Electrified_Voltage This is the groundbreaking BBC TV comedy series that introduced the world famous Monty Python. I first heard of the comedy team at a very early age, but wasn't too familiar with their work for a long time. I knew of a few sketches, but really started to get to know Python in 2005, when I was nineteen years old, which was when I first became familiar with all the members of the troupe, watching many episodes of this show and the movies which the comedians made afterwards, and laughing a lot! I have now seen every episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus", originally aired from 1969 to 1974, and some comedy may wear thin on me through time, but that most certainly hasn't been the case with the humour of this particular group! This is a sketch comedy show featuring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones, the six official members of the Monty Python team. It also features many parodies and bizarre concepts! Five of the group's members regularly appear in sketches, each delivering lots of silliness and insanity, while Gilliam, the British troupe's sole American member, only appears sporadically on screen but is responsible for all the bizarre animated sequences, which are featured in every episode and really fit in with the live action sketches! The show sometimes features guests for smaller roles as well, not always just the Pythons appear, and when the female characters are not played by any of the Pythons in drag, there are real women who play them, most commonly Carol Cleveland, who appears at certain points in the majority of the show's episodes and can be referred to as the seventh Python.In my experience, I've found that no matter how good a sketch comedy show is, not ALL the sketches can be that great, including this show. For instance, I don't think I've ever found the tape recorder up the nose very funny. However, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" still features enough hilarious sketches to make it a masterpiece, with the man with three buttocks, the dead parrot, the homicidal barber sketch and very famous "Lumberjack Song" that follows it, the job interview, newlyweds trying to purchase a mattress, the Git family, the argument clinic, silly disturbances, and so many others, WAY too numerous to mention! Terry Gilliam's animated sequences can certainly be major highlights as well, and he could sure be creative with those cutouts he used for them, many of which he got from Victorian-era photographs! All official members of the Python troupe showed their amazing talent in this sketch comedy series, and I should also give credit to Carol Cleveland. Even though she wasn't an official member of the team, she kept getting roles in the show due to her comedic talent, which she certainly deserved, and is definitely worthy of the "7th Python" label! Sadly, one of the legendary Pythons, Graham Chapman, died of throat and spinal cancer in 1989, when he was only 48 years old. This tragic death occurred the day before the 20th anniversary of the day on which the first episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" was originally broadcast! I was only three years old at the time of Chapman's death, so I was obviously unaware of it at the time, but finally learned about it sixteen years later, as I had just discovered how funny Monty Python was. That was when I discovered what a great comedian Chapman was, like the other Pythons, and how understandably missed he is. He contributed a lot to Python's humour with his talent, in a comedy franchise which obviously can't please everyone, as some people have been put off by the troupe's extremely silly style, but the work that the Pythons did together was very influential and has clearly made so many people from different generations laugh, and will hopefully continue to do so for generations to come! Cheers to Monty Python and R.I.P. Graham Chapman!

ShelbyTMItchell Now that the show and Monty Python the group itself has been an icon for forty years and counting. The Flying Circus is what started it all. And that the five British comedians and one American illustrator would spawn off Saturday Night Live and Kids in the Hall, just to name a few of the sketch comedy shows. But Monty Python stands out and holds out as an original, THE ORIGINAL OF ALL SKETCH COMEDY! The show kind of fizzled out after John Cleese left after the third season, in order to do Fawlty Towers. But still, despite forty-five shows, they are the classic of the classics. Begin discovering Monty Python at 15 back in 1989. You can't get comedy better than that. Who can forget the Lumberjack sketch, Salad Days, Parrot Sketch, just to name a few! Monty Python rocks!

maxschrek5 Funny, funny, funny! One of the funniest shows ever! It is a God send to all nerds (like me) everywhere. Without this show nerds would have nothing to do at all. But this show sparked the Nerd Invaision of the 60's and 70's-unlike that pointless British Rock and Roll Invaision, I mean who needs the Beatles ? These guys are The Beatles of comedy. My favorite sketch on the show is The Fish Slapping Dance (wait, is that even a real sketch?). It's just such a random sketch, it's funny! My favorite line is "Well if a homicidal manic comes and attacks you in the middle of the night wielding a pineapple, don't come crying to me!" That pretty much sums up Monty Python. The only sad thing is that, it's gone. Graham Chapman's dead, Terry Gilliam and John Cleese have moved on to bigger and better things, Michael Palin's gone traveling, Eric Idle's kicking back feeding of his cut of the Python legacy. And what the hell happened to Terry Jones? But the show will live on in our hearts. Actually just a little joke, I'm actually rat-catcher who needs cash. No you're not! Yes I am! No you're not! Yes I am!

dobbin-4 In 1969 a great thing happened, and I am not talking about man on the moon I am talking about the best sketch show in history; Monty Python's Flying Circus. The show had 6 successful series all being better then the last.The show was clever, random and extremely time worthy, age will not weary it. The show was new and original, unlike much before it. The show was so incredibly silly that people were not just fans but the fact they were also wondering what could possibly be next is a sign that the python gang is so clever and that the only thing predictable in the whole show is that there is nothing predictable.Overall, fans of comedy and shows in general will LOVE this show and if there is any doubt if you should watch one of the best shows ever made then just do it. The show is a guaranteed laugh fest. I rate this masterpiece 92%.