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PBS To Air Six New Monty Python Specials
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."
"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
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Maybe PBS approached them?
My 3D Texturing Skinning work (under construction)
This Chapman is no more.
No no no. He's just asleep.
Their humor is not dead. It's just pining for the fjords.
...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?
... 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!
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.
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
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.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
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
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
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.
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.
"A Bird In The Hand Will Poop On Your Wrist"-Benny Hill,1982
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!
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.
Have you read my blog lately?
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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