Monty Python 40 Years Old Today! 298
cheros was one of several readers to note that today, Oct 5, in 1969 was the very first airing of Monty Python. Although not every sketch has aged
particularly well, you'd be hard pressed to find a more influential and funny show. Heck, look at the Icon we use here to indicate humorous stories! Who among us can't claim to have viewed the Holy Grail at least
somewhere in the double digits.
And now..... (Score:5, Funny)
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Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore
Riding through the land
Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore
Without a merry band
He steals from the poor.
And gives to the rich
Stupid bitch.
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I'm afraid it is....
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"Different"? Luxury!! (Score:3, Funny)
For something completely different.
Oh, you have it lucky. Back in my day we didn't have anything completely different. Everything was a bit of everything else, and we were grateful to have such a homogeneous reality!
Re:And now..... (Score:5, Insightful)
That's unlikely here on slashdot. You see, we in nerdom have taken what Python once stood for, and now venerate the group's work in an entirely inappropriate way. We are worshiping the golden calf, not the god. There will be nothing different here, just a parroting of the same lines, over and over, and over.
Long ago, before most slashdotters, Python was funny because they were doing something that NOBODY else had done. They were pushing boundaries. They were making the establishment feel uncomfortable. They were the Rock&Roll of TV, fighting to sail in their own direction. They were giving glimpses of nudity on television, using inappropriate language, naming characters "Biggus Dickus", and other inappropriate things.
In short, Python was great because they were new, they were fresh, they pushed the boundaries of what was considered indecent back, and they didn't resort to the same tired gag over and over and over.
They were the Shakespeare of their day, hiding grossly offensive material under clever linguistics. They took characters from around us, around history, around time, and put them in places they didn't belong. Then they explored that human dynamic. The English-speaking Brian in Roman lands, failing at Latin; The Viking and King Arthur in modern times; The Grannies in biker gangs; The accountant in places of danger and excitement.
They, like Shakespeare, Longfellow, and David Foley before them took us to a place we knew, and then perverted it while we stood there, slack-jawed. They, like Hisenberg and Bohr, kept us continuously uncertain of where we stood. Of where we started, and of where we would end up.
While many books have been written on the social commentary of the themes within Python's works, the one most cited is that of dying cats. From explosions to old women beating them on posts, it was clear that Python had something out for the furry pussy. While most have glossed over this theme as a histamine sensitivity, it clearly ties into their long-running theme of the uncertainty of the human condition. For them, the human condition has been observed. And it is a dead cat.
For that reason, I put off coming here. I knew that all I would find would be anti-Python. A repetition of lines; against all they stood for; all that made them great. While we can treasure the memories of enjoyment that their shows and movies brought us, we should remember the golden calf.
For that reason, I come here not to repeat a line, but to leave a brief message in their honor.
Do not look at the glass - look through the window. And out that window is a dead cat, having been observed by Python.
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may I take this opportunity of emphasizing that there is no cannibalism in Slashdot. Absolutely none, and when I say none, I mean there is a certain amount, more than we are prepared to admit, but all new accounts are warned that if they wake up in the morning and find toothmarks at all anywhere on their bodies, they're to tell Cmdr Taco immediately so that he can immediately take every measure to hush the whole thing up.
Re:And now..... (Score:4, Funny)
Where are the knights who always say: "First Post"?
They are no longer The Knights Who Say First Post. They are now the Knights Who Say Ekki-ekki-ekki-pitang-zoom-boing!
Ni! (Score:2, Funny)
Ni!
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I'll bite your legs off!
Re:Ni! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say Ni at will to old Slashdotters. There is a pestilence upon this site, nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design non-stories are under considerable economic stress in this period in history.
Re:Ni! (Score:5, Insightful)
This is an excellent opportunity to honor Monty Python by honoring the group's mastery of shock and irreverence and stop quoting, word for word skits and films! The irony is killing me slowly.
Highly apropos XKCD comic [xkcd.com] on the subject.
I disagree. Because you are quoting something surreal does not make it any less surreal. Monty Python is surreal humor, not original humor. Of course, the shock and awe of seeing it the first time is very effective. But that should in no way prevent you from continually enjoying it. If it being original was a requisite to the innate humor, the very act of placing it statically on a medium would remove the humor from it.
Of course it's quotable in the same way David Lynch is quotable or Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory is replicated in anything from The Simpsons to T-shirts. I think that XKCD comic has little to no merit in claiming that Python was loved for their mastery of shock or defiance of convention. They were loved for their humor--be it unique, it was still not entirely original [icons.org.uk]. Quoting Monty Python should make no one more depressed than quoting Shakespeare or Homer. Stop fretting about being unoriginal and enjoy it.
Re:Ni! (Score:5, Insightful)
Strangely appropriate for this thread, and really /. in general.
Q: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
M: Well, I was told outside that...
