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Monty Python's Flying Circus

Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus Title Card.png
Genre Sketch comedy
Surreal comedy
Satire
Black comedy
Created by Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Terry Gilliam
Eric Idle
Terry Jones
Michael Palin
Written by
Directed by
Starring Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Terry Gilliam
Eric Idle
Terry Jones
Michael Palin
With
Carol Cleveland
Ian Davidson
Connie Booth
Opening theme "The Liberty Bell" by John Philip Sousa
Composer(s) Neil Innes
Fred Tomlinson Singers
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of series 4
No. of episodes 45 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time approx. 25–30 minutes
Release
Original network BBC1 (1969–1973)
BBC2 (1974)
Original release 5 October 1969 (1969-10-05) – 5 December 1974 (1974-12-05)
Chronology
Followed by And Now for Something Completely Different
Website

Monty Python’s Flying Circus (known during the final series as just Monty Python) is a British sketch comedy series created by the comedy group Monty Python and broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines. It also featured animations by group member Terry Gilliam, often sequenced or merged with live action. The first episode was recorded on 7 September and premiered on 5 October 1969 on BBC One, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV.

The show often targets the idiosyncrasies of British life, especially that of professionals, and is at times politically charged. The members of Monty Python were highly educated. Terry Jones and Michael Palin are Oxford University graduates; Eric Idle, John Cleese, and Graham Chapman attended Cambridge University; and American-born member Gilliam is an Occidental College graduate. Their comedy is often pointedly intellectual, with numerous erudite references to philosophers and literary figures. The series followed and elaborated upon the style used by Spike Milligan in his ground breaking series Q5, rather than the traditional sketch show format. The team intended their humour to be impossible to categorise, and succeeded (although, by their perspective, failed) so completely that the adjective "" was invented to define it and, later, similar material.


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