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By FRANK BEHRENS
For the one or two of you
out there who do not know, the complete set of
"Monty Python's Flying Circus" is available on 14
A&E DVDs, 2 to a boxed set, containing therein the
45 episodes that made up the four seasons of this
much-loved series that never failed to give us
"something completely different."
What is your favorite MPFC sketch? The "Dead
Parrot," the "Ministry of Silly Walks," the
"Cheese Shop" (that's mine), the "Lumber Jack,"
the "Albatross," the "Déjà Vu" documentary, the
"Dirty Vicar," "Nudge Nudge," or the "Spanish
Inquisition"? They do get funnier with repeated
viewing; if this were not so, why purchase tapes
or DVDs at all? Even the less than great sketches
(especially in the fourth season when the boys
were running out of steam and John Cleese had
left) are here and easy to get at without fast
forwarding miles of tape. The only real problem
with these DVDs is the fairly confusing menu you
have to navigate to get into the actual programs.
It is funny at first, but annoying after that; and
one dearly wishes the producers had not been quite
so clever.
But putting that aside, we have some of the most
imaginative routines ever devised since
Aristophanes by a very funny group of talented
men, three of whom have gone on to other (but not
necessarily better) things: Eric Idle, Michael
Palin, John Cleese (yes, Q's successor in the
James Bond films), and Terry Gilliam (the mad
cartoonist). The best actor of them all, Graham
Chapman, is deceased and I have lost track of
Terry Jones (can any of you help me here?).
You can purchase the entire collection in a
megaset or two DVDs at a time in boxed sets. But
please start with the first season to see how they
grew -- and fell -- and redeemed themselves -- and
got too silly for words, as the years rolled by.
They were certainly unique and changed television
comedy forever. |
