# Monty Python Was Very Hit-and-Miss, Rather Puerile, and Usually Unfunny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317 "2005-06-01T02:47:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dr.Kenneth\_Noisewater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@Dr.Kenneth\_Noisewater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Kenneth_Noisewater)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/61 "2005-06-02T07:39:44Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > someone who really understands humour ( and how it works…yes, like me) As you appear snide and critical I would sooner tag you as the subject of humor, not its deliverer. Absurdity is hardly something to understand or study. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/62 "2005-06-02T12:35:33Z")
Although Dave Foley’s French-Canadian whore is almost _too_ good-looking. [/QUOTE] Heh heh heh ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/63 "2005-06-02T16:37:46Z")
You’re\* proud\* because you don’t recognize a running gag in a delightful movie? OK. I think I understand why you don’t find MPFC funny. To each his own. toddles off to talk with **Dr. Kenneth** …“is there kissing in this?” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/64 "2005-06-02T19:47:35Z")
Hummphh! “He spoke of a girl of surpassing beauty and faithfulness. I can only assume he meant you.” ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/65 "2005-06-02T20:40:32Z")
😃 You made my day! where is that pecking on the cheek smiley? **Commasense** --how _you_ doin’? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/66 "2005-06-02T21:46:30Z")
[Cleverly hiding the fact that his last post, like the source, was sarcastic, in response to being ignored in favor of Dr. Kenneth.] This is true love - you think this happens every day? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/67 "2005-06-03T01:43:16Z")
Stop! I can’t think of a quote… and I prefer to think that you were not sarcastic. Girl doesn’t get compliments like that every day. Crushing on ya anyway. Go ahead, stomp on my heart. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/68 "2005-06-03T02:09:33Z")
> [@Dr. Kenneth Noisewater](#): > > As you appear snide and critical I would sooner tag you as the subject of humor, not its deliverer. Absurdity is hardly something to understand or study. Try telling Foucault and the poststructuralists that! Anyway, always nice to welcome a new member to my burgeoning fan club… ---
**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:** [June 7, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/69 "2005-06-07T15:53:28Z")
Dinsdale…? Dinsdale…? DINSDALE!!! ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/70 "2005-06-08T23:22:11Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Try telling Foucault and the poststructuralists that! Anyway, always nice to welcome a new member to my **burgeoning** fan club… I don’t think that word means what you think it means. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/71 "2005-06-08T23:35:31Z")
It’s a typo. He meant “bludgeoning.” ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/72 "2005-06-09T02:34:47Z")
> [@Portia](#): > > I don’t think that word means what you think it means. It’s growing apace, I’ll have you know. > [@Miller](#): > > It’s a typo. He meant “bludgeoning.” Oi! Bee-have. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/73 "2005-06-09T02:50:15Z")
> [@](#): > > **Roger** : I personally see it as more of an American problem. There is this obsession with pointless details, which has a place in the law, say, but is bizarre when having a cafe-style discussion about this and that. \ > [@](#): > > …and that line doesn’t ring a bell. That’s how it should be, as I see it. \ > [@](#): > > Pedantry in its place is fine - but in discussing stuff with friends it just gets in the way and pisses people off. I believe I detect that the problem lies with the person who perceives a problem, not with the person or people who are enjoying quoting the lines. For some, it is a sort of bonding ritual. There is no _should be_ or _should not be_. To each his own. As for myself, I love the boys, but I’m not good at remembering lines. You mention these as being comedies that you like: The Office (Brilliant) Fawlty Towers (Great, but I’m shagged out after watching it) Blackadder (After Series II, quality hardly wavers) M.A.S.H. (stands the etst of time) Cheers (a great idea well executed) I’ve watched all of them except _Fawlty Towers_. Everything else on your list would also be on my own list. I would add _A Fine Romance_, _As Time Goes By_, and _All Creatures Great and Small_. But what were your favorite comedies in 1969 when Monty Python first aired on British television? Everything on your list came afterwards. I was trying to think of where we were in terms of American comedy. We had _Laugh In_ in 1969. To me, that was funny. We had the _Smothers Brothers_ – God love 'em. But they were cancelled because they were too controversial! _M_A_S_H\* started in 1972, but the scripts didn’t start to have an edge until the end of the third season. I still think that it was the best thing _ever_ on television. It still holds the record for viewers for the finale. (125,000,000) Monty Python was really fresh for us. One thing we liked about it was that if we didn’t like a sketch, no problem. Wait a minute and it would be over and another would be on. We liked that pace. If it’s not funny to you, it’s just not. If it’s funny to us, it just is. If Jerry Lewis if funny to the French, they’re just _wrong._ ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/74 "2005-06-09T03:28:11Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I believe I detect that the problem lies with the person who perceives a