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These days, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is obviously considered a comedy classic. But when it was first released back in 1975, there was no guarantee that people would like it. And specifically, there was no guarantee that film critics would like it.

Several critics did enjoy the Pythons’ first original feature film. The New York Times’ Vincent Canby called it “a marvelously particular kind of lunatic endeavor,” and Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune, hailed Monty Python and the Holy Grail as “an incredibly silly film of great humor, brilliant design and epic insanity.”

But other critics weren’t so impressed. Variety argued that it was “basically an excuse for set pieces, some amusing, others overdone.” Gene Siskel claimed that it “contained about 10 very funny moments and 70 minutes of silence”. In the U.K., film critic and journalist Barry Norman hosted Film 75, the 1975 iteration of his long-running movie review series.

While most of the roles in a Monty Python film tend to go to members of the group, obviously some do end up being played by non-Pythons. Various supporting parts were played by well-known actors, as well as frequent Monty Python collaborators Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Sadly, whichever bunny rabbit played The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog seems to have been uncredited.

For their second film, the controversial 1979 Biblical spoof Monty Python’s Life of Brian, director Terry Jones stumbled upon a new source of on screen talent: random tour groups.

Python scholar Kim “Howard” Johnson was invited to the set of Life of Brian in Tunisia to document the filming. In 2008, he published his diaries from that time in the book Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday: My Life with Brian. Howard’s account is full of vivid behind the scenes details — such as how John Cleese was preoccupied with cracking...

There have been a lot of stories over the past year about the various feuds between the surviving members of Monty Python. And while that may be kind of a bummer for fans to hear, Sir Michael Palin recently pointed out that one source of interpersonal friction was a key part of what made much of their comedy so great.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Palin discussed his career as a travel documentary host, as well as his published diaries, which chronicled the early years of Monty Python. When the Times suggested that Eric Idle was “upset” by the diary’s release, Palin explained that none of these public beefs would last long if the Pythons were in closer proximity to one another. “The great thing about Python was, when we were all together, any disputes we had were dealt with fairly briskly,” Palin clarified. ”I...

Steve Martin and the Monty Python gang are seemingly big fans of each other’s work — although John Cleese’s opinion of the American comedian may have soured slightly in recent years, after Eric Idle gave him the role of God in Spamalot and “fired” Cleese.

Martin is such a Python admirer that he was tapped to host the TV special Parrot Sketch Not Included — 20 Years of Monty Python, which featured the final onscreen appearance of those six unforgettable comedians: “John, Paul, George, Ringo, Bob and… one other unforgettable guy.”

But when Martin first got into Monty Python, he didn’t even know what they looked like. That’s because the show didn’t air in the U.S. until 1974, but their albums were widely available.

The Pythons began issuing audio recordings of their sketches as early as 1970. And while their first release, simply titled Monty Python’s Flying Circus,...

On Thursday January 30 2025, History broadcasts Swamp People: Serpent Invasion!

Python Showdown Season 5 Episode 5 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Swamp People: Serpent Invasion,” titled “Python Showdown,” promises to bring excitement and competition to the swamp. As temperatures rise, the hunters face not only the challenge of catching pythons but also the heat that makes their task even more difficult. The King of the Swamp has decided to spice things up by launching a contest to see which team can catch the biggest python.

In this episode, different hunting teams will showcase their unique strategies and local knowledge. Each group will approach the challenge in its own way, aiming to outsmart the snakes and emerge victorious. The competition will add an extra layer of intensity as the hunters push themselves to the limit in the sweltering heat.

Viewers can expect to see the hunters working together, sharing tips, and perhaps even...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: John Cleese is leaving Twitter.

If your eyes start rolling to the back of your skull, that’s probably because Cleese has stomped around promising to leave the party before. It was just last September when the high-drama comic huffed a public farewell.

That exit lasted a full eight days before Cleese needed to respond to an eight-month-old tweet from ex-Python mate Eric Idle. Cleese’s own daughter Camilla predicted he wouldn’t be able to stay away for long. Turns out she knows the old man pretty well.