Q: Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
M: What?
Q: Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!!
M: Look, I CAME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT, I'm not going to just stand...!!
Q: OH, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.
M: Oh, I see, well, that explains it.
Q: Ah yes, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
M: Oh, Thank you very much. Sorry.
Q: Not at all.
M: Thank You.
(Under his breath) Stupid git!!
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Yeah, and you can't quote Caddyshack and Ferris Bueller all day long, you gotta break it up with something...
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Am I the only one here who doesn't think a bunch of knights riding around saying Ni is funny?
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Lighten up Francis...
Oops..sorry...wrong movie.
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Quoting Monty Python should make no one more depressed than quoting Shakespeare or Homer.
D'oh!
and here's to alcohol; the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems
Lisa, in this house we obey the second law of thermodynamics!
Stop fretting about being unoriginal and enjoy it.
Don't mind if I do.
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Perhaps the Python fans should look up the stuff that inspired the Pythons like Spike Milligan & The Goons and Peter Cook & Dudley Moore. Then they'd see that Python is a continuation of a classic tradition of insane surreal satirical British comedy.
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And years from now people will quote that comic, word for word. Look how close you are already! Pop culture is incestuous, and to create new works, old works must be cannibalized. When copyrights become no-expiring, creative thought will be a crime.
HEX
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This is an excellent opportunity to honor Monty Python by honoring the group's mastery of shock and irreverence and stop quoting, word for word skits and films! The irony is killing me slowly.
Highly apropos XKCD comic [xkcd.com] on the subject.
People repetitively quoting them is exactly what makes Monty Python so influential, great, and popular. The world is full of people who quote unoriginally -- that's what creates the value in originality. So while all the people quoting them aren't themselves originally funny, there is no other way it could be. Nothing wrong with that.
I notice your own criticism of word-for-word quoting was little more than a word-for-word quote of someone else. At least the people you are trying to criticize are just tryi
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There is only ONE thing worse than being quoted....
Re:Ni! (Score:5, Insightful)
"Seems random" != "is random"
Big xkcd fan, but that particular one is totally without merit--the Pythons were obsessive rewriters. Every sketch went through multiple drafts, they chose their topics and precise wording very carefully. They put a lot of effort into finding the absolute most effective way of surprising the audience, and they usually succeeded. The brilliance of Python is that they took the kind of humor that doesn't rely on surprise (a la Laurel and Hardy), and made it so surprising that everyone mistakes it for surprise-humor. Most comedy incorporates surprise, but nothing stays surprising forever--the comedy that stands the test of time is the comedy that doesn't depend on it. Take surprise out of Python and you still have some of the best-written jokes the world has ever produced. The most common format for their sketches was essentially to repeat the same joke over and over again with different wording--Dead Parrot, Crunchy Frog, Spam, Spanish Inquisition, Self-Defense, etc. After the first twenty seconds, there's nothing left to surprise you even the first time you see it. The humor is in the flawless execution--and that's why it's so obsessively quoted and rewatched.
Stop making a fuss. (Score:5, Funny)
Monty Python was a long time ago.
It is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker!
It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it'd be pushing up the daisies!
Its metabolic processes are now 'istory! It's off the twig!
It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!
Re:Stop making a fuss. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Stop making a fuss. (Score:5, Funny)
Okay, okay. I didn't expect some kind of Spanish Inquisition...
Re:Stop making a fuss. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Stop making a fuss. (Score:5, Insightful)
Man did you all miss a load of karma by posting as AC. Oh... wait...
His chief moderation would have been Funny ... Funny and Insightful. Insightful and Funny ...
His two moderations would have been Funny and Insightful ... and Underrated ...
His three moderations would have been Funny, Insightful, Underrated ... and Interesting ...
His four ... no ... Amongst his many moderations would have been such words as Funny, Insightful, Underrated ...
I'll come in again.
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Request For Comment (Score:2)
My Dad was a big fan of the TV show, but he claims he didn't like the films. I've been trying to get him to watch "Life Of Brian", as I believe it is more linear and coherent than the others. (And simply too good to miss). What say you?
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Life of Brian is definitely the best of the films and it has aged well because making fun of religious dogmatics never gets old really. But I highly recommend Spamalot too, basically The Holy Grail in theater form, you could take him to see that and make it a night out. As a film The Meaning of Life is closest to the TV series I think since it feels more like a succession of sketches than a movie.
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It's not dead! (Score:5, Funny)
Just pining for the fjords.
Obligatory... (Score:4, Funny)
NObody expects the anniversary of Python!
I'm actually a heretic. (Score:5, Interesting)
"It says 'Romans Go Home'." "No it doesn't!"
"He has a wife, you know..."
Oh, heck, just see here [imdb.com].