problem, not with the person or people who are enjoying quoting the lines. For some, it is a sort of bonding ritual. There is no _should be_ or _should not be_. To each his own. As for myself, I love the boys, but I’m not good at remembering lines. Yes and no! Criticism is about saying, on rational-ish grounds, this is good, that is not so good, I feel. Separating the wheat from the chaff is one of the earliest recorded uses of the Greek word ‘krino’ from which we get our criticism. Now this usually leads to accusations of authoritarianism or snobbery or whatever. But I think analogies with other areas where we say that’s good (Van Gogh) and that’s not good (someone else) is helpful. Then there’s what Orwell (in his anti-snobbish (inverted snob?) mode) calls ‘good bad books’, citing for example Ryder Haggard. They’re not much cop as literature (admittedly, in _his_ opinion, BUT that opinion is held (by many, not just him!) to be worth more than many other people’s because it’s generally recognised he knows what he’s talking about in that area - i.e. ‘expertise’ enters the equation) but they are quite decent as reads. Think also Agatha Christie. My considered opinion as a self-appointed expert on such things is that making it one’s life’s goal to quote lines from movies diminishes the enjoyment of the movies for that person. They could be gettign much more out of it by attending to other things, diverting their intellectual capacities to other things. Thank you for giving me the chance to write this. I don’t want people (not you) to hate me without knowing WHY they should be hating me! You mention these as being comedies that you like: > [@](#): > > I would add _A Fine Romance_, _As Time Goes By_, and _All Creatures Great and Small_. Seen the first and the third and like them both. > [@](#): > > But what were your favorite comedies in 1969 when Monty Python first aired on British television? Wow! So far back to delve into the memory. Mostly rubbish, I think, on British TV. In those days, of course, one didn’t watch so much (b&w for us) TV. I think soaps such as ‘Z Cars’ (cops driving Ford Zodiacs and/or Zephyrs) plus a bit of ‘Dr Who’ (never my fave - not much of a one for sci-fi) were on my menu, as well as some kiddies programmes, ‘Crackerjack’ and ‘Blue Peter’ will be familiar to Britdopers. My absolute favourite from 1966-69 (when I started boarding) was ‘Batman’. Though I didn’t realise it at the time, that’s a comedy, of course. > [@](#): > > If it’s not funny to you, it’s just not. If it’s funny to us, it just is. I sometimes wonder why so many Americans like MP. After all, so much of the references are quite British. The other day I got a DVD (an American edition, tellingly) out and watched 3 episodes including Ministry of Funny Walks (actually quite funny) and The Spanish Inquisition (hardly raised a smile). Another skecth was the gas cooker one. Nice idea, very redolent of England in the late 60s, early 70s with all the red tape and pettiness - and complete disregard for customer service. And yet to really appreciate it, one would have to know the connotations of the myriad of place names mentioned: Hainault, Cheltenham, Dagenham(?), etc, etc - mostly lower-middle-class-type faceless, suburban places. I’m not meaning to suggest Americans can’t enjoy it - I just wonder how much of the sub-text and the intertext they get. > [@](#): > > If Jerry Lewis if funny to the French, they’re just _wrong._ An example of what I was talking about earlier - something that’s not good. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/75 "2005-06-09T11:04:20Z")
Maybe us ignorant Yanks like MPFC because of the _universality_ of so much of the humor. You think only Britain has/had poor customer service in that time frame(to use one example)? I read your post as saying that one cannot understand MPFC w/o being a part of the culture froim which it sprang. I disagree–certainly, SOME of the jokes would be better appreciated (finer shades of meaning) if the locale was familiar. MPFC didn’t just skewer '60’s Britain’s values and social conventions–it took shots at the human condition, the pomposity of class, the entrenchment of religion and it’s inherent hypocrisies. It also had alot of fun with just plain silliness (which the world could use more of, frankly). I was young when it aired here–around 10. I didn’t understand the satire, but laughed at the more shticky things–the more subtle jabs I got later. You are welcome to your opinion, of course. I do not see how or where quoting from a movie detracts from it. For you to say that doing so reduces the enjoyment of the movie to the one who is quoting it makes no sense–do you mean reduces the enjoyment of those who have to listen to the endless references? How about a polite–please stop doing the parrot sketch? Works for me. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/76 "2005-06-10T09:29:52Z")
Actually, I just meant that _a full appreciation_ of MP is difficult for those who aren’t familiar with English culture at the time. The effect of the litany of place names in the gas cooker sketch, with the connotations they held for Brits (well, southerner Englanders, at least), was an example. Many of their sketches can be understood by kids the world over. Part of their problem, perhaps… ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317/77 "2005-06-10T12:07:31Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > If Jerry Lewis if funny to the French, they’re just _wrong._ [The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a991001.html) on the French and Jerry Lewis. I think Cecil’s going a bit easy on Lewis, though: basically he sucked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-python-was-very-hit-and-miss-rather-puerile-and-usually-unfunny/306317.md?page=3)