Monty Python's Personal Best
Encyclopedia
Monty Python's Personal Best is a miniseries
of six one-hour specials, each showcasing the contributions of a particular Monty Python
member. Produced by Python (Monty) Pictures Ltd., the series first aired on PBS
stations 22 February 2006, though two episodes were initially released on Region 1 DVD in 2005; the remaining episodes were released in late February 2006.
The five surviving members (Eric Idle
, Terry Jones
, Terry Gilliam
, Michael Palin
and John Cleese
) were invited to select favourite sketches they wrote or starred in, from the Monty Python's Flying Circus
TV series as well as the troupe's films. All five collaborated on the sixth episode, a tribute to deceased Python Graham Chapman
.
to syndication on PBS stations. Episodes were aired two at a time over three weeks:
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
of six one-hour specials, each showcasing the contributions of a particular Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
member. Produced by Python (Monty) Pictures Ltd., the series first aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
stations 22 February 2006, though two episodes were initially released on Region 1 DVD in 2005; the remaining episodes were released in late February 2006.
The five surviving members (Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
, Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
, Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
, Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
and John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
) were invited to select favourite sketches they wrote or starred in, from the Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
TV series as well as the troupe's films. All five collaborated on the sixth episode, a tribute to deceased Python Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
.
Wraparound segments
With the exception of Graham Chapman's episode, each Personal Best segment features one or more wraparound sketches written by and starring the featured member:- Eric Idle's Personal Best: Reporting live from the Bollywood Howl [sic], a newscaster (Eric Idle) introduces his interviews with several people about what they thought about Eric Idle, including Idle's mother and a former Nazi soldier living in South America (both also played by Idle). Throughout the segments, the reporter confuses the members of Python with The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, an homage to Idle's work on All You Need Is CashAll You Need Is CashAll You Need Is Cash is a 1978 television film that traces the career of a fictitious British rock group called The Rutles...
, a parody film featuring The RutlesThe RutlesThe Rutles are a band that are known for their visual and aural pastiches and parodies of The Beatles. Originally created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes as a fictional band to be featured as part of various 1970s television programming, the group recorded, toured, and released two UK chart hits in...
.
- John Cleese's Personal Best: The show begins with a plaintext "memorial" to the "late" John Cleese. It then cuts to a fairytale starring the troupe ("The Princess With The Wooden Teeth" from Monty Python's Fliegender ZirkusMonty Python's Fliegender ZirkusMonty Python's Fliegender Zirkus consisted of two 45-minute Monty Python German television comedy specials produced by WDR for West German television...
), which then cuts to a poolside interview of a cranky, senile old man (Cleese) by Dayna Devon, a reporter. The supposedly 96-year-old Cleese usually answers her questions in the raunchiest manner possible, culminating in his "death" (by heart attack, apparently) at the end of the show. This caused an Internet crisis, with many Python fans asking on sites whether Cleese had actually died.
- Terry Gilliam's Personal Best: The show begins with Gilliam claiming Monty Python's Flying Circus was originally to be his show alone, with animations only. The "viewer" flips a switch that turns on the lights to reveal that Gilliam and his workshop are really animations. General pandemonium ensues as the episode shows a vast collage of Gilliam's famously neurotic animations.
- Michael Palin's Personal Best: The show is a pseudo-documentary about fish-slappingThe Fish-Slapping DanceThe Fish-Slapping Dance is a comedy sketch written and performed by the Monty Python team. The sketch was originally recorded in 1971 for a pan-European May Day special entitled Euroshow 71...
, with Michael Palin playing the same character he played in the original sketch hosting the show. The sketches are supposedly added because the show originally introduced the world to fish-slapping. Michael Palin "travelling" to the original filming location of the Fish-Slapping Dance jokingly references his current popularity as a travel documentarian.
- Terry Jones' Personal Best: From his lavish home, Jones discusses how he conceived of Monty Python as a showcase for his own considerable talents, how he reluctantly let the other members join and that 'Monty Python' is an anagram from 'Terry Jones'. Several sketches are personally (and often inaccurately) introduced by Jones.
PBS airings
The series' American broadcast preceded the return of Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
to syndication on PBS stations. Episodes were aired two at a time over three weeks:
- Eric Idle's Personal Best and Graham Chapman's Personal Best – 22 February 2006
- Terry Gilliam's Personal Best and John Cleese's Personal Best – 1 March 2006
- Michael Palin's Personal Best and Terry Jones' Personal Best – 8 March 2006
Recurring sketches
- The fish-slapping danceThe Fish-Slapping DanceThe Fish-Slapping Dance is a comedy sketch written and performed by the Monty Python team. The sketch was originally recorded in 1971 for a pan-European May Day special entitled Euroshow 71...
sketch appeared in four episodes, perhaps because many were involved in the sketch. John Cleese and Michael Palin appear in it. Terry Jones and Palin were the writers of the sketch. Terry Gilliam created the cartoon that introduced the sketch. The episode in which it did not feature was Eric Idle's. - Three variations of "The Lumberjack SongThe Lumberjack Song"The Lumberjack Song" is a song by the Monty Python comedy troupe. The song was written by Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Fred Tomlinson.It first appeared on the ninth episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, "The Ant: An Introduction" on BBC1 on 14 December 1969...
" are shown in the shows, the original version shown in the show, the German language version for Monty Python's Fliegender ZirkusMonty Python's Fliegender ZirkusMonty Python's Fliegender Zirkus consisted of two 45-minute Monty Python German television comedy specials produced by WDR for West German television...
, and the performance done in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood BowlMonty Python Live at the Hollywood BowlMonty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl is a 1982 concert film in which the Monty Python team perform many of their greatest sketches at the Hollywood Bowl. The show also included filmed inserts which were mostly taken from two Monty Python specials, Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus, which had been...
.