Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
Cover of the British VHS release.
Written by	Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam
Directed by	Ian MacNaughton
Starring	Monty Python, Connie Booth
Country of origin	West Germany
Original language(s)	German
No. of episodes	2
Production
Producer(s)	Alfred Biolek, Thomas Woitkewitsch
Location(s)	Bavaria
Cinematography	Justus Pankau, Ernst Schmid; animation by Terry Gilliam
Running time	45 minutes
Production company(s)	Westdeutscher Rundfunk Python (Monty) Pictures Bavaria Film
Release
Original network	ARD
Picture format	Film
Original release	3 January – 18 December 1972

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (Monty Python's Flying Circus) consisted of two 45-minute Monty Python German television comedy specials produced by WDR for West German television. The two episodes were first broadcast in January and December 1972 and were shot entirely on film and mostly on location in Bavaria, with the first episode recorded in German and the second recorded in English and then dubbed into German.

While visiting the UK in the early 1970s, German entertainer and TV producer Alfred Biolek became aware of the Pythons and, excited by their innovative and absurd sketches, invited them to Germany in 1971 to write a special German episode of their Flying Circus show and to act in them. Despite mixed audience reception, a second episode was produced in 1972.

According to producer Alfred Biolek, the Pythons were initially somewhat reluctant to the idea of going to Germany to produce comedy for a German audience. Biolek had only seen a few shows, but he was impressed with the concept of the Flying Circus. Specifically, it stood out to him that they were both good comedians and good actors—a combination that Biolek rarely saw in the German comedy scene at the time. Biolek arranged to meet with the Pythons in the BBC's bar in London to convince them "with many arguments and even more gin tonics" to come to Germany for a brief visit. Eric Idle has described the conception of the specials as "The Germans came to us and said 'Look, we haven't got a sense of humour, but we understand you do. Can we use yours?'" Terry Jones recalls Biolek's inquiry as an opportunity "to do silly things in Germany".

The Pythons agreed to visit Biolek in Munich in order to explore options for possible material, but did not want to commit at this point. During their visit, the troupe wanted to get a better understanding of German culture and humour. In fact, the visit, and the resulting two shows “can be viewed as a considered attempt to broaden the stereotypical picture of Germans” by the Pythons. Michael Palin also noted that "All I know is that it reversed all one's prejudices. Python has done very, very well in Germany, and the movies do extremely well. [...] Whenever anyone says, you know, the Germans have no sense of humor, say no, hang on, hang on, they got Monty Python before a lot of other countries." During their visit to Germany, the Pythons attended the Oktoberfest and Olympiastadion in Munich, and also visited a nearby concentration camp. The Pythons' visit to Germany in 1971 coincided with the widely celebrated 500th birthday of painter Albrecht Dürer, and the group's second visit with the highly anticipated 1972 Summer Olympics. Both events had an obvious impact on the material created by the Pythons for their first episode, including the Silly Olympics skit, and the Anita Ekberg Sings Albrecht Dürer skit, thus situating their style of humour in a local cultural context.