Now Cleese says he’s had enough of Twitter — again — and he really means it this time. Maybe. “Hello, Twits,” the comic says in his probably-farewell video. “I just want to say to all my beloved Twits that I am moving to Substack because I think I would encounter a better class of person there.

Monty Python is commonly referred to as the “Beatles of comedy” — or are The Beatles the Monty Python of music? In any case, the two groups did overlap to some extent, thanks to Python fan George Harrison, who famously befriended the comedians and financed Monty Python’s Life of Brian when no other studio would.

The Python member who was most tight with Harrison was Eric Idle. Idle even credited the former Beatle for saving his life and lifting him out of a depression.

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Recently, a fan asked Idle on social media whether or not he ever considered working on a musical project with Harrison. Idle noted that, in addition to collaborating on Life of Brian, he also directed two music videos for Harrison, including the distinctly Python-esque video for the 1977 song “Crackerjack Palace.”

Idle also pointed out that he did co-write a song with the music legend: “The Pirate Song.

Swamp People: Serpent Invasion recently debuted its fifth season. In addition, it introduced a new face among those taking on serpents: Hillbilly Dave. Many fans are wondering just who this new python is.

Hillbilly Dave Knows Where A Python ‘Jackpot’ Can Be Found

Swamp People: Serpent Invasion is a spin-off of History Channel’s Swamp People. Coming out in 2020, it features figures like Troy and Chase Landry, Bruce Mitchell, Cheyenne “Pickle” Wheat, Zak Catchem, and Bill Booth teaming up to fight invasive pythons in the Everglades. The series notably serves as Swamp People‘s third spin-off, after Outback Hunters and Swamp Mysteries With Troy Landry.

The series recently debuted its fifth season earlier this month. On January 2, 2025, the series premiere, “Jackpot,” introduced viewers to a new figure: Dave Hackathorn, also known as “Hillbilly Dave.”

‘Hillbilly’ Dave Hackathorn – History Channel

In the episode, Zak and Aaron Crum team up with Dave,...

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which turns 50 this year, is clearly one of best comedies ever made. And, barring some sort of dark twist in the Peter Rabbit series, it’s the best movie to feature a bloodthirsty bunny gnawing someone’s head off.

While the idea of sequelizing this beloved classic may seem foolish to some, it very nearly happened. Back in 1997, Eric Idle pitched a Holy Grail follow-up to the rest of the Pythons. Although the project never came to fruition, Idle’s original outline survives. He’s currently selling copies of The Final Crusade, but he also posted info about it on his blog in 2013.

According to Idle, The Final Crusade was to be “about a group of grumpy old men being pressured to get back together again for a last quest,” which would “allow us to mock ourselves.” And that mockery wasn’t exactly subtle.

Even the most original shows aren’t created from nothing. Saturday Night Live, like every comedy show before or since, can point to funny ancestors that helped draw up the blueprint for its success. Here are five comedy classics that formed the template for the show that became SNL…

[subtitle]1Your Show of Shows [/subtitle]

“Saturday Night Live always had its roots showing,” wrote Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller in their oral history Live From New York. Those roots began in the golden era of live TV in New York, especially Your Show of Shows featuring Sid Caesar and his troupe. The comedy was enhanced by the thrill of the live broadcast, a “this is happening now!” quality that had disappeared from television before SNL brought it back in 1975.

When Dick Ebersol made his initial Saturday Night pitch to NBC, Your Show of Shows was one of his examples of what SNL would try to emulate,...

Proving that Canadian news shows aren’t always hopelessly dull, a vintage clip of the Monty Python gang improvising shtick for a Vancouver news crew recently resurfaced on social media. The young Pythons approach a “man on the street” reporter who’s holding a sign informing passersby that they can “say anything they want.”

Terry Jones proclaims that the show is doing a “real service to the community” by allowing people to say words like “grunties” on TV, but Michael Palin bops him on the head and then encourages Canadians to patronize the arts. Specifically by buying tickets to their show: “Remember a full theater is a happy promoter– theater!”

