And Now for Something Completely Different: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Film

[[Image:Somethingdifferent.jpg|250px|right|[[DVD]] cover of this [[comedy film]] depicting many of the film's main characters]]

| name = And Now For Something Completely Different

'''''And Now For Something Completely Different''''' is a [[film]] [[spinoff]] from the [[television]] [[comedy]] series ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' featuring favourite [[sketch comedy|sketch]]es from the first two seasons. The title originated as a [[catchphrase]] in the TV show. Many Python fans feel that it excellently describes the [[nonsense|nonsensical]], [[Non sequitur (absurdism)|non sequitur]] feel of the program.

| image = Somethingdifferent.jpg

| caption = DVD cover for ''And Now For Something Completely Different''

| director = Ian MacNaughton

| producer = Patricia Casey

| writer = [[Graham Chapman]]<br>[[John Cleese]]<br>[[Terry Gilliam]]<br>[[Eric Idle]]<br>[[Terry Jones]]<br>[[Michael Palin]]

| starring = Graham Chapman<br>John Cleese<br>Terry Gilliam<br>Eric Idle<br>Terry Jones<br>Michael Palin<br>[[Carol Cleveland]]<br>[[Connie Booth]]<br>[[Lesley Judd]]

| music = Douglas Gamley<br>Fred Tomlinson<br>Michael Palin<br>Terry Jones

| cinematography = David Muir

| editing = Thom Noble

| distributor =

| released = [[1971 in film|1971]]

| runtime = 85 min

| language = English

| budget =

| imdb_id = 0066765

}}

'''''And Now For Something Completely Different''''' is a [[film]] [[spinoff]] from the [[television]] [[comedy]] series ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' featuring favourite [[sketch comedy|sketch]]essketches from the first two seasons. The title originated as a [[catchphrase]] in the TV show. Many Python fans feel that it excellently describes the [[nonsense|nonsensical]], [[Non sequitur (absurdism)|non sequitur]] feel of the program.

==Catchphrase==

Many of the early [[episodes]] of the show feature a sensible-looking announcer (played by [[John Cleese]]) dressed in a sensible black suit and sitting behind a sensible wooden desk, which in turn is in some ridiculous ___location such as behind the bars of a [[zoo]] cage or in mid-air being held aloft by small attached [[propeller]]spropellers. The announcer would turn to the audience and announce "and now for something completely different", launching the show's opening [[credits]] starting with second series of the show. It derived from the kind of phrase used to link items in a TV "magazine show" such as the [[BBC]]'s ''Tonight'', which alternated [[current affairs]] and interviews with lighter [[human interest]] material.

The phrase was also used as a [[transition]] within the show. Often it would be added to in order to better explain the [[transition]], for instance, "And now for something completely different: a man with a tape recorder up his nose." In later [[episodes]] the credits-launching was reduced to a split-second stock [[footage]] of the announcer saying "And now..." in a similar fashion as was done with its [[predecessor]] (the [["It's" man]]). It was replaced by a [[nude]] [[organist]].

==Film==

The film, released in [[1971 in film|1971]], consists of 90 minutes of the best [[sketches]] seen in the first two series of the TV show. The [[sketches]] were remade on film without an [[audience]], and was intended for an [[United States|American]] audience which had not yet seen the series. The announcer uses the phrase "and now for something completely different" several times during the film, in situations such as being roasted on a spit and lying on top of the desk in a small, pink [[bikini]].

This movie is somewhat similar to the 1974 film ''"[[The Best of Benny Hill]]"'' which was a film spinoff from the television comedy series ''"[[The Benny Hill Show]]"'' featuring favourite sketches from the first two seasons. The difference in both films are that the Pythons recreated all the sketches while Benny used clips from the Thames years and edited them together to make the film.

The film did not offer anything extra for British fans, except the opportunity to see the sketches in colour at a time when many viewers still had black and white sets, and indeed many were disappointed that the film seemed to belie its title. It was funded by [[Victor Lowndes]] of ''[[Playboy]]'' [[magazine]].

== Film rating ==