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Monty Python's Flying Circus
| Monty Python's Flying Circus | |
 | |
| Premiere | October 5, 1969 |
| Finale | December 5, 1974 |
| Creator | Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam |
| Network/Provider | BBC |
| Style | 30-minute sketch comedy |
| Company | British Broadcasting Corporation, Python (Monty) Pictures Limited |
| Seasons | 4 |
| Episodes | 45 |
| Origin | UK |
Monty Python's Flying Circus is the first outing by the British surrealist comedy group Monty Python, broadcast on BBC. The sketch comedy series is the product of surreal and absurdist experimentation by the writers combined with equally unusual, typically stream-of-conscious, animations by Terry Gilliam used as a linking device. The series is seen as one of the pioneering forces in not only sketch comedy, but comedy as a whole due to its constant attempts to push the boundaries of what could be done on television.
The idea for a series was first established when John Cleese and Graham Chapman were offered a chance to do a sketch comedy series for BBC. However, due to a variety of reasons, Cleese wasn't comfortable with attempting a two-man show. Instead, he invited Michael Palin into the fold. Palin, at the time, was in pre-production with his writing partner Terry Jones, Eric Idle and animator Terry Gilliam for a series on ITV. The result of this invitation was the merging of the creative teams of both shows for the BBC series. The six took a note from series like Beyond the Fringe and Q5, which forced them to innovate past conventions like "giving up" on sketches in favor of being as daring with their ideas as possible.
The process for creating the show was fairly static for the duration of the series. The Pythons would write from 9AM to 5PM, Chapman and Cleese would write in a pair, as would Jones and Palin, leaving Idle to write on his own. At the end of the day, the five would reconvene and pitch their sketches to each other. Sketches which the majority found funny would be given to Gilliam, who was allowed carte blanche to animate transitions as he saw fit. These animations were typically cribbed from famous works of art and cut together into a collage of jagged animation which was often violent and nonsensical. Early working names for the show such as “Owl Stretching Time,” “Whither Canada?” And “The Ant, An Introduction” would be repurposed as first season episode titles.
The series ended in 1974 after a lack-luster fourth season without Cleese's involvement. In the 1974 summer season, a clip from a Python show was shown on NBC's prime time show Comedyworld. A year later, the series was first broadcast in the United States on KERA, a PBS station in Dallas, after a programming executive was searching for new shows to broadcast and stumbled, by chance, over Flying Circus. PBS affiliates across the nation caught on and the series quickly developed a fervent American cult following. Time-Life distributed the first threee seasons at first. In 1983, Deviller-Donegan took over distribution of all four seasons. In transit, the first sketch from season three show no. 12 (“A Book at Bedtime”) accidentally got erased. It was replaced with quick superimposed captions against a black background.
Contents |
Cast
| Actor | Character | Duration | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billed Cast | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Graham Chapman | Performer | * | * | * | * |
| John Cleese | Performer | * | * | * | |
| Eric Idle | Performer | * | * | * | * |
| Terry Jones | Performer | * | * | * | * |
| Michael Palin | Performer | * | * | * | * |
| Terry Gilliam | Animator | * | * | * | * |
| Supporting/Recurring Cast | |||||
| Carol Cleveland | Performer | * | * | * | * |
Seasons
| Season | Premiere | Finale | # | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC | ||||||
| Season One | October 5, 1969 | January 11, 1970 | 13 | |||
| Season Two | September 15, 1970 | December 22, 1970 | 13 | |||
| Season Three | October 6, 1973 | January 18, 1973 | 13 | |||
| Season Four | October 31, 1974 | December 5, 1974 | 6 | |||
In-Depth
- At a Glance: Additional information about the series
DVD and Blu-ray Releases
Blu-ray
The complete series has been restored in Blu-ray and released in the USA and the UK. The only difference between them is that the UK versions have a 50i refresh rate and the USA releases have a 60i refresh rate. Season sets are also being released separately which feature the same content as the complete series
| Title | Release | Discs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK releases | ||||||
| Norwegian Blu-ray Edition (UK) Complete Series |
November 10, 2019 | purchase | 7 | |||
| Complete Series 1: Fully Restored (UK) | November 4, 2019 | purchase | 2 | |||
| Complete Series 1: Fully Restored Digipak (UK) | November 4, 2019 | purchase | 2 | |||
| US releases | ||||||
| Norwegian Blu-ray Edition (USA) | November 5, 2019 | purchase | 7 | |||
DVD
| Title | Release Date | # | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete Series: Region 2 | |||
| The Complete Boxset All four season sets + bonus disc |
November 3, 2008 | 8 | |
| Monty Python Boxset All four season sets + five films |
February 2, 2009 | 15 | |
| The Complete Boxset (re-release) Same discs as previous Complete Boxset, different packaging |
September 24, 2012 | 8 | |
| Complete Series: Region 1 | |||
| The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Megaset Sets 1-7 |
November 30, 2000 | 14 | |
| The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus 16-Ton Megaset Sets 1-7 + Monty Python Live! |
September 27, 2005 | 16 | |
| The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Collector's Edition Sets 1-7 + Monty Python Live! + Personal Best series + two new documentaries |
November 18, 2008 | 21 | |
| Season Sets: Region 2 | |||
| The Complete First Series | March 26, 2007 | 2 | |
| The Complete Second Series | April 23, 2007 | 2 | |
| The Complete Third Series | May 21, 2007 | 2 | |
| The Complete Fourth Series | June 11, 2007 | 1 | |
| Season Sets: Region 1 | |||
| Set 1 First half of Season One |
September 28, 1999 | 2 | |
| Set 2 Second half of Season One |
September 28, 1999 | 2 | |
| Set 3 First half of Season Two |
November 16, 1999 | 2 | |
| Set 4 Second half of Season Two |
November 16, 1999 | 2 | |
| Set 5 First half of Season Three |
May 2, 2000 | 2 | |
| Set 6 Second half of Season Three |
May 2, 2000 | 2 | |
| Set 7 Season Four |
August 29, 2000 | 2 | |
| 'Best Of' Collections: Region 2 | |||
| The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Vol. 1 | October 4, 1999 | 1 | |
| The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Vols. 1-3 | May 5, 2003 | 3 | |
| The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Vols. 1-3 and Live at Aspen | March 1, 2004 | 4 | |
| The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus and Live at Aspen | October 2, 2005 | 4 | |
See Also
- Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus - Two specials created for German TV
- Parrot Sketch Not Included: Twenty Years of Monty Python - Twentieth anniversary retrospective
- Monty Python's Personal Best - Miniseries of six episodes, each focusing on the best of one of the cast members
