And now for something completely different for 13th Dimension readers…
By PETER BOSCH
On October 5, 1969, one of the most remarkable shows ever to appear on television made its debut on the BBC, and this world is so much richer in laughter because of it.
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is now 55 years old and it is hard to find anyone who does not know of “I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK” and “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!” Written and starring John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones, with animation by Terry Gilliam, and appearances by Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth, Monty Python’s Flying Circus remains one of the game changers in comedy programs. Sometimes vulgar, sometimes shocking, but always riotously funny.
To celebrate the program’s 55th anniversary, here are 13 of the MANY classic sketches that continue to amuse generations beyond those of us who saw it back when. (NOTE: These are the original sketches from the TV series, not the revised versions in the 1971 movie, And Now for Something Completely Different.)
In no particular order:
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SELF-DEFENCE
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ARGUMENT CLINIC
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TRAVEL AGENT
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Many think of the Lumberjack song as the extension of the Dead Parrot sketch because of the And Now For Something Completely Different movie. However, the Dead Parrot sketch was actually a standalone on the TV program. The Lumberjack song was originally attached to the Homicidal Barber section, as below.
DEAD PARROT
HOMICIDAL BARBER (with LUMBERJACK SONG extension)
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THE SPANISH INQUISITION
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VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
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RESTAURANT SKETCH
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THE FUNNIEST JOKE IN THE WORLD
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CRUNCHY FROG
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THE MINISTRY OF SILLY WALKS
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MR. HILTER
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BUYING A BED
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MORE
— The TOP 13 EPISODES of THE (U.K.) AVENGERS — RANKED. Click here.
— 13 THINGS TO LOVE About TV’s VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. Click here.
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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. A sequel, about movie comics, is coming soon. Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.
October 5, 2024
I was first exposed to MPFC when I was an 8th grader in the later 1970s, when various PBS stations began to follow in KERA’s (in Dallas) lead as first showing the series in 1974 to incredibly successful ratings for a PBS station. I couldn’t stop watching and just anticipated the episodes on Saturday evenings–and then on Monday mornings, my school kid peers talking about the show on the school bus. Our adolescent selves loved the zaniness and occasional raciness of the show (sigh: Carol Cleveland . . . ).
Have been an avid watcher and ardent fan ever since.
A Flying-ing Fabulous list. Absolutely no complaints. But I’d also like to give a shout-out to one of the all-time great sketches of the pilot episode for series / season 2: The inexplicably-titled Ethel the Frog TV show’s documentary of the Piranha Brothers, Doug and Dinsdale and the (comical) fear and terror they instilled in the hilarious gang they ran. To wit:
Mrs. Stig O’Tracey / aka Graham Chapman in drag having a coffee table nailed to her head; or, Luigi Vercotti / aka Michael Palin: “I’ve seen grown men rip their own heads off rather than see Doug! (etc.).
And this followed the hilarious episode ending, featuring, while the credits roll, Terry Gilliam’s closing animation of Spiny Norman, the gigantic hedgehog seeking and shouting the name of “DINSDALE!”.
Thank you, thank you (!) Peter for pointing out that October 5 is the anniversary date of the show’s first broadcast–as I now know what I’m doing for my Saturday (and likely Sunday) once done with Saturday’s work in the early afternoon: I’m watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus (as I have the complete DVD set with all four series / seasons).
Wonderful, wonderful!
October 5, 2024
Thanks, William. I got to see it before the PBS run because I lived in British Columbia as a youth and with Canada’s ties to Great Britain we got it on the CBC starting in 1970. But, still, thank goodness for PBS bringing it to the States!
October 5, 2024
I’d pay for a good argument.
October 5, 2024
LOL! Got into Python in College!