value, which is the dead end where all comic genius eventually comes to die. Part of what made the troupe so funny was that it was funny during their time. We see success from modern-day comedy troupes, such as Saturday Night Live, because they do their best to stay with the times. Context of creation period has a lot to do with the quality of the performance. (e.g., there's only so many Bill Clinton jokes that will fly nowadays). Trying to make Monty Python work for a modern era would be like trying to install vacuum tubes into a 939-pin socket... you'd have to have one hell of an adapter kit. That said, TiVo is armed and ready!

    1. Re:I'm getting skeptical here... by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Insightful
      To be honest, by the time of the Meaning of Life, I think even they knew that the well was dry. My understanding was that after that, they pretty much split up, though they did make appearances on occasion in each other's projects. But Life of Brian is an astonishingly irreverent and blasphemous observation piece on organized religion which, to be quite honest with you, is more relevant right now than it was even then. The Holy Grail is pretty much a crossover classic, one of the great cult films which has earned its place among the funniest films ever made. The TV series, of course, wasn't always even (particularly after Cleese's departure), but those first three seasons are jaw-droppingly funny. These guys had no respect for anything at all, not even for their own real talents as writers. The thing I like the very most about Python was their absolute rejection of the sacred cow. Homosexual drill sergeants, the upper class portrayed as almost animalistically stupid, sketch routines that would just be cut off in midstream in violation of every notion of how to write that sort of comedy. Monty Python was to television what Sgt. Pepper was to records, and both were rare events where the lunatics were essentially given the run of the asylum and ended up producing some of the 20th centuries most extraordinary entertainments.

      Maybe the first season of Saturday Night Live came close, and certainly the individual talents of all the guys that came out of Second City have to be considered, in a slightly different, more North American fashion, to be the equals of the Pythons, but seeing a sweaty John Belushi lose his marbles, while funny, doesn't seem nearly as funny as seeing John Cleese go bananas and start shouting "DON'T MENTION THE WAR!" I think you'll find most of the guys from Second City and SNL will pretty much pay homage to Python as the real Holy Grails of sketch comedy.

      Let's face it, Englishman are funnier to mock than Americans, and it's even funnier when it's an Englishman.

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  10. Old? by svip · · Score: 3, Informative

    The press release is dated July 13th 2005...

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  11. Graham Chapman Sketch by AnalogDiehard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Customer: I wish to lodge a complaint about this Chapman parody!
    Clerk: Yes, what's wrong with it?
    Customer: It's dead, that's what's wrong with it.

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    Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
  12. Re:*Yawn* by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Doesn't stand the test of time? There are a few sketches that refer to events of the period, and some of it is very particularly English, but nobody can tell me that The Twin Peaks of Kilimanjaro, the Spanish Inquisition, the Argument Room, the Piranha Brothers, Upperclass Twit of the Year, Bicycle Repairman, the brilliant Monty Python's Contractual Obligation, the entirety of The Holy Grail, etcetera and so on are dated. Flying Circus is probably television's finest moment, a bit of the sublime and absurd by six guys who threw out every single sketch comedy rule and made little half hours of perfect comedy.

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    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  13. 45 or 47? by SydShamino · · Score: 4, Funny

    The series' 45 episodes ran until December 1974. ... Beginning in Spring 2006, PBS stations will be able to introduce a whole new generation to the series when all 47 episodes will be available for broadcast.

    Methinks the PBS public relations team should spend more time watching Sesame Street and practicing numbers. =p

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    It doesn't hurt to be nice.
  14. Audience Size? by eldavojohn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, Terry Gilliam was born in Minnesota (the only member born outside the UK). I'm also from Minnesota and I haven't forgotten about his origins.

    Even though Python is known for being British Comedy, their films and shows are still purchased everywhere in the United States--they possibly have more sales in the United States than Britain just because of the population sizes. Perhaps they want to maximize exposure?

    I caught the Kids in the Hall on tour in Minneapolis once and it was packed, I was deafened by laughter. Whether you believe it or not, foreign comedy like Monty Python or The Kids in the Hall are greatly appreciated by Minnesotans. I assume it's similar in other places around the United States.

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  15. Episodes Air Feb 22nd by skwang · · Score: 4, Informative
    According the the PBS Web site for Monty Python, the first two one-hour episodes air tomorrow night: Wednesday February 22nd. The Flying Circus episodes will air starting in April of this year.

    You'll have to check your local listings for the exact time. For all you MythTV users in Chicago it will be Channel 11 WTTW at 9pm CST.

  16. Re:Different from DVDs? by Albert71292 · · Score: 5, Informative

    PBS is airing the exact same content that is on the DVD's, which have been out for a few months already. If you've watched the DVD's, you've seen these specials already.

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  17. DVDs of this already available... by TheRealStyro · · Score: 3, Informative

    Looks like these specials are already out on DVD...

    Eric Idle's Personal Best

    John Cleese's Personal Best(coming soon)

    Graham Chapman's Personal Best(coming soon)

    Terry Jones' Personal Best(coming soon)

    Terry Gilliam's Personal Best(coming soon)

    Michael Palin's Personal Best

    The two that are released are already available on Netflix (with four to be available 28-Feb).

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  18. Re:No one really expects the Spanish Inquisition! by NoStrings · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, well, I never wanted to be a Slashdot troll. I always wanted to be...a lumberjack! Leaping from tree to tree as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia!

  19. A better link by 14erCleaner · · Score: 4, Informative

    Rather than the 7-month-old press release referenced by the slashdot story, try the current PBS Monty Python page. The first special is scheduled to air tomorrow (February 22), and the series reruns start in April.

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  20. Re:I work with a Brit by Keith+Russell · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I work with a Brit and she hates Monty Python.

    The operative word here isn't "Brit", but "she". Python's humour has traditionally appealed more to men than women. In fact, BBC America ran a promo for Monty Python's Flying Circus that consisted of a clip of a sketch (I don't remember which), and the tagline: "If your girlfriend laughs at this, marry her."

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  21. Re:AAAARRRRGHH! by LordSnooty · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am so facking sick of my local (Orlando, FL, WMFE) public television station playing so much facking British programming.

    Well, now you know how we felt in the '80s. Wall-to-wall Cagney & Lacey, Thorn Birds and Falcon Crest.

  22. Re:Dead? So? by VRisaMetaphor · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think he meant he wanted Graham Chapman inserted into George Lucas.

    And in his final paragraph, he obviously wants Jar-Jar inserted into George Lucas as well.