Monty Python's Flying Circus - Classic or Dud?

Such sad news.

My aunt just died after a year of progressive dementia (ultimately diagnosed as vascular dementia); it was very bad. Unlike the perception of a happy, senile person living their life in a bizarre reality, she was angry, confused, and resentful of not being allowed to drive or, say, walk out of the house with no clothes on. She finally was unable to swallow. It was all very fast and intense.

Long ago I had a friend describe the cheerful sort of interaction mentioned a few posts up. The aphasic would sit on a porch and say things such as "In there, but not anymore" and their companion would say "Walter Cronkite?" to which they would smile and nod.

In fact my mom is now a cheerful aphasic. A few months ago she told me she was wearing purple "because of the guy, something happened to him."

Just noticed that TJ has a seven year old daughter.

TJ's general lustiness is a recurring joyous theme of Palin's v enjoyable diaries

so am not surprised he fathered offspring so recently

So did anyone watch the DVD of the 2014 reunion show? Will it make me sad?

It's on the Netflix now. I'm about 6 episodes in but have to admit I've been generally unimpressed. The racist skits haven't aged well, suffice to say.

it's very much of another time. If I were to watch it now I doubt I would laugh at all

comedys job to age well for americans alright

comedys job is to annoy lex and calzino afaict

I would laugh.

The movies are still brilliant though! The one that I watched anyway!

thanks to this show, whenever somebody says "not guilty," i think not gillcup

The records (apart from the first one) are better than the TV show too. Think it's just the pressure of putting together three hours of sketches, you could edit the first series down to a much better single hour.

I bought the complete Flying Circus on DVD with bar mitzvah money but probably the last time I watched any was sometime in college. I'm pretty sure even adult woke me would think much if not most of it is still good. I remember the ratio of unmoored absurdity to racism being pretty high?

I'd rather watch a randomly selected episode from the first three Flying Circus series than even one minute of (say) Animal House, Airplane, a Pink Panther movie…

Kinda glad they could get away with not boiling it down, it wouldn't be improved as wall to wall "classics"

Science Fiction Sketch is a miserable shaggy dog story with no proper punchline that takes up two thirds of an episode and I love it

TBF the only inarguably offensive sketch that I've seen so far is the Native American theatre aficionado.

But in terms of real lols, it's been very sparse. Lots of riffing on a single unworthy joke.

Yeah flying circus has some pretty racist bits, but have you rewatched Spike Milligan's Q.. series recently?

Yeah I'd never say it all works but it's absolutely not punchline comedy

Recently cried with laughter at those German episodes that on Netflix. Brilliant, genius etc.

There's definitely stuff that falls flat and doesn't work in virtually every episode.

Plus a lot is badly under-rehearsed and looks cheap and threadbare (lol BBC comedy budgets).

Low-budget production on British shows are quaint!

as a kid, i found a lot of the flying circus not funny so much as just fascinatingly weird, like i'd watch it with a real sense of wonder and anticipation that i can't remember ever feeling with any other comedy show. so much of it was based on satire of things i was completely unfamiliar with (both as an american and as a non-adult) that there were entire episodes that just flew over my head, but i don't remember ever being bored by it.

Leee's initial revive point is pretty OTM, one I've been turning over a lot in my brain ever since they announced it would end up on Netflix.

I do think the movies are generally better, even though I never, ever need to see them again due to overexposure

as a kid, i found a lot of the flying circus not funny so much as just fascinatingly weird

OTM. I loved the out-of-left-field stuff like 'Conrad Pooh's Dancing Teeth' and 'Find the Fish' so much.

fishy fishy fishy fish

weird coincidence: just watched a Monty Python sketch, as the result of searching Youtube for 'hide and seek championship'. i wish i was lying

The racist skits haven't aged well, suffice to say.

*takes a drink*

it's very much of another time. If I were to watch it now I doubt I would laugh at all
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, November 27, 2018 6:24 PM

I'll take How to Tell Things Are Funny for $200, Alex

oh shit, Monty Python is on Netflix?!

Dr Morbius: “Racism is actually good”

Nobody was saying blackface was bad in 1970! We didn’t know!

The English were blacking up their children for a larf on bonfire night until the late 90s

you fuckers need an enema

hey guys the Marx Bros did blackface in A Day at the Races, I'm letting you know so you can lead off every discussion of them til you fucking die with that (yer welcome)

Do u still laugh at it

Come on, guys, we all know the best way to handle instances of unfortunate racism from the past is to pretend that they never even happened. It will never magically disappear if you keep bringing it up (v uncool, F-).

Fwiw my initial comment wasnt meant to imply that the show isnt funny because its racist, just that i dont find it funny anymore - it’s targets (stuffy british ppl, mainly) don’t much concern me or seem so funny as they did in previous times.

It's not racist and it remains very funny and ingenious. And the TV shows are better than the films.

The Goodies was way more 70s casual racist than MP shurely. i’m struggling to even think of a blackface flying circus skit but i prob just don’t remember?

Oh there was that Gilliam bit with the jewish satan and jesuses on the telephone poles but that bit got cut in the first place.

wait no now i remember that jungle one urgh.

Yeah there's a number -- not to mention a lot of yellowface ones too.

Onion A/V Club writers, always talking like a normal human

Okay, we should probably back up a bit. I don’t really want to talk about this, but I’ll give it a paragraph, and that’ll be enough. (I mean, feel free to whatever in the comments, although please be respectful, except when you’re talking about me, because let’s face it, I deserve what I get.) Palin is playing a character named “Mrs. Nigger-Baiter,” and while I don’t know how this was supposed to play at the time, as is, it’s an ugly line with no real point other than to shock. There’s no context, no build, no punchline. It’s just a mean, vile word tossed out without any apparent consideration. I don’t think challenging or hateful language needs to be banned, because that never gets us anywhere we want to go. But when you’re going to use a word like this, it needs some reason beyond itself to be there.

There's a recurring gag about cricket teams, confused about a joke saying the test match is being held in a room and being shepherded out told "it's only a joke, it's a joke". The team appear in black face as the Trinidad team. No-one would do it now but it's not racist.