In another thread about the genius of Monty Python, Smiling Bandit posted that a lot of Monty Python bits suck.
I wouldn’t say a lot of Monty Python sucks but I think it would be interesting to post some Python bits that Dopers didn’t like.
My example is not from the TV series, but from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When the King of Swamp Castle leaves Prince Herbert in his room, he posts two guards. The guards are so stupid that the king has to spend several minutes explaining the concept of guarding the prince to them. It’s not funny and goes on waaayyyy too long.
Of the TV show, I think the one show they did that had a continual story line about a guy riding his bike through the continent and winding up in front of a firing squad was a little lame. It had a few funny lines: “My lack of God!! It’s Trotsky!!” But I guess I prefer the short bits.
I guess there may have been stuff that was so unfunny it was forgettable, but I honestly can’t think of a single unfunny Monty Python bit (and I’ve seen it all multiple times).
Sorry - haven’t seen much of it, but that which I have - while mildly amusing - never struck me as funny.
A lot of my friends seem to like it, but don’t recall any I thought were funny.
Maybe I haven’t seen the funniest stuff - is the Holy Grail - or whatever had the “huge tracts of land” considered to be some of the funniest? I’ve seen Life of Brian too, but don’t know if these are considered some of the funnier works.
I like quite a bit of MP, but there is definitely some rough around all those diamonds.
I was never quite sure if the animations were even supposed to be funny. I can’t recall a single one that didn’t make me profoundly and inarticulately uncomfortable. They just creeped me out.
OK, I’ll give you that one. Even more so, because the haters of that film seem to focus on the hilarious Mr. Creosote sketch. Just Cleese’s pronunciation of the word “wafer” with a French accent raises that sketch to the level of genius.
During the TV show’s run they threw a lot of stuff at the wall and not all of it stuck, especially in the later seasons.
I saw an episode a while ago with a very long and painfully unfunny bit regarding Eric Idle purchasing a pet ant, then trying to return it because it only had five legs. The parrot sketch it wasn’t.
But I forgive them such misses, because when they did hit, they hit big.
Same here; saw it opening night in DC with a friend. Some people did react negatively; many ran out and I’m pretty sure I saw someone actually vomit in response (or at least dry-heave). Priceless.
There were definitely some dire moments in the television show as well as some filler that went nowhere. Those bits are best forgotten and, as Wheelz notes, the successful material was genius which makes the failures less annoying.
That said, it would have been nice if they could have occasionally finished a sketch properly now and then.
Despite the fact that Douglas Adams came on to write, at the end when Cleese had left there was a serious drop off in the funny. Episodes like Mr Neutron had their moments but not nearly as good as earlier shows.