Meanwhile, Eric Idle propositions Neil Innes (“Do you want to come back to my place?”), and John Cleese makes a royal plea. “I’d like to say that I think Prince Philip should come clean about his toupee,” Cleese deadpans,...

"Monty Python's Flying Circus" was a tough sell in the United States, and it's easy to see why. Many of the TV shows and media tropes that the Pythons lampooned on their famously absurd sketch comedy show were unbearably insular to British audiences. There were jokes about local television personalities, spoofs of English news programs, and send-ups of the BBC's tendency to cram dry, not-at-all-entertaining documentaries into their programming blocks.

The BBC had made a deal with Time-Life Television to broadcast reruns of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" in the United States, but after a deal had been struck, Time-Life deemed the series to be "too British" for U.S. audiences. Ultimately, it was shelved. Time-Life's suspicions about the Pythons were proven true when the troupe's 1971 anthology film "And Now for Something Completely Different" tanked at the box office. Additionally, the six silly men performed a 30-minute block of material...

Everybody has their own personal favorite Monty Python sketch. For some, it’s the famous “Dead Parrot” routine; for others, it’s “Nudge Nudge” (though I’m guessing no one will claim the cannibalistic undertaker bit).

Then there’s the iconic “Ministry of Silly Walks,” in which John Cleese plays an absurdly flexible civil servant working within the titular ministry, where he oversees grant applications for the development of new wacky ambulatory methods. According to Michael Palin, the idea began as a phrase he jotted down in his notebook. When he wasn’t able to figure out what to do with the concept, he handed it off to Cleese’s writing partner, Graham Chapman, who told Palin, “I think we could do something with that.”

There are no bigger fans of the sketch than the residents of Brno, Czech Republic. This coming Saturday, the city will hold a “Silly Walks March,...

It’s 2025 which, despite the lack of flying cars, robot butlers and miraculous poop-cleaning seashells, is very much the future — at least compared to the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Even though so much time has passed since the days when the internet was just a twinkle in the eye of Al Gore, people are still very much enjoying the comedy of Monty Python, who first hit the comedy scene way back in 1969 with the debut of Monty Python’s Flying Circus on the BBC.

The Pythons are seemingly just as popular in the 21st century as they were in the 20th, as evidenced by their run of sold-out shows at London’s massive O2 Arena in 2014…

…and their streaming success, first on YouTube, then Netflix and now Shout! TV. Which, when you think about it, is highly unusual. I mean, it’s not like many other decades-old BBC shows are hot streaming commodities these days.

As fans are well aware, a number of famous rock stars contributed to Monty Python projects — Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd all helped to finance Monty Python and the Holy Grail, George Harrison mortgaged his home to pay for Life of Brian and, more recently, Mick Jagger introduced the troupe’s reunion show press conference while implicitly poking fun at his own career.

Despite this cozy relationship, few musicians took any direct artistic inspiration from the sketch comedians — although Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson did name-check Monty Python while attempting to explain the album Thick as a Brick.

But in 1988, one of the biggest rock supergroups in music history, The Traveling Wilburys, included more than one shout-out to the Pythons in their debut album.

The group’s stacked lineup included George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne and the legendary Roy Orbison. According to Orbison’s son,...

Stars: Michael Madsen, Bryan Clark, Paul Logan, Aaron Groben, Grace West, Lauren Parkinson, Savannah Goldstein, Jesse Bernstein, G.J. Echterkamp | Written by Blake Miller | Directed by Jim Wynorski

DinoGator is one of those movies I never thought I’d actually get to see, at least not this side of a bootleg copy. Originally shot in 2016 under the more accurate title CobraGator, it came close to release in 2018, only to disappear into the murky depths of the swamp of lost films. Not even the involvement of the legendary Roger Corman, who served as executive producer, could convince distributors to lure it out, until now. So, was it worth the wait? Well, that really depends on how much you enjoy the taste of cheese.

The story kicks off with a trio of doomed characters venturing into a cave. One of them plays a recorder like a snake charmer’s flute. But instead of charming any creatures,...

