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: — SELF-DEFENCE — ARGUMENT CLINIC — TRAVEL AGENT — 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)  — THE SPANISH INQUISITION — VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE COUNSELOR — RESTAURANT SKETCH — THE FUNNIEST JOKE IN THE WORLD — CRUNCHY FROG — THE MINISTRY OF SILLY WALKS — MR. HILTER — BUYING A BED — 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. — 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...