[!@#$%!]

holy shit, there are SIXTEEEN volumes of monty python on DVD, and i got the first one yesterday

i've seen bits of it over the years like everyone else, and know some of the most famous jokes, plus have seen the movies, and youtube is youtube, but this shit is INSANE

what drugs were they on? i want to know and take some

fucking brilliant. this shit is from 1969 and brilliant. yes it has aged in that the format of the programs they parodied has mostly vanished from tv but one still "gets it" and in a way contemporary media is still much of the same shit-- a person standing on a corner with a microphone reporting on some fucking goings on

it's too good and i might die from laughter.

[evollove]

When you're done and feel like listening to some music, you might want to check out the Beatles. They have some catchy songs. If you want to read instead, Shakespeare can be interesting. Also, did you know sex feels pleasurable?

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by evollove

When you're done and feel like listening to some music, you might want to check out the Beatles. They have some catchy songs. If you want to read instead, Shakespeare can be interesting. Also, did you know sex feels pleasurable?

i hear smugness gives you a rush as well

is it true? do tell

[Rob Instigator]

overrated

[evollove]

Hey, I was tempted to merely write "No shit," but I thought you deserved better.

I often--maybe every three days or so--recall some Monty Python bit or line or song and I smile. Sometimes I even laugh out loud. They make life worth living.

Warning: some of the later episodes are deadly dull.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by evollove

Hey, I was tempted to merely write "No shit," but I thought you deserved better.

I often--maybe every three days or so--recall some Monty Python bit or line or song and I smile. Sometimes I even laugh out loud.

Warning: some of the later episodes are deadly dull.

i don't know where you got your bootlegs or when, but this is the first time i've been able to access the complete thing. not "here's that bit about spam" or "dead parrot sketch" or "nobody expects the spanish inquisition" or "one hour of john cleese's favorite stuff" but just one-whole-full-episode-after-another, warts and all, the 2nd and 3rd rate material preserved uncut.

at 3 episodes per disc on the first volume, looks like i'm about to tackle about 48 whole unbroken episodes, which is fucking massive.

i mean especially massive considering the densely packed absurdity of each one-- it's not like 2 seasons of mainstream american tv where they take 5 minutes of dull dialogue to explain some basic shit and play music while they make faces (i say this after my 5th season or so of the walking dead).

even really funny american shows like sunny or louie (i've lost track of louie lately) have a lot of dead space in it. this is machine guns. especially in this format.

ETA: anyway sorry for the aggro before, your recommendation/endorsement read like a putdown

[Rob Instigator]

Louie has not been "funny" for two seasons now.

I am not a fan of sketch comedy. get fed up. Monty Python's jokes were always too "Brit" for my sense of humor. never got it, and when I got old enough to "get it" I found the jokes stupid and obvious.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Louie has not been "funny" for two seasons now.

I am not a fan of sketch comedy. get fed up. Monty Python's jokes were always too "Brit" for my sense of humor. never got it, and when I got old enough to "get it" I found the jokes stupid and obvious.

last louie i watched was when he buys a motorcycle haaa haaa haa. but then lost track.

and yeah, that monty python style is not for everyone, but i enjoy the way they commit themselves to absurdity.

i think in american tv there aren't a lot of "cultural" shows like those parodied here outside of pbs, but in latin america and europe there's always these interviews with some erudite shit...

i guess the last one of those is charlie rose if he's still on (i used to watch it religiously) but not quite the same. in the US you get the talk show in the johnny carson model where celebrities come peddle their stuff. there's jokes, there's a jazz band, celebrity comes in ad pushes their product briefly, a comedian does standup, etc

but in more government-oriented tv it's like, you get 1/2 hour of more of "heavy culture" that you sit through with these professorial types. buckley was like that for politics, with his little mouth, rambling about shit.

 

what's the equivalent for art, books, opera, etc? was there ever a show like that here? charlie rose is close but no cigar-- rose seems to be more about "success".

[Rob Instigator]

no show like that in USA. Charlie Rose is close, and in politics you had the McLaughlin Group, which I always found entertaining, but it has been a while since advertisers felt like shilling their shit to the massses on a show where two people just sit and talk intelligently.

As far as the arts go, Ernie Manouse, who works for Houston Public Media Channel 8 PBS, does a one-on-one interview show called INNERviews that is fucking GREAT. He asks great questions, understands their answers and is able to communicate with creative types in a way that is not condescending, pandering or insulting. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/s...ernie-manouse/

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

no show like that in USA. Charlie Rose is close, and in politics you had the McLaughlin Group, which I always found entertaining, but it has been a while since advertisers felt like shilling their shit to the massses on a show where two people just sit and talk intelligently.

