Classic British Sketch Show On Netflix Made Comedy What It Is Today
A man in a tattered suit pops out of the ocean, struggling to breathe, and starts making his way unsteadily toward the shore. The man struggles awkwardly to reach land, his head sometimes dipping below the water, only to pop back up a second later. After an uncomfortably long time, he flops down on the beach and utters a single word: “It’s…” And so the very first episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus begins.
The year is 1969, and comedy will never be the same.
Monty Python’s Flying Circus Changed Comedy Forever
Reviewing Monty Python’s Flying Circus is like explaining the aurora borealis to someone. You can describe it slowly and carefully, but ultimately, the person has to see it for themselves to understand. I could type out the Dead Parrot Sketch verbatim, but unless you fire up Netflix and watch John Cleese bang a motionless bird corpse on the counter while screaming, “HELLO, PRETTY POLLY!” it’s just words.
But, you know, I’ll try anyway.
The Greatest Comedic Cast Ever Assembled
In the late ’60s, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and the Terrys—Gilliam and Jones—started a sketch comedy show unlike anything else on TV at the time. The five Brits with sole Yankee Gilliam named the show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Like the rest of the Python’s work, the name was meant to be silly, mysterious, and ultimately meaningless. Other candidates were A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin, The Toad Elevating Moment, and Owl Stretching Time.
Anything Could Happen
The BBC aired Monty Python’s Flying Circus for the first time on October 5, 1969. For four seasons (series in the U.K.), the Pythons broke the established rules of comedy. Sketches sometimes had no end and bled into the following scenario. Python routines would have no discernable setup and punchline, drawing humor instead from surreal situations, ridiculous voices, and mannerisms.
In Monty Python’s Flying Circus, anything could happen. A sketch could start in a barber shop and end with the barber singing about being a cross-dressing lumberjack as a chorus of Canadian mounties sing alongside him. A military officer could suddenly burst in on a seemingly routine sketch to chastise all the characters for being “too silly.”
Surreal Humor Unlike Anything Else
Over four scant seasons, the ridiculous Pythons crafted some of the most iconic surrealist humor ever put on screen. The Spanish Inquisition, The Ministry of Silly Walks, The Argument Sketch—I could go on, but you get the idea. Not many shows can claim to have changed comedy television and comedy as an art form. Off the top of my head, I’d say Monty Python’s Flying Circus, SNL, and The Simpsons.
And of those three, only one came first and influenced the other two. If you guessed Monty Python’s Flying Circus, congratulations. You’ve been paying attention. Along with Saturday Night Live, it’s safe to say that Monty Python influenced the entire sketch comedy format going forward.
The Entire Series Is On Netflix
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Meanwhile, Python’s influence reached outside the television medium and touched the works of absurdist authors Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. It’s hard to imagine the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or Discworld existing without Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Cartoon Network’s entire Adult Swim programming block was patterned on Pythonesque surrealism.
These days, the Pythons are best known for their theatrical movies, such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Life of Brian. And while I can’t argue that the troupe’s long-form content is probably their best work, it wouldn’t exist without Monty Python’s Flying Circus to lay the groundwork. If you love absurdist comedy or just comedy, period, and you’ve never checked out Monty Python, you should. It’s a timeless comedy that still holds up today.
All four seasons of Monty Python’s Flying Circus are streaming on Netflix.
