In 1969, a talented group of highly-educated entertainers began producing a television show for the BBC. It was called Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The humor could be described as absurdist. It frequently involved men dressing up in drag, bizarre costumes, and references to philosophers (that weren’t funny unless you knew their history).
Could such a show ever be successful on this side of the pond, where TV producers were in the habit of creating sitcoms that a six-year-old kid could understand?
Well, to FURTHER complicate things, it was available only on PBS, whose reach in 1969 was pretty small.
Word got around. MPFC soon became, paradoxically, a huge hit with meager ratings.
Since then, they have made films, and released the original series on DVD. The result is that, 38 years later, the Monty Python troupe is more popular than ever.
That is not to demean the immense success they have enjoyed as solo performers.
Today’s FamilyFirst pick is the Wikipedia entry for Monty Python’s Flying Circus. And don’t forget, the best thing (and, in some unfortunate cases, the worst thing) about Wikipedia is that you can edit the entries yourself, to add your own interpretation of the subject.
So here’s to the funniest bunch of geniuses to ever grace the humble TV screen: Monty Python.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python’s_Flying_Circus