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I enjoy both "Holy Grail" and "Brian" but neither is my favorite. **I** think "The Meaning of Life" was their masterpiece.
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For the longest time, the Meaning of Life was my least favorite of the three. I was pretty young when I saw it in the movie theater, and I was expecting something along the lines of Grail or Brian, and was kinda disappointed.
However, as I've watched it over the years, I've seen more and more in Meaning...so much stuff going on in that movie, references to itself, and of course, with
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Unfortunately, they always get up again. Damned Zombies.
Re:Life Of Brian (Score:2)
Thanks for answering my (YMMV, redundant?) post 28 minutes before I made it.
Mod parent up.
Re:I'm actually a heretic. (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, in an interview about a year ago, John Clease mentioned that, in his experience, Americans tended to favor Holy Grail and Britons tended to favour Life of Brian. He thought it had something to do with the way in which both countries tend to enjoy their humo(u)r. Life of Brian has a continuous plot, whereas Holy Grail is more of a connected series of sketches.
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Holy Grail is mostly a light-hearted parody of Arthurian legend. They took the framework of the quest for the Holy Grail, and injected it with the kind of surreal humor they're best remembered for. The closest thing to social satire in it is the oft-quoted scene where Arthur and the peasant argue over how he came to power, and that's more funny because it's t
And now for... (Score:2)
Obligatory... (Score:5, Funny)
What, the American or the European version?
Re:Obligatory... (Score:4, Funny)
I don't know that!
Aaaaiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....
This is slashdor you insensitive clod! It should be:
I don't know that!
%&#&%#Carrier Lost
Did he really type Carrier Lost. Maybe he was dictating it...
The essence of Python... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The essence of Python... (Score:5, Funny)
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... Humo(u)r was stale and repetitive at the time.
Humor without the "u" still is.
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This is why one of my favorite moments from the Flying Circus was the Chemist Sketch, where the legitimate client states that he didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition, and absolutely nothing happens (despite Cardinal Ximenez appearing earlier in the sketch).
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As when Officer Willenholly stops the busload of nuns in Jay and Silent Bob strike back.
Stealth punchline.
Life of Brian (Score:5, Funny)
The Life of Brian is especially worth a second view if you saw it when you were younger.
Matthias: Look, I don't think it should be a sin, just for saying "Jehovah".
[Everyone gasps]
Jewish Official: You're only making it worse for yourself!
Matthias: Making it worse? How can it be worse? Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!
Jewish Official: I'm warning you! If you say "Jehovah" one more time (gets hit with rock) RIGHT! Who did that? Come on, who did it?
Stoners: She did! She did! (suddenly speaking as men) He! He did! He!
Jewish Official: Was it you?
Stoner: Yes.
Jewish Official: Right...
Stoner: Well you did say "Jehovah. "
[Crowd throws rocks at the stoner]
Jewish Official: STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! STOP IT! All right, no one is to stone _anyone_ until I blow this whistle. Even... and I want to make this absolutely clear... even if they do say, "Jehovah. "
[Crowd stones the Jewish Official to death]
Re:Life of Brian (Score:5, Funny)
The Life of Brian is especially worth a second view if you saw it when you were younger.
I'm not going to bother then. I saw it when I was older.
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Official (looking around crowd suspiciously) "Are there any women here?"
Oh wait, this is slashdot....
If you really want to show Monty Python... (Score:4, Insightful)
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition (Score:3, Interesting)
People might make predictions of who might win, but one never expects it, she said, adding that ''It's like the Monty Python sketch, 'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!'''
40 year, fine! (Score:3, Funny)
But what did Monty Python ever do that is worth noting?
Re:40 year, fine! (Score:5, Funny)
Apart from the aqueducts, roads and sanitation?
I'll go out and come in again...
so successful, yet never remade - why? (Score:3, Interesting)
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Because the Pythons won't let them use their trademarks, I suspect. They know as well as we all do that a remake would be very likely to be terrible, and aren't going to want any part of it until they are a lot more desperate for money than they are now.
Re:so successful, yet never remade - why? (Score:5, Informative)
They addressed this yesterday in a BBC special. Firstly Graham Chapman is dead and secondly they felt like they were repeating themselves at the end of the original series which is why they quit. Terry Gilliam said that if they would come back they should make the first 4 episodes absolutely awful so by the next one only 2 people would be watching and then when they made their most brilliant show ever these guys would rush out and try to explain to incredulous people how brilliant it was. (Oh, and remakes suck.)
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> Considering what an effect and what a huge fanbase the programmes have, I can't help wondering why no-one has ever tried to make any more.
And why don't people make some more Beatles songs while they're at it?
Not to worry! (Score:4, Insightful)
favorite sketches (Score:2)
Dead Parrot
Hungarian Phrase Book
nudge nudge, wink wink
lumberjack song
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My favs:
All I have to say is... (Score:5, Funny)
My nipples explode with delight!
