Monty Python's Flying Circus - Classic or Dud?

The Rutles special legendarily the lowest rated program in the nation when it aired.

but still, about same size as SNL audience

p sure most of my high school class saw it

The Rutles special legendarily the lowest rated program in the nation when it aired.

ha, did not know this. nearly everything famous about SNL is completely opaque to non-US humans.

I saw it when it aired, as did some of my school friends, but it was more from a Beatles angle than a Python slant. Bought the album and studied it. There was a ton of stuff in the accompanying booklet so it was almost like watching the show again, which I was finally able to do when decades later I got the DVD at J&R Music World.

People knew about the Pythons from PBS, in New York WNET/13, where the show aired on Sunday evenings, usually paired with various other British sitcoms or shows such as Rising Damp or The Two Ronnies and kids would talk about it in school on Monday morning.
https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/10/archives/monty-pythons-fully-different-new-series-plus-tom-mix-and-fellini.html

idle next worst, despite good turns and writing plenty of the good sequences. introduced innes and generally a shitty influence, and intrinsically unfunny in any post python effort

There was always Rutland Weekend Television, I don't think that's ever been repeated though, so it might be terrible, the Neil Innes bits are good. Also it's never been released on DVD, I wonder if that's Idle's decision? I've got the album though!

(xp) You got Rising Damp? Cool.

at the time i loved rutland weekend TV bcz of this guy:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hU0QZQRTNr0/hqdefault.jpg

= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Woolf

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/15/archives/bbcs-monty-python-surprise-hit-on-public-tv-serious-doubts-at-first.html

(xp) Harold Pinter's old mucker.

...still alive, 90! And many more, Henry!

Have to admit at the time I never really got into Rising Damp, or The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin for that matter. It was only when I got to college (François Truffaut to thread!) and saw Billy Liar as well as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and rewatching A Hard Day's Night, the latter with the similarly named Norman Rossington, did I start wondering what this Leonard Rossiter guy was about.

Hollywood should do a remake of "Rising Damp" with Ralph Fiennes as Rigsby.

Just now learned that the common thread between Monty Python and Rising Damp was Ian MacNaughton.

"Grrrrrrreat. We're losing the lion. Rewrite. Lose the lion everyone. That's fantastic!"

In my mind's eye I have over the years minimized Eric's contribution to the Rutles, extending his silencing from the epicenter of Ollie Halsall singing his character's vocals, preferring to think of them as an offshoot of The Bonzos (see my current controversial screenname) as well as Patto/Timebox.

I used to have at least some of the Rutland Weekend Televisions as video files, assume they're still accessible on the Internet somewhere. It was OK, mark otm about Henry Woolf

Forgot to mention Fans of the Rutles and Rockpile, are you familiar with a band called Fatso?

since i'm declaring my teenage allegiance in the thread i shd also mention that as a loyal child of beatles fans i was hotly offended by the entire concept of the rutles, and also george h's enthusiasm (my favourite beatle why so treacherous!): i refused to countenance that any of the parodies were any good, and indeed anything but utterly point-missing -- however i loved the bonzos unreservedly (and still do)

no wonder i became a professional rock critic eh foax

george h's enthusiasm balanced by the fact that, acc to Idle's autobiog, he listened to the rutles songs gruffly made sure that the beatles got a sizeable cut of the songwriting royalties

Is any Rutles song a pastiche of one of George’s? Can’t recall one.

"Nevertheless"

offsetting what he was going to lose in the "my sweet lord" debacle i guess -- that wd sharpen yr senses round such an issue

John told Idle "Get Up and Go" was too close to "Get Back" and Dick James would probably sue them if it was on the album (so they left it off).

Posted this on the Bonzos thread earlier today, perhaps it is relevant here as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9SQ7GeiGh8&feature=emb_logo

Start again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9SQ7GeiGh8

There was always Rutland Weekend Television,

Radio 5 is also good and at least sometimes funny; shows Idle dedicating the same sort of attention to detail another medium as he did to the extremely dense & visual Python books.

Actually the only thing I remember disagreeing with in dm's long post with Idle bringing along Innes as a negative.

its a controversial take i admit but in particular i cant forgive urban spaceman

(xp) "Nausea" is not set in Paris, Neil. Tut tut.

Yeah, that was a little, um, defensive or something.

john cleese, 1972:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDB5gbtaEQ

john cleese, 2020:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/john-cleese-baffled-jk-rowling-105247414.html

I've always wondered what happened to his chin between Python and Fawlty Towers, let alone old age

tbh at this point I expected even worse from him

the other participant in the argument sketch is, of course, dead. however, in 1982 he said this:

https://youtu.be/nwOcc-buSsg?t=481

Trump's latest interview vs monty python parrot sketch pic.twitter.com/GKlpNF4ffB

— Darren Dutton (@Darren_Dutton) August 4, 2020

Never knew about the origin of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwJQQyF0yy0

wow! how great. never knew that either.

as in you didn't know it was pre python?

nope!

I often do the real version of that: mi bed was a bit of foam on't floor for 3 years in a mice infested slum in a box room wi' brother and sister and we had black mould on toast for breakfast...

Also the bookshop sketch. Too bad it is not complete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYlOV7K-xOU

Cleese posted that "Four Yorkshiremen" video to honor the passing of Barry Cryer, who plays the waiter.

easier to acknowledge a passing waiter than to get one to acknowledge you nest pas

*nudge, nudge, wink, wink*

Who else remembers first seeing Monty Python on
The Dean Martin Comedy World?

Maybe I should start a summer replacement show thread.

how old do you think we all are