# BBC thought Python was "sadistic" and "disgusting" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527 "2006-12-10T02:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/1 "2006-12-10T02:58:07Z")
… according to a story in the online UK _Telegraph_, December 10, 2006: [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/10/nbbc10.xml](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/10/nbbc10.xml) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/2 "2006-12-10T03:00:49Z")
Well it _IS_. So is the evening news. But the Flying Circus is much, much funnier than the evening news. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/3 "2006-12-10T03:05:18Z")
Consider the times. 😛 Bunch of stuffed shirt businessmen, probably IBM clones in white shirts and ties. It’s a wonder the show got on the air at all. Can’t we have some nice sensible music? Like Lawrence Welk. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/4 "2006-12-10T14:30:41Z")
I say it wasn’t sadistic and disgusting enough! Matter of fact, it was much too silly! Now, I enjoy a good laugh as much as anyone… except perhaps my wife. And some of her friends. Oh, and Captain Johnson. Come to think of it, most people like a good laugh more than I do, but I insist that Monty Python wasn’t sadistic and disgusting enough. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/5 "2006-12-10T14:59:13Z")
Fortunately, the BBC’s attitude toward Python improved considerably once the penguins took over. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/6 "2006-12-10T16:43:58Z")
I’ll not hijack this thread for a pound. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/7 "2006-12-10T16:57:33Z")
The people at the BBC who thought that Python was sadistic and disgusting have been sacked. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/8 "2006-12-10T17:08:27Z")
How exactly is this news? Every bit of writing about the Pythons for the past 35+ years has said this in great detail. Flash. Secret papers from the NASA archives reveals that a team of astronauts has been sent to the moon. Further word awaited. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/9 "2006-12-10T19:57:09Z")
I think we have an “eater”! ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/10 "2006-12-10T22:14:56Z")
[QUOTE=if6was9] Consider the times. 😛 Bunch of stuffed shirt businessmen, probably IBM clones in white shirts and ties. It’s a wonder the show got on the air at all. Can’t we have some nice sensible music? Like Lawrence Welk. [/QUOTE] David Attenborough was controller of BBC2 at the time and, as such, gave Python final approval. (Shamless plug follows) Another reason to vote for him as greatest living British icon. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/11 "2006-12-10T22:41:31Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] Fortunately, the BBC’s attitude toward Python improved considerably once the penguins took over. [/QUOTE] No one ever expects the penguins! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/12 "2006-12-10T23:13:24Z")
[QUOTE=if6was9] No one ever expects the penguins! [/QUOTE] Oh, \*intercourse \* the penguins! Perhaps Cleese’s and Jones’ portrayals of stuffed shirts was partly inspired by their travails at Television House? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/13 "2006-12-10T23:19:08Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] I think we have an “eater”! [/QUOTE] There is no cannibalism at the BBC, absolutely none, and when I say none, I mean there is a certain amount. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/14 "2006-12-10T23:49:54Z")
I’m sadistic and disgusting, and so is my wife. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/15 "2006-12-11T00:49:53Z")
From the Telegraph link: ‘…The Undertaker’s Sketch, starring Cleese as a man unsure of how to dispose of his mother’s body, were considered unacceptable. In the second skit, an undertaker, played by Graham Chapman, tells Cleese’s character: “We can bury her, burn her or dump her.” It ends with Chapman offering to eat the corpse.’ No, no! As I recall, it ended when Chapman offered to first eat the cremated ashes, then **throw up into the grave**! At this point the studio audience invaded the set and the series finished. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/16 "2006-12-11T00:53:17Z")
> [@](#): > > The people at the BBC who thought that Python was sadistic and disgusting have been sacked. The people responsible for the sacking have been sacked. > [@](#): > > Secret papers from the NASA archives reveals that a team of astronauts has been sent to the moon. Yes, but that was a hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/17 "2006-12-11T01:08:47Z")
It’s sadistic and disgusting—very sadistic and disgusting indeed. Started off as a nice little idea about old ladies attacking fit young men, but now it’s just got sadistic and disgusting … Right. Now let’s see something decent and military—some precision drilling … ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/18 "2006-12-11T01:20:37Z")
Oh? And what would you _raaaaather_ be doing? What would you rather be doing than marching up and down the square? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/19 "2006-12-11T01:26:53Z")
Riiight! It has come to our attention that this thread has become altogether too silly. I’ll have to ask for all of you to move along now. That’s it; just move along, move along now; you too, sir, move along now… ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527/20 "2006-12-11T02:13:15Z")
[QUOTE=if6was9] No one ever expects the penguins! [/QUOTE] A penguin once bit my sister… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-thought-python-was-sadistic-and-disgusting/383527.md?page=2)