Monty Python's Flying Circus: Set 2, Episodes 7-13

Product Description

Contains episodes 7-13 from Season 1 of Monty Python s Flying CircusA fathomless source of profound non-sequiturs, from I m a Lumberjack and I m OK, to This is an ex-parrot! Mony Python s Flying Circus has supplanted Shakespeare as the British variety act most quoted by people who haven t actually seen the original show in the original order as it is here. In fact Monty Python is nearly indistinguishable from Shakespeare, except that the lines don t rhyme and there are very few bodkins or codpieces. There are, however, British accents and men in drag-- two well-known staples of Shakespearean drama. And most of the members of Monty Python s Flying Circus are still alive. So Shakespeare can just piss off.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

Michael Palin, haggard and exhausted under a scraggly beard and wild hair, crawls out of the ocean (or the forest or a side of a mountain) and croaks the now-infamous "It's...." Suddenly, the "Liberty Bell" march pounds over the cut-out animation of Terry Gilliam. It's another episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. No comedy has inspired such a fanatical following before or since, and the 45 episodes turned out by the group in their all-too-brief three and a half seasons have become classics. This set presents the final seven episodes of their inaugural season, a time of trial and error for the group as they perfected the elusive free-association structure that would define the wacky comedy. Connecting such all-time classics as the Lumberjack Song, the Dead Parrot sketch, and the epic Science Fiction sketch (featuring the tennis mad Blancmanges from outer space) are the ubiquitous letters to the BBC, Terry Gilliam's whimsical and ridiculous animated inserts, and John Cleese announcing, "And now for something completely different" with all the authority of a BBC announcer who suddenly finds his news desk hijacked by mobsters. The Pythons hit their first-season stride in the middle episodes, in which brilliant sketches and strange and wonderful linking gags come together with an absurd logic, but if the final episodes of the series flag compared to their comic peak, their brand of comic madness infects every episode with moments of pure lunatic magic. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

It's Monty Python..!.......2007-02-04

Could anyone ever say anything bad about Monty Python? If they can, they haven't been watching , this set contains vital classics like "Dead Parrot Sketch", "Lumberjack", "Upperclass Twit of the Year", "Hells Grannies", "Kilamanjaro Expedition"and loads more!
You need this set..and every set for that matter..for your collection!

Albatross!.......2005-10-21

The scene where Eric Idle whines "Oh, you're no fun anymore!" is a deceptive one.

If anything, these guys are even more fun than before. The second half of Monty Python's Flying Circus's first season is even more polished and mad than the first, continuing the tradition of short skits focused on complete insanity.

In these episodes, we have: a serial-killer barber; lecherous art critics; an unfortunate man who tries to eat a cathedral, tunnel to Java and jump the English channel; Ken Shabby, every girl's dad's nightmare; thuggish old ladies; bloodthirsty librarians who want to hire a gorilla; camel-spotting; and prime ministers falling through the earth's crust.

The longest and most bizarre skit is one where people mysteriously start turning into Scotsmen and streaming north of the border. Soon "Scotland will be choked with SCOTSMEN," and England is pretty much abandoned. The culprits: tennis-playing, human-devouring blancmanges from the galaxy of Andromeda.

And, of course, the stuff that has become comedy legend: the scene where John Cleese tries to return a dead parrot to a pet store ("It's a stiff! Bereft of
life, it rests in peace!"), and the Lumberjack Song ("I cut down trees. I skip and jump/I like to press wild flowers/I put on women's clothing/And hang around
in bars...").

Of course, no mere description can do justice to the comic brilliance of these dozens of skits. These five Brits (and one American, who did the little cartoons) created some of the most unabashed, naughty, nasty, and just plain weird comedy ever, which still influences everything from Saturday Night Live to author Jasper Fforde.

And all of this by men who often dress up as the world's most unattractive girls, with only a tiny budget and minimal cast. The 70s production values are omnipresent, and they are decidedly unpolitically correct. But in a weird way, these only make it even funnier than it would have been otherwise -- the writing and acting are pure, raw, unrefined comedy.

