UK, 5 October 1969-5 December 1974
4 series, 45 episodes, average 25m each
videotape, 16mm film, colour, 4:3
mono, English
A British comedy television series with many fantasy moments.
Premise
A comedy sketch show that always featured surreal and fantastic imagery and situations.
Episodes
Note: some episodes seem to have titles though the majority do not.
Season One (1969-1970)
Whither Canada? (5 October 1969)
Sex and Violence (12 October 1969)
How to Recognise Different Types of Trees From Quite a Long Way Away (19 October 1969)
Owl Stretching Time (26 October 1969)
Man's Crisis of Identity in the Later Half of the 20th Century (1969)
30 November 1969
You're No Fun Any More (7 December 1969)
Episode 12B: Full Frontal Nudity (14 December 1969)
The Ant, An Introduction (21 December 1969)
28 December 1969
4 January 1970
Episodes 17-26: The Naked Ant (11 January 1970)
18 January 1970
Season Two (1970)
15 September 1970
22 September 1970
29 September 1970
The Buzz Aldrin Show (20 October 1970)
27 October 1970
3 November 1970
10 November 1970
17 November 1970
24 November 1970
1 December 1970
8 December 1970
15 December 1970
22 December 1970
Season Three (1972-1973)
Whicker's World (19 October 1972)
25 October 1972
31 October 1972
6 November 1972
The All England Summarise Proust Competition (13 November 1972)
20 November 1972
27 November 1972
3 December 1972
10 December 1972
21 December 1972
4 January 1973
11 January 1973
18 January 1973
Season Four (billed as Monty Python) (1974)
31 October 1974
7 November 1974
14 November 1974
21 November 1974
28 November 1974
A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Liberal Party (5 December 1974)
Alternative Titles
The following titles were all, allegedly, considered at one time or another:
The Amazing Flying Circus
Arthur Buzzard's Flying Circus
Arthur Megapode's Cheap Show
Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus
Arthur Megapode's Zoo
B.B. Circus
Baron Von Took's Flying Circus
Bob Python's Flying Circus
Brian Stalin's Flying Circus
Brian's Flying Circus
Bunn, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot
Charle's Ind's Flying Circus
Comedy Zoo, The
Cynthia Fellatio's Flying Circus
Down Show, The
E.L. Megapode's Flying Circus
E.L. Moist's Flying Circus
E.L. Thompson's Flying Circus
E.L. Trotsky's Flying Circus
E.L. Turbot's Flying Circus
The Fly Circus
The Flying Circus
The Full Moon Show
Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus
A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin
The Horrible Earnest Megapode
Human Circus
It's Them!
It's T.H.E.M.
The Joke Zoo
The Keen Show
Ken
The Laughing Zoo
Limb's Flying Circus
Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the Twentieth Century
Megapode's Cheap Show
Megapode's Panic Show
Megapode's Atomic Circus
Megapode's Flying Circus
Myrtle Buzzard's Flying Circus
Nigel's Flying Circus
Noris Heaven's Flying Circus
Norman Python's Flying Circus
The Nose Show
O
1 2 3
Ow! It's Colin Plint
Ow! It's Megapode's Flying Circus
Owl Stretching Time
The Panic Show
The People Zoo
The Plastic Mac Show
The Political Satire Show
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom
Sex and Violence
The Sparkling Music and Stars Interview
Stephen Furry's Flying Circus
Sydney Moist's Flying Circus
Them
The 37 Foot Flying Circus
Vaseline Parade
Vaseline Review
The Venus De Milo Panic Show
Whither Canada?
The Whizzo Easishow (Guaranteed to Last Half an Hour! Money Back If Not!)
Will Strangler's Flying Circus
The Year of the Stoat
The Zoo Show
Links
Extracts included in
The 100 Greatest TV Ads (2000)
The 100 Greatest TV Moments (1999)
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
It's the Monty Python Story (1993)
John Cleese and Anders Lund Madsen (1999)
Life of Python (1990)
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972)
Monty Python's Flying Circus: Live at Aspen (1998)
Night of a Thousand Shows (2000)
Parrot Sketch Not Included: Twenty Years of Monty Python (1989)
Pythonland (1999)
The Pythons: Somewhere in Tunisia, Circa A.D. 1979 (1979)
Top Ten Comedy Records (2000)
See also
Comic Relief (1986)
Comic Relief: The Invasion of the Comic Tomatoes (1993)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
The Not the Nine O'Clock News Story (1999)
The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations (2001)
References
Periodicals
Empire October 1994 pp.122-123 – illustrated article
Newspapers
Daily Express 4 October 1968 – illustrated article (Don't say ‘satire' to these comics! by Martin Jackson)
The Sunday Telegraph 12 October 1969 – review (by Philip Purser)
The Sunday Times 29 May 1994 pp.10:14-15 – article
Books
Classic British Television pp.138-141- article
Dracula in Visual Media: Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game Appearances, 1921-2010 by John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan (Kay) Picart p.127
Monty Python Encyclopedia by Robert Ross – illustrated credits, articles, episode guide
Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy pp.449-451 – credits, review
