Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

Was Monty Python actually funny?

edited October 2009 in Not Sports Related
I mean the TV series, Monty Python's Flying Circus and not the movies (Holy Grail, Life of Brian, Meaning of Life).

Have the tv shows stood the test of time?
«1

Comments

  • Is this the five minute argument or ten minute argument...?
  • edited October 2009
    BURMA!
  • Tigers in Africa?
  • Actually, my first ever memory of seeing something on TV that made me laugh was the sketch of the two people doing the Herring dance by the canal.
  • It was and is.
    What's your next question young man?
  • edited October 2009
    Bits of it. Like most sketch shows it was a bit hit and miss, but the good stuff was very good. Good to see I wasn't the only one that did a double take at the title of this thread.
  • There was a little girl (called Monty Python)

    who had a litle curl right in the middle of her forehead

    when she was good she was very,very good

    but when she was bad she was horrid
  • agree with Ali. Some was and is funny but a lot is very dated now.
  • Sponsored links:


  • Surprised you like them at all Henry, seeing as how politicly incorrect they are/were.
  • It was of its time.
    The four Yorkshire man sketch, for me, stands the test of time.
    Others I find a little cringing now and perhaps did in my youth. Like all comedy it can be hit and miss.
    Even the beatles had off days.
  • edited October 2009
    [cite]Posted By: SoundAsa£[/cite]Surprised you like them at all Henry, seeing as how politicly incorrect they are/were.

    That pre-supposes that I'm "politically correct" which I'm not as it is a glib overused non-specific and meaningless label used to somehow dismiss any counter view.

    As I said lots of Python is dated like much humour and entertainment of it time (Love they Neighbour or the Black and White ministerial show anyone) but it was also quite challenging in a middle class Oxbridge 60s way.

    Quite a lot of it was just plain silly which was the attraction then but looking at it now with 21st century eyes it is no longer funny.
  • It was a show rather like the Goons, 15 years earlier which presented humour in an irreverent way which made it cutting edge for teenagers/young adults. Some of sketches haven't stood the test of time but some are still as funny as ever. The Spanish Inquisition is just great slapstick. The Four Yorkshiremen is a sketch that has been oft repeated with guest cast members and is still fresh. Yes later live performances added more to the original TV versions but they just added more vibrancy. My favourite line off all from the Gentlemans Club sketch (live version). 'Have you heard the latest news? Nixons had an a*sehole transplant!' Have you heard the stop press then? The a*sehole's rejected him!!'
    Now that still makes me laugh.
  • Ali is indeed on the money. Take any show with sketches and themes and you'll find dross in there. Little Britain, Katherine Tate, Harry Enfield all fit the bill IMO.
  • SoundAs,
    It was/is funny in places.........And you know my political leanings......
    ;-)

    PS. As CK says, even the Beatles had "off days"!
  • I still watch it now, it's always on somewhere. I find it as funny now as it ever was. The clothes, sets, locations may by dated but the humour isn't.
  • [cite]Posted By: charltonkeston[/cite]It was of its time.
    The four Yorkshire man sketch, for me, stands the test of time.
    Others I find a little cringing now and perhaps did in my youth. Like all comedy it can be hit and miss.
    Even the beatles had off days.

    The 4 Yorkshire man sketch was not Monty Python but the 1948 show. Python just used it.

    http://www.zappinternet.com/video/jetCpaHyaK/At-Last-the-1948-Show-The-Four-Yorkshiremen-Sketch
  • edited October 2009
    [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: SoundAsa£[/cite]Surprised you like them at all Henry, seeing as how politicly incorrect they are/were.

    That pre-supposes that I'm "politically correct" which I'm not as it is a glib overused non-specific and meaningless label used to somehow dismiss any counter view.

    As I said lots of Python is dated like much humour and entertainment of it time (Love they Neighbour or the Black and White ministerial show anyone) but it was also quite challenging in a middle class Oxbridge 60s way.

    Quite a lot of it was just plain silly which was the attraction then but looking at it now with 21st century eyes it is no longer funny.

    Sorry to be glib,non specific and meaningless....a great way to start the day Ben, though you obviously got my point so it wasn't totally lost on you.
    And there you go, being politicly correct again!!
  • But it is glib, non-specific and so meaningless

    You described me as "politically correct" but what does that mean? And is what it means to you what it means to anyone else who uses it? Unlikely as it is now just a catch all phrase which is used constantly, perhaps not by you but certainly by others, to attack anything that people don't like being picked up on but aren't willing or more likely able to defend with a rational argument.
  • Sponsored links:


  • Many people just think Monty Python is the Parrot Sketch and The Minsitry of Silly Walks as these are the most famous.
    I think the Parrot sketch is pretty boring after you've seen it once.
    There are so many brillant items. Hitler and his henchman shacked up in ( with no disguise at all apart from a slight change to their names) an English Boarding House.
    The Agatha Christie style play based soley on a BR Timetable.
    The Bishop.
    De Javu
    To name just a few.
  • [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]But it is glib, non-specific and so meaningless

    You described me as "politically correct" but what does that mean? And is what it means to you what it means to anyone else who uses it? Unlikely as it is now just a catch all phrase which is used constantly, perhaps not by you but certainly by others, to attack anything that people don't like being picked up on but aren't willing or more likely able to defend with a rational argument.

    Or those who can't be bothered with semantics......maybe?
  • edited October 2009
    [cite]Posted By: SoundAsa£



    Or those who can't be bothered with semantics......maybe?

    Don't start on the Jews!
  • [cite]Posted By: SoundAsa£[/cite]
    [cite]
    Or those who can't be bothered with semantics......maybe?

    It was your phrase not mine.
  • [cite]Posted By: sygonrima[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: charltonkeston[/cite]It was of its time.
    The four Yorkshire man sketch, for me, stands the test of time.
    Others I find a little cringing now and perhaps did in my youth. Like all comedy it can be hit and miss.
    Even the beatles had off days.

    The 4 Yorkshire man sketch was not Monty Python but the 1948 show. Python just used it.

    http://www.zappinternet.com/video/jetCpaHyaK/At-Last-the-1948-Show-The-Four-Yorkshiremen-Sketch


    Learn something everyday.
    Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and Marty Feldman.

    Britain Had Talent
  • Of course it was bloody funny!
  • [cite]Posted By: jimmymelrose[/cite]Of course it was bloody funny!

    indeed it was, though not as funny now mind.
  • Grew up with Python, agree with most on here that some has dated but lots still very funny and has stood the test of time, ouside the normal famous sketches - Parrott and Silly Walks - my favourites were the Penguin on the TV after the Death of Mary Queen of Scotts and of course the Lumberjack song and the SPAM sketch. Inspired writing for its day and pushed a lot of the boundaries. Far better than some of the crud you see now, IMHO.
  • [cite]Posted By: Leroy Ambrose[/cite]Albatross

    Do you get wafers with it?
  • [cite]Posted By: SoundAsa£[/cite]Surprised you like them at all Henry, seeing as how politicly incorrect they are/were.

    Don't you oppress me...
Sign In or Register to comment.

Roland Out Forever!