Probably the most memorable actors here are Cleese and Idle. Cleese does his psychotic shrieks better than anyone, as well as having that rubbery lanky body and howling monkey voice. And Eric Idle does a good job as everyone from a housewife to a wannabe mountain climber, while Michael Palin does a brilliant job as people who are timid or insane.

By this point, the Monty Python guys had polished up their skits and reached a steady plateau of comic brilliance. In other words, it's funny and should be watched.

It's still funny after all these years........2004-03-27

"I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay." Who doesn't remember Michael Palin uttering this line in the famous butcher barber/lumberjack skit? How about Upper Class Twit of the Year? And, the Dead Parrot? All of these skits and more can be found on this 2 cd set. If you like the obscurity that is Python, then this is the set to purchase.

The one segment I did not like was aliens turning into Scotsmen. That went on far too long.

This DVD gets Twit of the Year award.......2004-03-26

Great DVD. And VHS. Starters...get this. Its really good. It's worth your while.

The Best Show Ever.......2003-03-01

This, the second half of the first season, is I think the best period of "Monty Python's Flying Circus." A vast majority of the best sketches are here ("Lumberjack Song," "Dead Parrot," "Upperclass Twit of the Year," "Albatross," "Pet Conversions," and "Hell's Grannies), along with what I think are the two single best episodes. Episode 8 ("Full Frontal Nudity") and Episode 9 ("The Ant, an Introduction").
The DVD set looks slightly better than the videos released in 1989 by Paramount. The filmed, location sequences look pretty grainy, but that's how they've always looked. With every episode, there is an opprotunity to jump straight to the sketches, or to read a tidbit.
On the extras front, there's a clip from "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl," scenes from other TV episodes, biographies, Pythonisms, a weblink, trivia games, and the always excellent Gilliamnations art gallery.

Monty Python's Flying Circus - Set 7 (Epi. 40-45)

Average customer rating:

I love these episodes and believe they should be enshrined in the heart of every Monty Python fan.
The most surreal of Monty Python's output, the most rarely seen, and just as funny as anything they produced...
Series four
Good, but no Cleese
Monty Python Are Still At The Top!

Monty Python's Flying Circus - Set 7 (Epi. 40-45)
Starring: Monty Python's Flying Circus
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Television | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B00004WG2G
Release Date: 2000-08-29

Amazon.com

Don't expect the Spanish Inquisition in these six episodes from the fourth--and final--half-season of Monty Python's Flying Circus. By this time (1974), John Cleese had departed. His absence is keenly felt, but Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam--with invaluable assist from Carol Cleveland, Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), and songwriter Neil Innes--pick up the slack with some of the most surreal material Python ever produced. Like the third season's Cycling Tour, several of these episodes, including The Golden Age of Ballooning, Michael Ellis (set mostly in a very silly department store), and Mr. Neutron, are extended, near-program-length sketches. But there are memorable bits throughout: some indecipherable RAF Banter ("Bally Jerry hanged his kite right in the how's-your-father"); a Hamlet tired of people wanting him to recite "To Be or Not to Be"; a parade of bogus psychiatrists; a doctor whose nurse keeps stabbing, shooting, or garroting his patients; and The Most Awful Family in Britain competition, which achieves "the really gross awfulness that we're looking for." These episodes do not loom large in the Python legend, except perhaps as the basis for a lawsuit the troupe filed in 1975 against ABC, which aired them during late night in severely tampered-with versions. While, literally speaking, no Monty Python collection is complete without this boxed set, initiates are bound to watch these episodes with a disappointed, "Well, what's all this then?" --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews:

I love these episodes and believe they should be enshrined in the heart of every Monty Python fan........2007-09-03

Conceptual comedy was not John Cleese's thing, so he left and created the physical comedy masterpiece, Fawlty Towers. The other members of Monty Python went on to create these masterpieces of broad conceptual comedy. Ever since I first saw these when I was a teenager in the mid-1970s, I knew they were special, perhaps because I was young and these episodes stretched my concept of comedy. I think it's unfair to say that these shows are not as good as those from the first or second series. To do so is to miss the point: these fourth series shows were explorations of uncharted territory, at least as far as TV sketch comedy goes. Idle and Palin and company always had one foot in postmodernity, and with these episodes they jumped in head first. Though a bit headier than shows from the first three series, these fourth series shows are every bit as silly as their predecessors. Isn't silliness the MPFC hallmark? These shows deserve your attention and support.

