Talk:Monty Python's Flying Circus

The "It's" Man-hermit or castaway?

Unless the Pythons themselves have described this character as a hermit, I think it's more accurate that he is a castaway, from a shipwreck or some other disaster. His tattered clothes tend to indicate that he has survived some disaster and a long period of isolation and a long trek back to civilization. Consider the show openings in which he came up out of the surf onto a shore. It's a minor detail, to be sure, but I recommend reviewing and updating this.---theBaron0530 5. October 2010 12:30 ET

Title - not from Goldfinger?

The text implies that in 1966, a group of Briton's reached back 50 years for an obscure WWI reference to create their name. Is there any confirmation that the title wasn't inspired by 'Pussy Galore's Flying Circus' from the popular 1964 British film Goldfinger. Seems like less of a stretch. PLawrence99cx (talk) 18:02, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

Well:

1. Britons looks a lot better without the apostrophe.
2. It's not that obscure. A lot of people will have read WWI stories, seen films etc etc. There is no surprising usage here.
3. Probably not, but then confirmation of a negative is often a wee bit difficult to find. As far as I know there is also no confirmation that it wasn't telephoned to them by the Pope or discovered inside a fortune cookie.
4. No, it seems like much, much more of a stretch. When the programme title came out I was wholly unsurprised by it, assumed it was a WWI reference, and didn't try to connect it with James Bond. But that's all WP:OR so, y'know ... nah.

Best wishes, and sorry for the slow reply, 82.34.71.202 (talk) 23:01, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

The Pope?? Surely you mean The Bishop!!? Martinevans123 (talk) 23:19, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

Music clarification please

Hello. The last paragraph of the lead has this:

The series' theme tune is the first segment of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell", as played by the Band of the Grenadier Guards, and chosen because it was in the public domain and thus could be used without charge.

- which is interesting, but makes me go "yeah but no but" a bit, and seek clarification on the following two grounds:

1. What do we mean "as played by"? What does that "as" do? It either was played by them, or it was not. So "played by" would be fine, if true, but "as played by" is weirdly ambiguous for no good reason.
2. When we say it could be used without charge we are probably referring to the tune but not the recording. It's very unlikely that no-one was paid for that; either Python paid recording session fees (rubs hands together greedily) or, if they used an existing recording, say one by the Grenadier Guards (see what I did there?) then they would have had to pay for that. I can't see how the Guards band would have made a charitable donation of the tune to the Beeb and if they did then I am sure it can be referenced here. Otherwise, what I suspect we mean is that they did not have to pay composer royalties ... which is nice, but not a total freebie unless the Pythons played it themselves.

It would be great if someone with the knowledge/sources could please sort this out a bit.

Thanks and best wishes to all, 82.34.71.202 (talk) 11:34, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

Transnational themes or actually American egocentrism

I fail to see trasnational themes there as section solely focuses on the US; either change it or analyze whole83.27.149.179 (talk) 13:10, 6 June 2018 (UTC) Python's creations more closely to really talk about transnational themes. 83.27.149.179 (talk) 13:10, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

Sorry, but I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying that US topics in the Monty Python oeuvre don't qualify as "transnational"? Martinevans123 (talk) 13:16, 6 June 2018 (UTC)

On lead. (minor suggestion)

I was thinking of this quote:
"Their comedy is often pointedly intellectual, with..."
I absolutely agree, but perhaps the word "silly" could be included too. In a good way, naturally. What about something in line with:
"Their comedy is often consciously silly but simultaneously highly intelligent and pointedly intellectual, with..."
To be intelligent and intellectual isn't the same, but I would like to say MP indeed is both. "Intelligence" and "silly" can well be regarded as opposites I suppose, but I think MP has proven that humor can be both.
What's meant by "innuendo-laden", just by the way ? Boeing720 (talk) 05:33, 19 November 2018 (UTC) (a silly alias, by the way...)

Spot the braincell

The section on the quiz show (blow on the head) in episode 20 (The Atilla the Hun Show) seems to suggest that the entire sketch was removed for one repeat airing but is generally available otherwise (including home video). If that is true, can it be clarified? If not, was some part (for instance, the name of the show, which is never identified as Spot the Braincell in the versions of the episode I have seen) edited out permanently and considered lost? And if the name Spot the Braincell is only used outside of MPFC itself, can the section on it be renamed to avoid confusion?

On a broader note, I am trying to collect a comprehensive view of what is missing from the A&E DVDs and other widely available versions of the show, and would be happy to include my findings here (including other alterations and alternates not listed here yet), but would it would be worth it, or would it constitute sufficient "original research" that it would be taken down? 174.100.165.147 (talk) 22:40, 5 December 2018 (UTC)