Monty Python isn’t exactly known for creating the most festive content, with the possible exception of the first five minutes of Life of Brian, and the “Christmas in Heaven” musical number that wraps up The Meaning of Life.

But, oddly enough, one Python member secured their role in the troupe by finding a creative use for an old holiday tradition.

Back in 1968, Terry Gilliam was having trouble getting work. He had previously made photographic comic strips for a magazine called Help!, including one in which a horny John Cleese hits on his kid’s Barbie doll.

When Help! went under, Cleese told Gilliam to get in touch with the people making Do Not Adjust Your Set, a children’s comedy series featuring Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Terry Jones, which had become a surprise hit with adults. Gilliam later wrote that he was only hired because producer Humphrey Barclay “took pity on me,...

Whether he likes it or not, Terry Gilliam is smack-dab in the middle of a Monty Python feud. While Eric Idle and John Cleese are doing the public mud-slinging, Gilliam and his offspring are at the heart of the conflict. Idle can’t believe the Python comedians don’t have more money in the bank, blaming Gilliam’s daughter, Holly (who runs the group’s business affairs), for financial mismanagement.

“Python is a disaster,” Idle tweeted earlier this year. “If you put a Gilliam child in as your manager you should not be so surprised. One Gilliam is bad enough. Two can take out any company.”

Oof. Cleese has fired back on multiple occasions, including earlier this year.

“I have worked with Holly for the last 10 years, and I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard working, and pleasant to have dealings with,” Cleese tweeted. “Michael Palin has asked me to...

A lot of comedy fans love both Mel Brooks and Monty Python, and would presumably be thrilled if they all got along splendidly. Unfortunately, one of the very first meetings between the Blazing Saddles director and a Python member didn’t go so well.

Back in 1987, Brooks met Michael Palin, while the latter was in Los Angeles making A Fish Called Wanda. At the same time, Palin was trying to hire Brooks’ wife Anne Bancroft to star in his film American Friends, which eventually came out in 1991 (with no Anne Bancroft). Palin ran into Brooks at the studio commissary, and they immediately got off on the wrong foot.

As Palin wrote in his diary at the time, Brooks was “chunky, rack-like, barrel chest, with a firm, no-nonsense light paunch.” He then grabbed Palin’s hand and shook it “probably five or six times.” Then he affably implied that Monty Python...

Eric Idle is struggling to see the bright side of his estrangement from John Cleese.

In an interview on the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast, the Monty Python star reflected on his public feud with Cleese over the British comedy troupe’s management.

Asking about the disagreement — and likely voicing what many Monty Python fans are thinking — O’Brien told Idle that he doesn’t want “mommy and daddy to fight.”

Idle replied: “We don’t disagree about comedy, this is only about money. This is only about business. I mean, a fool and his money are easily parted — six of us, much more quickly.

“There’s no right or wrong way to deal with business, and if somebody has one view of it, and somebody doesn’t, and somebody has another, those can lead to very bad arguments.

“Unfortunately, we don’t see each other enough. I haven...

As we’ve previously mentioned, there’s currently a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to build a statue honoring late Monty Python member Terry Jones in his hometown of Colwyn Bay, Wales. In a rare moment of agreement, all the surviving Pythons have thrown their support behind the project, dubbed “A Python on the Prom,” which will possibly result in a detailed bronze replica of Jones playing the organ while completely naked.

The campaign has, at the time of writing, raised 83 percent of its goal, but organizers are hoping to make up the difference with a new exhibition celebrating Jones’ life. “The Life of Terry” will open in Colwyn Bay on December 12th, with all proceeds going toward the statue fundraiser. The exhibit will reportedly feature more than 100 items that have been loaned by Jones’ family and the Monty Python archive.

The items will include rare personal photographs, as well...

The ongoing feud between Eric Idle and John Cleese has gotten a lot of attention this year. It’s basically the Drake-Kendrick beef, but for comedy lovers who can’t sleep through the night without getting up to pee at least once.