The most surreal of Monty Python's output, the most rarely seen, and just as funny as anything they produced..........2006-05-22

I remember these 6 episodes, which are famously known as "the ones without John Cleese". This is probably the main reason they've never been widely televised in the US. I remember only seeing them once in a great while, and while watching them, I didn't realise that Cleese wasn't in them, because they are absolutely hilarious, and they are just as good as anything Python ever produced. With Cleese gone, Palin and Jones took over the writing, and deliberately made long form sketches, i.e. with a story thread running throughout the whole programme. This works brilliantly in Michael Ellis, The Light Entertainment War, and Mr. Neutron. The sketch with the "anything goes" song in Light Entertainment War is side splittingly funny. The Mr. Neutron show gets in hilarious digs at the US (something the Pythons weren't really known for doing), and Michael Ellis is a brilliant one about buying an ant. I get somewhat annoyed at people who dismiss these episodes as an afterthought, because they are stand on their own with any other Python episode. After the show ended, Jones and Palin went onto do Ripping Yarns, which has many similarities with these 6 episodes. I remember taping these 6 episodes while they were on Comedy Central, because I was afraid I would never see them again. But I have the DVD now, so I'm OK.

Series four.......2004-07-19

In 1973, the Pythons decided to do another series. But John Cleese (who had been anxious to leave for a while) decided to leave the series to the rest.
Although this isn't the best material Python could have put out, there performances are quite good in these episodes. Only a few sketches here rank with the best. I love the end of Golden Age of Balloning "I've enjoyed being in it." (Note: During the credits right after that, Jaques Mongolfier, is still trying to put his tongue in Carol's mouth.)Well here's the play-by-play for each of these episodes.

40- The worst one of the season. It just gets weak and boring during that whole stupid "It's not a ballon", and all of the bodies in the German's drawing room. Ironically, the season opener.

41-One of the few actual stories in the series. One of the strangest Python episodes (that's saying alot). I use Micheal Ellis as my fake name.

42-Probably the best of the season. Lots of strong sketches, but still a few turkies. (Note: Look for Neil Innes in the closing credits).

HALFWAY BREAK- It says in different books, that there's no more it's man in this season, and "Flying Circus" isn't in the title anymore. Well that's not exactly true. The It's man is in ep.42, and in the first half, you can see flying circus on the screen, with the two strange men with breasts.

43-Another weak and boring one. The father in law is funny, but that's almost it. Almost nothing happens in this, that Hamlet thing is dumb with the recurring line.

44-MR. Neutron episode. Most of this is funny. But it's annoying to hear the Pythons trying to do American accents.

45- Last one. Not good or bad. The awful family is pretty funny, but the cartoon in this one goes on too long. Gilliams cartoons are usually good though.

Well these aren't really as good as the others, and new
Python fans shouldn't start here. Cleese was a key element, and losing him (just for the series for that matter)took off a lot of force.

Skip this, and get the whole set. What I decided to do, when I had no idea what I was getting myself into...

Good, but no Cleese.......2003-03-14

I give this 4 stars just because it IS Monty Python (note, no "Flying Circus" in the title for the last year), but the absence of John Cleese's physical humor does detract from this set as well as the relative brevity in terms of number of episodes. If you're a Python newcomer, get the earlier series first.

Monty Python Are Still At The Top!.......2001-07-19

While John is not in these last 6 episodes, the others take a different turn, making some of the most twiztid (and my personal favorite) humour ever seen by BBC audiences. This is not a set for people not familiar with Monty Python. Those people should buy one of the first two seasons. However, if you LOVE Monty, then you'll probably love these last episodes. The memorable episodes are:

The golden Age of Ballooning, Michael Ellis(my favorite of the last six shows), The Light Entertainment War, Hamlet, Mr. Neutron (very funny, I love Teddy Salad, and Conjuring Today), and the final episode Party Political Brodcast.

If you like Monty, you'll still love 'em without Cleese.

DVD:

DVD

DVD