Are they flogging a dead parrot?

[welsh dragon]

PS: And any of you dare to say the Pythons are has-beens and not funny, dont you ever, EVER admit to liking Reeves and Mortimer, Enfield, Whitehouse or any other form of modern surreal comedy......... for without Idle, Cleese and his chums it would be nought.

They are all crap

 

[cosmicbike]

He's not the Messiah etc etc

Love Monty Python for the films, and some of the sketches. But to make a comeback, forget it. It really has aged, and I fail to see any of today's yoof finding it funny. That aside, most of their content will be deemed racist/sexist etc etc and that leaves them with little to work with.

Like Alf Garnett, best left...

 

[Archie_tect]

At least they broke new ground instead of simply saying the same thing over and over again eh?

People can't help what they do and don't like TMN.

 

[Salad Dodger]

I used to like Monty Python many years ago. But now? Sorry I just think it will be very, very naff,,,,,

 

[threebikesmcginty]

People can't help what they do and don't like TMN.

Do you mean 'people can't help what they do and don't like, TMN'?

 

[postman]

Sometimes things are better left alone.These guys are 70 ish.It might not work,and all the previous work could be rubbished.But what the hell do i know i'm only a lumberjack.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mL7n5mEmXJo

 

[raised by puffins]

This is my Python League:

1. Palin (1)
2. Cleese (2)
3. Idle (4)
4. Gilliam (5)
5. Chapman (3)
6. Jones (6)

Figures in brackets are positions last time I thought about it. Also, I'm curious as to what has been achieved in comedy over the last few decades that makes python stuff 'dated'.

 

[berty bassett]

they were just like any other good comic team - some of the stuff was very funny and some of the stuff was just fill - but i laughed then and i still laugh now at the good bits - what is more than i can say of some of the comic shows now - and while we are on the subject - how on earth did french and saunders ever ever get so many shows on the telly - now i will stand up and say monty python wasnt always funny but sometimes classic and sometimes groundbreaking - f & s neverever made me crack a smile . and by the way - life of brian is in my top 3 films so there - big nose

 

[Archie_tect]

... I'm curious as to what has been achieved in comedy over the last few decades that makes python stuff 'dated'.

The sketch programmes are of their time but dated by it, in the same way the "carry on" films are... compare that to the Monty Python films which are 'historical' so wear better, like the best sit-coms like 'Open All Hours or 'Porridge'.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

The first 2 films are great but held together by Graham Chapman. In the TV series, there were the odd very good bits but they were hidden in a lot of padding. Nowhere near as sexist & racist; through todays eyes; as Spike Milligan's Q series but laying those bits of both aside, nowhere near as inventive, groundbreaking and funny either.

I think it was David Frost they turned down.

 

[Moon bunny]

David Jason was with some of them in "Do Not Adjust Your Set" but they-Palin, Idle, Jones and Chapman-went on to make Monty Python without him.

 

[Aperitif]

Isn't it all passing clouds?
I remember bits of M.P. but am not afficionado. The series gave rise to incidents and catchphrases that 'stick' that's all. I make no judgement about the 'whateverist' slant it might have nowadays - it was just consumable, bizarre fun. The marching soldiers, the Mounties, The Lumberjacks - ok well, there's the parrot thing.
I might compare that to John Cleese writing Fawlty Towers - a lot of comedy and teamwork in performance there - ditto Dads Army, Only Fools and Horsemeat. We're all wise afterwards - Harry Enfield as Loadsamoney was great at 10:30 on a Friday night, because the building trade was a bit like that. Just fun. Always switch it off but never demand anything from the bloody telly. I haven't even got one now.

Never did get that bloke who shouted...Ben someone..Elton! I suppose he's a right-on mainstream author now. Good for him, and anyone who has made money from what they tried to do...or will be doing.

 

[Archie_tect]

Ben Elton co-wrote incredible programmes... like Blackadder [brought in to save it after the disastrous first series]... none of the alternatives did anything for me [not even Vern's cheeky Alexei Sayle character.]

 

[Davidc]

Ben Elton co-wrote incredible programmes... like Blackadder [brought in to save it after the disastrous first series]... none of the alternatives did anything for me [not even Vern's cheeky Alexei Sayle character.]

The first Blackadder series was the best. Went downhill from there.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Monty Python was patchy, but their best sketches were sublime.