40 Years of Python

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the debut of Monty Python and as someone who goes well beyond being defined as a fan I figured that I would take up a post to describe just how momentous their work is to me. At this moment I have the scripts to all of the episodes sitting on my desk and that was before I decided on this topic. Over the past week I needed to remember a) the details of the Montgoflier Brothers sketch and b) the list of candidates from the Silly Party. Compare that to the fact that there isn’t a single detail from a Friends episode that I can recall (wasn’t one of the characters some guy named Rod?)

As most people can gather much of my sense of humor and my writing style is taken from Monty Python. It was the comedy style that caught my eye and fit with my overall personality. The humor was witty and could vary from being extremely dry (most of the John Cleese bits) to being broad slapstick (such as the fact that every episode seemed to feature Terry Jones in a dress.) Plus, in the entire series there is only one episode with a linear plot. Everything else is randomness with sketches ending midway through and bizarre segues. As anyone who has ever had a conversation with me knows that is pretty much how I live my life.

The interesting point to look at is exactly why myself and a lot of others my age gravitated towards Monty Python. I mean, by the time I started watching they had broken up and I had to search out reruns or old episodes. It was much easier for me to find highlights of the original Saturday Night Live cast but I much more associate myself with Michael Palin than John Belushi. For that we have to dig a little deeper into the nature of the cult classic and fandom.

On some level a degree of popularity is driven by the fact that something is not popular. As the music business clearly shows talent and popularity are not directly related. Something can be the best in its field and not gain mainstream acceptance. That was the way with Python. You had to work to watch it: stay up late to watch PBS, understand jokes about British currency, try to realize why everyone is in a dress. Being a fan took effort and became a mark of honor. It showed that you were dedicated to the cause. And if you are not going to be one of the popular kids at school you try to get your revenge in other ways; mainly by finding something cool that they don’t know about and becoming an expert in it. Music, books, television it all works the same way. A cult classic is something that attracts the smart outcasts who can use it to bond and annoy the popular kids.

Python was perfect for that. Most of the cast went to Oxford and Cambridge and the episodes are written from that perspective. Yes, at times they can be extremely silly but the amount of history and literature on display is incredible. You have the philosopher’s song and the summarize Proust competition along with the Spanish Inquisition. No episode was the same, no plots carried over, it was just smart comedy time after time.

Plus, sometimes there were boobies. Again, can never question the importance of unexpected nudity in the creation of a cult classic.

I still watch episodes from time to time. This blog is littered with references to long forgotten sketches. There is something about the humor that is groundbreaking and timeless. Think of it this way: forty years from now do you think that anyone is going to remember a joke from a Dane Cook set?