Monty Python fans who have been disappointed by their comedy heroes’ incessant online squabbling aren’t alone. Idle appeared on the most recent episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and the former Late Night host revealed that, he too, has been bummed at the troupe’s recent acrimony.

Conan is obviously a huge Python fan, so it’s perhaps no surprise that, during his chat with Idle, he brought up the spat. Prefacing his line of inquiry by noting “we don't have to talk about this,” he admitted that as someone who’s been “influenced and awed by Python, I think of it as sort of (like) Santa Claus.

Monty Python have obviously inspired a number of comedians, writers, filmmakers and aggrieved garbage dump custodians, but it turns out that they also had a big impact on the actor best known for gunning down countless Russian mobsters and downloading kung-fu directly into his cerebral cortex: Keanu Reeves.

Reeves recently attended the Southbank Literature Festival to promote his new novel The Book of Elsewhere, along with his co-author China Miéville. When the moderator asked Reeves about which work of art from his youth “has been the biggest inspiration” in his work, the actor, at first, couldn’t come up with an answer. But then he admitted that it was actually Monty Python.

“It was such a wonderful influence and model of storytelling,” Reeves said of the iconic comedy troupe, noting that their humor “was so physical but also so intellectual and social.”

This might seem a little bit surprising, considering...

Monty Python legend/old man yelling out cloud John Cleese recently appeared on BBC One’s Morning Live to promote the stage revival of Fawlty Towers that’s currently playing in London. Cleese doesn’t act in the play, but he scripted the adaptation, hence why it’s billed as “John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers” (an unforgivable act of Connie Booth erasure).

Cleese also took the opportunity to discuss the production of the original series, specifically how it was as stressful and chaotic as Basil Fawlty’s hotel. “There wasn’t time to hang around — we had two hours to record that show,” Cleese recalled. “We started at 8 and finished at 10, and if it wasn’t in the can, there wasn’t an ending to the show.”

Cleese also claimed that the hurried schedule frequently led him to worry that episodes wouldn’t be completed: “Whenever there was a break,...

Contrary to John Cleese’s baffling suggestion that Monty Python’s Flying Circus was somehow banned, the show has been widely available on Netflix since 2018. The popular streamer has also been the home of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and various other Python specials and documentaries. Oh, and Eric Idle’s bizarre faux radio play What About Dick?

But all that is about to change.

The entire Python catalog will disappear from Netflix on November 1st, meaning that a lot of folks may be spending Halloween night binging 50-year-old comedy sketches. This marks the end of the much-publicized association between Netflix and the Pythons, which not every member of the group has been super-happy about.

Since Netflix has failed to renew its deal with Monty Python, the iconic comedy troupe’s back catalog was free to find a new digital home. As reported...

John Cleese is best known as a member of the British comedy troupe Monty Python. Let’s look back at the Oscar-nominated funnyman and his 12 greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1939 in Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, England, Cleese rose to prominence thanks to the British sketch series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” which ran for four seasons on the BBC from 1969-1974. The troupe — which also included Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin — revolutionized comedy with their surreal, experimental sketches, the best of which were assembled into the film “And Now for Something Completely Different” (1971). This led to other cinematic outings, including “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975), “Life of Brian” (1979) and “The Meaning of Life” (1983).

Cleese achieved big screen success of his own with “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988), which he wrote and starred in as an uptight English barrister who becomes entangled in an elaborate...

It’s no secret that the Monty Python bond isn't super-strong right now. And the reason why it’s no secret is because a lot of the inter-Python bickering has transpired on social media. Eric Idle and John Cleese made headlines for posting snide comments about one another, the result of Idle’s vocal discontentment with the handling of Monty Python’s finances. It’s basically the British comedy equivalent of watching your parents fight.

While the Idle-Cleese feud has certainly garnered a lot of attention recently, it isn’t exactly a fresh phenomenon. Not only is this not the first time that Idle and Cleese have squabbled, it’s not even the first time that they’ve squabbled in front of all their social media followers.

The two Pythons also beefed way back in 2011. And it will probably come as a shock to precisely no one that it was also about money.

