Episode 5 - Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the Twentieth Century

Before we begin, I want to give a big fat Birthday shout out to my daughter, who doesn't read this blog! She is 19 years old today. One morning, before she was two, as we sat at the breakfast table, she suddenly went "Ahhh!"

"What, sweetie pie?" we asked, alarmed. "What was that?"

"That was a baby going 'Ahhh!'" she smiled. Not even two years old, and she was already grasping the meta-humor that would make Monty Python so inimitable. So Happy Birthday, darlin'! Thanks for making me laugh for the last nineteen years!

Now, onto the show at hand--

"Blimey! Whatever did I give the wife?" - Graham Chapman as PC Henry Thatcher

According to Michael Palin's Diaries, Monty Python's Flying Circus was suddenly and unaccountably swept off the air for two weeks after the 4th show. The BBC probably thought no one would notice, and would placidly watch whatever else they parked in the Sunday night 11:10 time slot. But by this time, Monty Python had begin to find its fan base, and some of them worked for the media. MPFK was lauded as a new revolution in comedy, a brisk wake-up call to the other more comfortable comedy shows. (I'm looking at you, David Frost!) So, without fanfare, apology or explanation, the BBC permitted further episodes of Monty Python to run on into the late autumn nights.

We begin with the "It's" Man, rowing a boat down a river to the shore, where he starts the show with our favorite contraction. I am increasingly impressed with Palin's manly facility. After last week's climb up a steep rock wall, tonight he rows a boat, steers it to shore, finds his mark, and stands up in the boat, all in character, without a single dry heave. I'm going to be very careful with what I say about his diaries in the future, or he will kick my ass!

The titles begin, with a new flourish John Cleese's reserved, understated "Monty Python's Flying Circus" has been replaced with a more rambunctious Cleese in an exaggerated, nasal British twang; "Moh-Ee Python's Flying Cerrr-CUS!" No longer content to trade on false propriety, Cleese just gets silly.

"I Hope to God it Worked..."

The location: "Suburban Lounge near Esher". An anxious couple, played by Palin and Jones, look at their cat on the lawn. Soon, a vet, played by Chapman, arrives. Chapman seems to be in a different sketch than Palin and Jones. Chapman is all goofy rectitude as he explains to the worried couple that their cat needs to be confused. Palin and Jones, on the other hand, go deep with their characters, with Palin particularly funny as the henpecked husband, being shushed constantly.

Then the sketch clarifies with a bit of film, showing a paramilitary organization whose sole mission is feline bafflement. Cleese, as the head officer, unfolds himself out of a car and gives a scarcely discernible pep talk-- the words aren't necessary-- his entitled attitude is everything. After building a stage and performing a ludicrous series of surreal pantomimes, the mission is accomplished. The cat, mobile again, trots past Cleese and the worried couple.

The closing line "It's all in a day's work for Confuse-A-Cat" is reminiscent of the closing line of the Bicycle Repairman sketch. Palin says "It's all in a day's work for Bicycle Repairman" with gracious, working-class modesty, snorting afterwards. But it's one note compared to Cleese's multi-tiered delivery, his geniality turning into cold determination as he glares into the camera. It's all affectation with Cleese, but his specificity is brilliant.

A shot of Cleese with titles showing a bewildering variety of similar enterprises, such as "Stun-A-Stoat Ltd" turns into a short animation from Gilliam that links us to the next sketch-- The Customs Sketch. This sketch is a delight! Self-contained and pretty routine, it is made transcendental by the duo of Cleese and Palin. Palin is hilariously shifty, and it seems all Cleese can do to keep a straight face-- but he just manages. Unlike the previous sketch, the differing styles meld exquisitely in this sketch. You really get the sense that Cleese and Palin like, admire and complement each others styles.

Jones, in close up so intimate I feel like I have to call him the next morning, introduces animals on a panel interview show. The animals are all stuffed, and look funny/scary. (I personally wouldn't have owned that cat if it were alive.) A series of on-the-street interviews follows, each one funny. It's notable for the first appearance of a Gumby-esque character that eats squirrels and votes Conservative. Although he lacks the brainless adorability of the Gumbys from later episodes, he does wear the napkin on his head. In the middle of his rant, the chicken-wielding knight clomps in and knocks him out of frame.

And who the hell is Margaret Drabble?

The various interviews lead us to another short stand-alone sketch with a brilliant Chapman-esque punchline. These guys may not respect punch lines as a device, but they sure know how to pull one out when they feel like it. This is the first of Chapman's Constable appearances, very ineptly planting illicit drugs on Idle. Frankly, I want to see more of police dog Josephine.

Goofy letters complaining about things follow-- always a treat. The second one is notable because a mere thirty years after the start of WWII, the Circusians mock sentimentalizing it. I wonder if the day will ever come here in the States when it will be okay to make light of 9/11 sentimentalization. Right now, it's a prerequisite for public office. More street interviews, including my favorite from this show, Cleese's final solution for the lower classes. Release the vultures!

A weird mind-bender follows with Eric Idle as a newscaster reporting on his own arrest. He leads us to "Match of the Day", with Terry Jones and Carol Cleveland macking out. It turns out all Terry Jones wanted her for was her projector. I tried to find a picture of the two of them, but haven't been able to, so here's one of her. You're welcome!

Check out that navel!

Bevis the film geek takes us to a Gilliam commercial spoof-- this one better than many of his others. This time, he spoofs Charles Atlas. We all grew up with those comic book adverts, and apparently Gilliam found it as silly as everyone else in the world. But he manages to find different types of jokes to throw in, even if he literally resorts to gay-bashing to do it. The final shot is unexpected, beautifully set up, and hilarious!

Next comes a Cleese/Chapman sketch about management training. Cleese tosses maddening hints at Chapman, who (like the audience) has no idea what he's supposed to do. The sketch is an odd one, bordering on sadism, but Cleese sillies it up, and it builds to a very funny (if by now cliche) ending. I've seen this performed before, in the Cleese special "How to Irritate People" (by before, I mean that it was performed before Monty Python-- I saw the Python version first.) and it was strange then, too. It seems to want to be a piece of commentary against opaque corporate conformity, and as such, is somehow too earnest for this silly show.

But any earnestness is shredded by Palin, who steps in with commentary from the Career Advisory Board, of which he is Chairman. ("I wanted to be a doctor, but there you are.") He gives us a hilarious example of a successful encyclopedia salesman, as played by Idle, and an equally funny example of an unsuccessful encyclopedia salesman, and his twins, reminiscent of the death of Admiral Nelson. He signals to himself as the "It's" Man, who rows, rows, rows his boat away.

Just as Show #3 was film heavy, this one is sketch heavy. The links, with two exceptions, feel less inspired than usual, and apart from the commercial spoof and the short, short, short bit at the beginning, there is little contribution from Gilliam. This is as close as Monty Python comes to a standard sketch comedy show. But the sketches themselves are brilliant enough to sustain a down day on the Terry Jones front. (He must have shot his load during the "Confuse-a-Cat" show.) The bench is deep at the Flying Circus. We're also seeing the beginning of one of my favorite collaborations in the group-- Palin and Cleese.

Next week; The Ant- An Introduction