So, Anyway...

"I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so anyway..." - Graham Chapman, MPFC Ep. 3


The challenge with writing glowing praise about Monty Python is that it's almost impossible to write something that hasn't been written already. Groundbreaking, revolutionary, funny, silly, smart...There is no way to compliment Monty Python without being trite, and being trite whilst complimenting these audacious and original geniuses is no compliment.
So, having established that any attempt at being complimentary is a tired, rote exercise in futility, I'm starting a blog that does just that!
I just got home from a screening of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" at a local theater. Before the show began, a moderator interviewed two guests who had nothing whatsoever to do with the movie. (To event planners, I say-- set your sights higher. A guest speaker should have a familiarity with the subject beyond having seen it once. Having heard "All You Need is Cash" on the radio doesn't make me a Rutle.)  When asked about "The Holy Grail", they spoke instead about "The Life of Brian" and never caught on to their mistake. When asked about "Monty Python's Flying Circus", neither of them could relate a specific anecdote about the show, instead uttering bland generalities about British humor. The audience got restless with the special guests who hadn't grasped that the subject, the draw, and the unifying principle of the evening was "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and they began to bang their souvenir coconuts together. I closed my eyes and wished I could be up there.
Because unlike the guests, I remember the first time I saw "The Holy Grail," on the newly launched HBO network, and I remember how funny the Bridgekeeper scene was, and how freaky it was to see the bride with blood coming out of her mouth in the wedding scene. I remember the first time I saw the show, on WTOG in Florida, alone in my room at 11:00 pm one Saturday night, watching the "Njorl's Saga" episode and having no idea what was going on, so distracted was I by the secretary spraying something on her chest, and feeling that somehow I was doing something prurient. I remember the first time I heard "The Parrot Sketch" and was so awed by the monologue, I listened to it over and over again, impressing my fellow theater geeks with recitations during breaks in rehearsal. None of these stories may seem particularly compelling, but I guarantee you they are more interesting than what these special guests had to say. I probably would have been cheaper, too.
But as bad as it was tonight, "The Holy Grail" is the Python work that has survived. Many people have seen it, enjoyed it, and can quote it easily. But the television show has begun to languish in the backwaters of the cultural zeitgeist. Fewer are the people that will sing "Spam", or scream "Bloody Vikings!" at those who do. Shouting "Burma!" randomly will give you some distance from passing strangers, but few appreciative nods. More people know of the Silly Walk than have actually seen it.
This is more than a shame. It's a crime. It's bad enough that the next generation won't have a social safety net, but their humor touchstone will be "Two Broke Girls"? Unthinkable! "South Park" is awesome, and "The Simpsons" still delivers, but even these shows pale in comparison. We need a steady diet of Python! In this day and age, (they have their own YouTube channel, for God's sake!) there is no reason to go hungry. We just need to start talking about it again, like it's the hip happening thing that it still is. We need to raise its Q score-- and our own standards and expectations.
Every week, I will take an episode of Monty Python, starting with episode one and proceeding sequentially, until I have written on every episode. I'll talk about what I find funny, and why, reminisce if applicable, dish what I don't like as much, and in general just opine. I won't trot out the little known facts that everyone knows, eschewing the trivial for the sublime. If you decide to subscribe, I urge you to watch along with me, and chime in with your comments. Make them appreciative, please-- I'm sure there are other blogs that welcome the combative, but I'm hoping for friendly, positive exchanges.  When all that's done, we'll do the albums that I can find, and then the movies. If there's any blood left in the member after that, we'll look at Fawlty Towers and Ripping Yarns and whatever else you guys want to talk about. Otherwise, we'll toss the whole blog in the urn with Graham and call it a navel.
Next week; Sex and Violence, aka Episode 1. Burma!... I panicked.