As Eric Idle continues to promote his new book The Spamalot Diaries — technically it’s an old book that’s been dusted off and published — the Monty Python legend recently stopped by The Daily Show to chat about it with host Jordan Klepper.

Klepper admitted to being a huge Python fan, telling Idle, “I would not be doing comedy in this world if it wasn’t for you and the folks at Monty Python. Thank you.” Klepper also joked that “there was a 15-year period before I actually got legitimate employment in comedy — and during those 15 years I would have cursed you on the streets. But once I found a little bit of employment in comedy, now you’ve become a hero once again.”

As the conversation progressed, Klepper brought up Idle’s Python frenemy John Cleese, who the host noted has “been prickly about modern woke audiences.” For context,...

Poor Eric Idle. And by “poor Eric Idle,” I mean literally poor — the former Monty Python star is once again lamenting his lack of riches, telling The Times U.K. that “these days everything in showbiz is on YouTube or Spotify so I do have to earn a living. I’d love to retire, but, alas, I can’t.”

He blames his old Python pals, specifically the fiscal mismanagement of the group’s earnings, but doesn’t want to get into it. “I’m not getting involved in a to and fro, for me it’s not very important,” he explained. “Sad to say I don’t really care because I’ve got a lot of other things to do in my life.”

None of that stopped Idle from getting involved in a to and from earlier this year on social media, complaining on Twitter that, “We own everything we...

While the surviving members of Monty Python are no longer a working comedy team, they have been producing a ton of “why does everyone in Monty Python hate each other?” content this year. Eric Idle and John Cleese have been publicly feuding on social media, Cleese has been needling Michael Palin during interviews and the ghost of Graham Chapman has allegedly been haunting Cleese, possibly in a Christmas Carol sort of deal.

Most recently, Palin has been busy promoting the latest installment of his published diaries, and naturally, the press has been asking him about the current state of the Pythons’ emotional well-being. His response wasn’t exactly encouraging.

“I’ve given up trying to hold together that original family,” Palin told Andrew Marr of Lbc. He went on to explain that the Pythons tended to get along best when they were producing material, but not so much afterwards. “The thing was,...

As his daughter predicted, John Cleese's self-imposed exile from Twitter/X didn’t last long. To be fair, the Monty Python star managed to stay silent (save for a couple of retweets) for nearly nine days before deciding to fire new shots at archenemy and former comedy compatriot Eric Idle.

The latest grenade lob continues a social media feud from earlier this year. Idle publicly complained that the group’s relative lack of riches was due to mismanagement by Terry Gilliam’s daughter, Holly, who runs the company that steers Monty Python projects. Cleese, Michael Palin and (surprise) Terry Gilliam came out in support of Holly at the time. Cleese said that he found her to be “very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working and pleasant.”

What sparked the flames again? Deadline reports that Idle created “a fresh post on X (once Twitter),” accusing Cleese of firing former manager Jim Beach and installing Holly.

Earlier this year, a sad truth for fans of Monty Python was unveiled when a feud between members Eric Idle and John Cleese was made public. Idle would profess that the brand had been mismanaged due to Cleese firing former manager Jim Beach and appointing Terry Gilliam’s daughter, Holly, in the position. Eric Idle revealed that funds have dried up from his Monty Python days, writing, “I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster. Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.”

Back in February, Idle made it clear on social media when he posted, “I don’t mind but once they put Gilliams daughter in as Manager and Cleese fires Jim Beach, well it’s over.” A fan responded to the situation by inquiring why other members didn’t get a say on the management replacement decision.

John Cleese and Eric Idle are continuing to duke it out on social media.

The Monty Python legends exchanged barbs earlier this year, locking horns over their estrangement after Idle complained that he still had to work because Python’s earnings had dried up.

Idle blamed the mismanagement of the Python brand on Terry Gilliam and his daughter, Holly. The latter runs Hdg Projects, which manages Python and helped stage Monty Python Live (mostly) – One Down Five to Go, the group’s 2014 reunion shows at the O2 in London.

