Search - Monty Python's Flying Circus - Set 7 (Epi. 40-45) on DVD

Their least but still worthy

rupert pupkin | Happy Valley | 08/06/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These are the last six episodes of the series (episode 45 *will* be included in this set though it doesn't say so here. The first two episodes of this season ("The Golden Age of Ballooning" and "Michael Ellis") are easily the weakest two episodes of the entire series, but the later episodes, including Mr.Neutron (one of my favorite Graham Chapman characters), are pretty good, and the final episode, featuring The Most Awful Family in Britain, ranks with the some of the best episodes from the first three seasons. Overall, this is for the completist, and casual fans should stick with the first three seasons. Also worth noting: these are the six episodes John Cleese does not appear in."

Python humor begins to go a bit longer-form here

mark0 | 09/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There is a tendency to dismiss these final 6 eps as lower in quality than the 3 seasons that preceded it. My personal recollection (from the days when MPFC played on American public television) followed that, perhaps because of the absence of John Cleese (by far the most famous Python here in the U.S., then as now).But Cleese's departure didn't so much drag the humor down, as jolt Python out of a remarkable balance of styles that had served them well. The result is a very different breed of Python: the sketches are much longer, and often a single story thread predominates - though the longer narratives still exist to hang sketches on (anticipating the structure of their next two films). They are also much more surreal; the logic (twisted though it was) of Cleese and Chapman's collaborative efforts now gives way to Jones and Palin's flights of fancy.Well, okay, but is it *funny*? Absolutely - my memory of these episodes didn't do them justice at all. Sure, the stuff I always loved was still there: Golden Age of Ballooning, Anything Goes, the Queen Victoria Handicap - but even the stuff that had me scratching my head in the past (e.g., the entire Michael Ellis and Mr. Neutron episodes) worked surprisingly well for me. And Terry Gilliam (who appears onscreen much more here than in the previous seasons) had me gasping for breath with his part in "The Most Awful Family in Britain"! BEEEANS!!!"

Some new directions taken, not all well directed

F. Behrens | Keene, NH USA | 02/27/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When the second season ended for "Monty Python's Flying Circus," John Cleese announced he had had enough, but he was talked into a third season. The fourth season came to pass without him and the effect was not all that good, as you can tell from the A&E release of the very last six Monty Python episodes: "

Less known episodes, but also some of their funniest

Reed Moore | Hannibal | 09/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe I'm weird too, but Mr. Neutron has got to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen on TV (and this is a full 30 minute sketch). If I was to recommend a single MPFC episode to someone it would be this one. As the U.S. military chief says after bombing London..."Do we have any statistics on how scared they are?".The Michael Ellis episode is also very funny and surreal (also a full 30 minute sketch).The Golden Age of Ballooning is excellent.The Most Awful Family in Britain speaks for itself...hope you like beans.All in all an excellent set."