As far as the arts go, Ernie Manouse, who works for Houston Public Media Channel 8 PBS, does a one-on-one interview show called INNERviews that is fucking GREAT. He asks great questions, understands their answers and is able to communicate with creative types in a way that is not condescending, pandering or insulting. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/s...ernie-manouse/

YEEEEES. THAT'S THE STUFF. i should check it out.

thing is many of those programs are usual condescending/insulting, with the host usually being a snot, and the interview being some sort of cock contest, superheavy and serious. (in the case of charlie rose, he always wants to talk over the guest and show off how much he knows, and my wife and i would be yelling "shut up charlie!")

on the 1st episode of monty python i saw yesterday there's a composer with the nickname "two sheds" and he wants to talk about his new piece of music but the host makes it all about he nickname, and how many sheds he has and did he write his music in the shed, and the composer wants to change subject and they do but they keep putting pictures of sheds in the background, and the composer loses his shit, etc etc ha ha ha ha ha ha

i know it sounds stupid. i liked it though.

im gonna rewatch it with some coffee

[evollove]

Fry and Laurie--not too shabby with sketch comedy in their own right--have a good bit about such shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFD01r6ersw


Rob, not a MR SHOW fan?

[Rob Instigator]

One of my best friends was a HUGE Mr. Show fanatic. HUGE> I never got into it more than a skit or two. same with portlandia. I can appreciate what they do and what Python did and the State and Kids in The Hall etc. but it just doesn't hold my interest.

[!@#$%!]

rob you said once you watch trailer park boys, right? i've never seen it or know a thing about it except that it's canadian. what's that about?

[Severian]

Originally Posted by evollove

When you're done and feel like listening to some music, you might want to check out the Beatles. They have some catchy songs. If you want to read instead, Shakespeare can be interesting. Also, did you know sex feels pleasurable?

Hah! Well put.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

rob you said once you watch trailer park boys, right? i've never seen it or know a thing about it except that it's canadian. what's that about?

Never seen this either, but every time I encounter someone who has, they have a fit and scream at me about how hilarious it is and how I need to watch it. I'm open to that, but I need to know more about it and get a more coherent breakdown about why it's good before diving into something that looks so depressing.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Severian

Hah! Well put.

hey. fuck you too.

[evollove]

Neglected to answer: FLYING CIRCUS has been on DVD for quite a while. A decade? Before that, VHS copies had been available. Before that, I was lucky to have a cousin who had a bunch taped from somewhere. Episodes aren't obscure and I'm simply surprised that someone who would enjoy them has yet to see them. That's all.

Neg repped and blocked.

[Rob Instigator]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

rob you said once you watch trailer park boys, right? i've never seen it or know a thing about it except that it's canadian. what's that about?

it is a "mockumentary" show about the residents of a low-budget tailer park in bumfuck Nova Scotia. The main characters are recidivist criminal lowlife who did not graduate high school and who have to constantly scheme to make money. The first 6 seasons or so are fucking genius shit, very well done, filmed in a very improvisational manner, where the actors flesh out their characters as they see fit. After season 7 they stopped filming on a location and bought out a trailer park to film in so the "look" of it changed a bit. If you have ever known or lived or been a poor person among a lot of other poor people it will hit home like a motherfucker. while it is very funny it is also extremely insightful as it shows the way that the lower-class canadians live.

so much drinking......

[Rob Instigator]

it LOOKS depressing and at times is, but it is always in service of the story, and the story for the most part stays very true to the characters.

They also made several full length films with the same cast. The guy who plays the part of Mr. Lahey (Trailer Park supervisor and the single most amazingly drunken character I have ever ever encountered outside of real life) is a fucking acting GENIUS

[Severian]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

hey. fuck you too.

^ what he said minus the neg repping and blocking stuff

I just thought the same thing evillove did. Monty Python = Beatles of comedy.. Shakespeare of comedy. I pretty much just go through life assuming that the only people who don't love MP are the people who hate MP for one reason or another. And a lot of their classic stuff was born on Flying Circus.

I don't personally have the series on DVD or anything either though. No disrespect intended.

Edit: EL's comment also reminded me of that scene in High Fidelity when Rob lists "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as one of his favorite track 1, side 1 songs of all time. And then Barry says something like "How about the Beatles? Or fucking Beethoven?!"

Hah.