Cleese, along with Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, later made clear that they endorsed Holly’s management. “I find her very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant,” Cleese said.

Now, in a fresh post on X (once Twitter), Idle has accused Cleese of firing former manager Jim Beach and installing Holly. He said this was the reason their relationship was “over.”

I...

While most news about Monty Python these days tends to involve bitter financial disputes and long-simmering tensions blowing up on social media, there’s at least one recent Python-centric story that’s unquestionably heartwarming. And no, we don’t mean John Cleese’s decision to quit Twitter.

There’s currently a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to pay for a statue honoring Terry Jones, which is to be erected on the promenade in Colwyn Bay, Wales where the late Monty Python member lived until he was nearly five. Jones, of course, passed away in 2020 due to complications of a rare form of dementia, which he was diagnosed with in 2015 — although his death still hasn’t stopped him from booking acting jobs.

The GoFundMe campaign, dubbed “A Python on the Prom,” seeks to raise £120,000 for the bronze sculpture. Run by Jones’ family and the Conwy Arts Trust, the campaign was...

It’s certainly not uncommon for filmmakers to tell autobiographical stories in their work, such as how Steven Spielberg has used dinosaurs, aliens, ancient Biblical relics and aliens a few more times to process his parents’ divorce.

One movie that most people likely don’t tend to think of as autobiographical is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. After all, it’s not like any of the Pythons ever survived any bovine catapult attacks or bloodthirsty bunny rabbit skirmishes.

But an autobiographical reading of The Holy Grail has just been floated — and not by some unhinged fan, but by Eric Idle.

In a new interview with The New Yorker, Idle chatted about a number of different topics, including his apparent financial difficulties, and the state of his relationship with fellow Python John Cleese. But much of the discussion was focused on Idle’s upcoming tour, as well as his newest book,...

Eric Idle is addressing Monty Python’s money troubles and his “poor” relationship with his comedy troupe colleague John Cleese.

In a new interview in The New Yorker, the 81-year-old discussed how he’s been anything but, well, idle in his octogenarian years due to feeling cash strapped.

Idle had posted in February, “I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously … I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster. [Their musical] Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.” He also appeared to blame the comedy troupe’s asset manager, Holly Gilliam, member Terry Gilliam’s daughter, for the state of their finances. Cleese also posted that he “loathed and despised” Idle, then later said he was only joking.

Idle says his comment about the group’s finances was,...

Eric Idle and John Cleese’s recent social media feud garnered a lot of attention from fans, but it’s far from the first time that the two Monty Python members squabbled. As one resurfaced interview clip illustrates, their behind-the-scenes tension goes back decades, and once involved an argument over drinking urine.

One of the most infamous lost Python sketches is “Wee-Wee Wine Tasting,” which was filmed for the Season Three episode “E. Henry Thripshaw's Disease” but ultimately cut from the broadcast. As Idle recalled in the 1990 documentary Life of Python, the sketch, which he wrote with Michael Palin, found a refined gentleman visiting a wine cellar, and taking guesses as to the contents of his glass (Pouilly Fumé? Médoc?) only to be constantly informed that the wine is, in fact, “wee-wee.”

While most members of the Pythons got behind the “very silly” sketch, Cleese was vehemently opposed to it and,...

Although somewhat tame by today’s standards, when Monty Python’s Life of Brian was released in 1979, it was considered to be among the most offensive — and blasphemous — films ever made. While no strangers to controversy, Monty Python faced a backlash like never before with their third film, in which they relentlessly mocked organized religion via a biblical epic parody about a man named Brian who is mistaken for the messiah just because he’s Jesus’ neighbor.

Forty-five years after its initial release, Life of Brian is still regarded as a classic, and many consider it to be the best, most sophisticated work the Pythons ever did. Here’s how it all came about, how angry it made everybody and why it’s stood the test of time…

45 Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory

Life of Brian was first conceived when the Pythons were on the publicity tour for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I think it's fair to say that Monty Python movies, much like the TV show from which they sprung, are all great. The absurdist brilliance of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," which ran on the BBC from 1969 to 1974, saw comedians John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam rewrite the rules of comedy. Alongside regular collaborators Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth, the Monty Python troupe established themselves as true comedic geniuses, leading to a run of feature films that remain just as beloved to this day as the "Flying Circus" itself.