MP is 40 (Score:2)
How to recognize different types of Trees (Score:4, Informative)
#1
The Larch.
!funny (Score:2)
Am I seriously the only one?
No MP Googleday Graphic? Shame! (Score:2, Insightful)
requested slashcode tweak (Score:5, Funny)
On this day, make every Anonymous Coward show up as 'Bruce'.
Not aged well?? (Score:3, Insightful)
The number of sketches that have not aged well is a very small number. One of the best things about MP was that it stayed as far away from topical subjects as possible. Most MP aged very well (ubiquitous runny cheese jokes).
Where has Monty Python not aged well?
John Cleese Anecdote (Score:5, Funny)
I got this from a friend, and while I can't prove or disprove its veracity, I like to believe it really happened:
Here in Vancouver there are often sightings of celebrities in town for the filming of some project. So one day several years ago, a fellow is walking along downtown and is amazed to see John Cleese walking toward him. This fellow happens to be a Monty Python fanatic. We all know the type; he can (and does) quote many of their skits verbatim.
So the story goes, as he sees his comedic idol walking toward him on the street, he is suddenly in a panic as to what he should say to him. As Cleese is about to walk past he blurts out "Is this the place for an argument"? Without pausing or missing a step, Cleese exclaims "I TOLD YOU ONCE"!
Best way I can think of to celibrate... (Score:4, Funny)
Oh wait, this is slashdot...
Never mind.
Re:Icon ? (Score:5, Funny)
"You must be ne... wait a minute, 5 digit ID?" (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Icon ? (Score:5, Informative)
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As I heard it that march was played at the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. When the show started people commented that Monty Python was very cheeky using it. After a time people started asking why the guard changed to the Monty Python theme and they stop using it to change the guard to.
Re:I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners (Score:5, Funny)
The I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners shows are arguably much more influential (and funnier) than Monty Python, as far as actual influence goes.
No they aren't.
MP may have been funny and set the standard for sketch comedy, it doesn't really have much influence on popular culture.
Yes it does.
The two shows mentioned above have essentially defined the groundwork and format for all sitcoms to follow.
No they haven't.
Whether popular culture should be used to judge the positive influence of something could be debated, of course.
No it couldn't.
Re:I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners (Score:5, Funny)
he came in here for an argument? this is "abuse'. You want Room 12-A just along the corridor.
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Look, if I'm going to argue with you, I have to take up a contrary position...
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Yes, it is.
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No it isn't !!!
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I believe the GP was looking for an argument, not contradiction.
No you don't.
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I believe the GP was looking for an argument, not contradiction.
No, he wasn't!
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That's just contradiction. He came here for an argument.
Re:I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners (Score:4, Funny)
Wait wait wait this is the "Argument" sketch, right?
Ding. Time's up.
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Ooh! I get it. This is The Argument Sketch [wikipedia.org].
*clears throat*
Yes they are.
No it doesn't.
Of course they have.
Could too.
YMMV (Score:2)
The Honeymooners spawned The Flintstones (good), and I Love Lucy has been regrettably imitated by virtually every sitcom on American TV since (I hate Lucy). As far as influence goes, IMO the good shows have been influenced by Monty Python, and I Love Lucy can take credit for influencing practically every sucky sitcom in the years since.
Lucy vs Monty Python (Score:5, Insightful)
I hadn't seen either I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners in decades, so I looked up some clips on YouTube and had a look. The result? Not funny. Not funny at all. The prototypes of every sitcom since (a dead, worthless genre, IMHO), plus a healthy portion of nasty dated stereotypes. No thank you!
Not only was Monty Python funny, it changed what we consider funny. It changed what we laugh it. Few other shows can claim to have redefined a genre, but Monty Python did just that. Here's to 40 more years of silly walks, dead parrots and arguments!
...laura
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Monty Python has influence too, but it hasn't really spawned a lot of copycats. It did inspire the surreal humor trend in sketches, but that isn't very large. I think more things have borrowed style from Saturday Night Live than
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No they're not. And he was not doing any such thing.
No it wasn't.
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I'm not sure if this response is intended to be this dry - could well be a whoosh!!
Lemon Curry ?
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Here we see exactly what happens when the subject is exposed to the pedestrian humour of the genre typified by "I Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners", while the more sophisticated Bonofskian humour exemplified by the Pythons soars albatrosslike over the head the individual. The juxtaposition of the two styles in the appropriate contextual form demonstrates vividly the technique in paramorphigenesis of the plentariationization after the dextratr.......
Stop that now! That's just silly.
Re:I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners (Score:5, Funny)
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"Decimal" or "Binary", eh? (Score:2)
Oh we don't half talk posh don't we?
Re:I can. (Score:5, Funny)
That is easy, just say:
And now for something completely different...
and walk away.