Monty Python's Flying Circus: Difference between revisions

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The title ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was partly the result of the group's reputation at the BBC. [[Michael Mills (British producer)|Michael Mills]], the BBC's Head of Comedy, wanted their name to include the word "circus" because the BBC referred to the six members wandering around the building as a circus, in particular, "Baron Von Took's Circus", after [[Barry Took]], who had brought them to the BBC.<ref>The term ''flying circus'' first being applied to Baron von Richthofen's [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War 1)|Jagdgeschwader&nbsp;1]].</ref> The group added "flying" to make it sound less like an actual circus and more like something [[Manfred von Richthofen#Flying Circus|from World War&nbsp;I]]. The group was coming up with their name at a time when the 1966 [[The Royal Guardsmen]] song ''[[Snoopy vs. the Red Baron (song)|Snoopy vs. the Red Baron]]'' had been at a peak. [[Manfred von Richthofen|''Freiherr'' Manfred von Richthofen]], the World War&nbsp;I German flying ace known as The Red Baron, commanded the [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I)|Jagdgeschwader&nbsp;1 fighter squadron]] known as "The Flying Circus".

The words "Monty Python" were added because they claimed it sounded like a really bad theatrical agent, the sort of person who would have brought them together, with [[John Cleese]] suggesting "[[Pythonidae|Python]]" as something slimy and slithery, and [[Eric Idle]] suggesting "Monty".<ref name="Palin 2008 650">{{cite book |last=Palin |first=Michael |title=Diaries 1969–1979 : the Python Years / Michael Palin |publisher=Griffin |year=2008 |page=650 |isbn=978-0-312-38488-3}}</ref> They later explained that the name Monty "made us laugh because Monty to us means [[Lord Montgomery]], our great general of the Second World War".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpL12ilpDnQ&t=6m20s |title=Live At Aspen |website=[[YouTube]] |date=3 February 2009 |access-date=10 January 2013}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}</ref> The BBC had rejected some other names put forward by the group, including ''Whither Canada?''; ''The Nose Show''; ''Ow! It's Colin Plint!''; ''A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin''; ''The Toad Elevating Moment'' and ''Owl Stretching Time''.<ref name="Palin 2008 650"/> Several of these titles were later used for individual episodes.

=== Recurring characters ===

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Despite the poor reception on their live appearances on American television, the Pythons' American manager, Nancy Lewis, began to push the show herself into the States. In 1974, the [[PBS]] member station [[KERA-TV|KERA]] in [[Dallas]] was the first television station in the United States to broadcast episodes of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', and is often credited with introducing the programme to American audiences.<ref name="dallas_news">{{cite news|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/alan-peppard/20110825-alan-peppard-bob-wilson-hailed-in-kera-documentary.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519004645/http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/alan-peppard/20110825-alan-peppard-bob-wilson-hailed-in-kera-documentary.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 May 2014|title=Alan Peppard: Bob Wilson hailed in KERA documentary |author=Peppard, Alan |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=25 August 2011 |access-date=25 January 2013}}</ref> Many other PBS stations acquired the show, and by 1975, it was often the most popular show on these stations.<ref name="new yorker 1976"/> ''And Now for Something Completely Different'' was re-released to American theaters in 1974 and had a much better box office take that time. That would also set the stage for the Pythons' next film, ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', released near simultaneously in the UK and the United States in April 1975, to also perform well in American theaters.<ref name="Teod"/><ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.cnn.com/2015/04/09/entertainment/feat-monty-python-holy-grail-40-years/index.html|title = 40 years of 'Holy Grail': The best of Monty Python|website = [[CNN]]|date = 9 April 2015|access-date = 7 October 2019|archive-date = 7 October 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191007060005/https://www.cnn.com/2015/04/09/entertainment/feat-monty-python-holy-grail-40-years/index.html|url-status = live}}</ref> The popularity of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' helped to open the door for other British television series to make their way into the United States via PBS and its member stations.<ref name="StewartStewart1999">{{cite book|author1=David Stewart|author2=David C. Stewart|title=The PBS companion: a history of public television|url=https://archive.org/details/pbscompanionhis00stew|url-access=registration|access-date=29 September 2010|date=May 1999|publisher=TV Books|isbn=978-1-57500-050-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/pbscompanionhis00stew/page/n211 216]}}</ref> One notable American fan of ''Monty Python'' was singer [[Elvis Presley]]. Billy Smith, Presley's cousin noted that during the last few months of Elvis' life in 1977, when Elvis was addicted to prescription drugs and mainly confined to his bedroom at his mansion [[Graceland]], Elvis would sit at his room and chat with Smith for hours about various topics including among other things, Presley's favourite ''Monty Python'' sketches.<ref>{{cite book|last=Guralnick|first=Peter|year=1999|title=Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley|publisher=Back Bay Books |isbn=978-0-316-33297-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780316332972 |pages=212, 642}}</ref>

With the rise in American popularity, the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] network acquired rights to show select episodes of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' in their ''[[Wide World of Entertainment]]'' showcase in mid 1975. However, ABC re-edited the episodes, thus losing the continuity and flow intended in the originals. When ABC refused to stop treating the series in this way, the Pythons took them to court. Initially the court ruled that their artistic rights had indeed been violated, but it refused to stop the ABC broadcasts. However, on appeal the team gained control over all subsequent US broadcasts of its programmes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://openjurist.org/538/f2d/14 |title=Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 538 F.2d 14 (2d Cir. 1976) |date=1976 |volume=F2d |issue=538 |page=14 |access-date=18 March 2020 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512183303/https://openjurist.org/538/f2d/14 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="new yorker 1976"/> The case also led to their gaining the master tapes of the series from the BBC, once their original contracts ended at the end of 1980.

The show also aired on [[MTV]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cHoAoaVBz0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/2cHoAoaVBz0 |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|title=MTV Monty Python Warning|date=31 May 2007|work=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> ''Monty Python'' was part of a two-hour comedy block on Sunday nights that also included another BBC series, ''[[The Young Ones (TV series)|The Young Ones]]''.