Monty Python's flying circus / Marcia Landy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Landy, Marcia, 1931-

Series:

Contemporary approaches to film and television series. TV milestones.

TV milestones

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monty Python's flying circus (Television program).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (130 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Detroit : Wayne State University Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A comprehensive study examining the history, content, and context of the legendary comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus. One of the most innovative comedic programs to air on television, Monty Python's Flying Circus was a mix of the carnivalesque and the critical. The show has become famous for eschewing many of the conventions of situation comedy, the fully formed and coherent script, narrative closure, predictable characters, and the decorum associated with presentation. Its curious transatlantic popularity defied the assumption that comedy is regional and exclusive, and the show's cult status still lives on in the United States and United Kingdom through reruns, videos, DVDs, and continual reappearances by the show's now iconic stars. Most written accounts of Monty Python's Flying Circus focus solely on members of the Pythons, histories of the sketches, or the development of other Monty Python projects, leaving a dearth of scholarly and contextual analysis on the television show itself. Marcia Landy's book is one of the rare studies available examining the Flying Circus within the context of its time, analyzing the show's influence on 1960s and 1970s British television as well as British cultural influence on the show's legendary material. Landy explores not only why the series' complex form of comedy was important but also why it was so well received, citing the Pythons' amalgam of comedic material: the unruly treatment of sexuality, the mockery of religion and class, and the critique of the medium of television. The Flying Circus parodied both the lowbrow and the highbrow, throwing many previously untouchable topics into the ring, and here Landy deconstructs the impact of the show's risks and reception. As informative as it is engaging and entertaining, this book will appeal to film and media scholars, popular culture enthusiasts, and Monty Python fans alike.

Contents:

Cover

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Flying Circus and the Wide World of Entertainment

The Pythons

The Flying Circus in a Changing British Culture

The British Broadcasting Corporation

The Pythons and American Television

Antecedents and Influences

Situating Comedy

Television Time

Television Forms and Genres

Animals, Insects, Machines, and Human Bodies

Cross-Dressing and Gender Bending

Hyperbole, Excess, and Escalation

Recycling Literature, Drama, Cinema, and Art

Language, Words, Sense, and Nonsense

Common Sense and Audience Response

The Flying Circus Revisited

NOTES

VIDEOGRAPHY AND FILMOGRAPHY

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-114) and index.

Videography and filmography: p. 109-110.

ISBN:

9780814336519

0814336515

OCLC:

755623810