Monty Python's Flying Circus
| Monty Python’s Flying Circus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 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 – 5 December 1974 |
| 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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