Chief among those films is 1975's "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," a deconstruction of the British national identity by way of an irreverent retelling of Arthurian legend. The film was and is much more than its oft-quoted catchphrases would suggest, with the Python boys turning their subversive eye towards British history and sending up...

Netflix has revealed the trailer and cast for Outlast Season 2, a thrilling competition in which 16 lone wolf experts are dropped in the Alaskan wilderness and must outlast each other in a battle for a million-dollar payout.

Outlast Season 2, which will consist of eight 45-minute episodes, will premiere on the streaming service on September 4, 2024. The first six episodes will be available on Sept. 4, and the last two episodes on Sept. 11.

Netflix says that there is only one rule in the cutthroat game of Outlast: The contestants must be part of a team to win.

The contestants include Bayardo (Bayo) Hernandez, Brendon Ash, Bri Walston, Deontre (Tre) Thomas, Drake Vliem, Drew Haas, Emily Johnston, Eric Shevchenko, Joey Didesidero, Joseph Malbrough, Julio Laboy, Meghan Buchanan, Sammy Norris, Tina Grimm, Tonia Willman, and Zach Owens.

The executive producers include Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, and Emma Ho for Aggregate Films, Ryan O’Dowd and Krystal Whitney for BBC Studios,...

The latest collaboration between Taika Waititi (Thor: Love and Thunder), Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows), and Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners) is Time Bandits — a new Apple TV+ show based on the 1981 film made by Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam. Considering the absurdist nature of Gilliam’s humor, Morris, Waititi, and Clement are a perfect fit to bring Time Bandits to a new generation.

We at FandomWire got the opportunity to speak with Time Bandits co-creator Morris about reimagining Terry Gillam’s cult classic family adventure, working with Waititi and Clement, and why fans and newcomers alike should be excited to see this new version of Time Bandits. Check out the interview below!

Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Lisa Kudrow, Rune Temte, Charlyne Yi and Tadhg Murphy in “Time Bandits,” now streaming on Apple TV+. Time Bandits Iain Morris Interview

FandomWire: I can think of few people as influential in comedy as Terry Gilliam.

To a generation of Brits, Iain Morris may forever be known as half of the duo that created “The Inbetweeners,” the wildly rude sitcom about a group of mostly unpopular teenage boys that ran from 2008-2010 and was followed by two hugely successful films.

But the multi-talented creative has been prolifically busy since then, reuniting some of the “The Inbetweeners” lead cast for BBC comedy series “White Gold,” creating another BBC comedy “First Team,” working on FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows,” helping write Taika Waititi’s soccer comedy “Next Goal Wins” and recently being tapped to direct Netflix rom-com feature “My Oxford Year.”

For the last few years, he’s also been hard at work on “Time Bandits,” Apple TV+’s small-screen reimagining of Terry Gilliam’s cult 1981 fantasy comedy about a young boy taken on an adventure through time with a band of thieves (mostly played...

Cure's exploration of the human mind's vulnerability to suggestion mirrors Monty Python's lethal joke sketch in a serious way. Military forces would want to harness Mamiya's hypnotic powers for a weapon, akin to the deadly joke in the Python sketch. Cure's cultural impact on modern horror is significant, influencing directors like Bong Joon-ho and changing the way Western filmmakers approach the genre.

In preparation for Longlegs, I had heard that the 1997 Japanese cult horror film, Cure, was a good accompaniment. Longlegs and Cure share many attributes, such as their atmospheric tone, and leaving audiences feeling unsettled by their ambiguous endings. Cure is an unnerving film, with its creepy sound design and chilling narrative, and is definitely a worthwhile watch for Longlegs fans. However, I just couldn't shake this feeling that the Japanese film was actually just a serious version of the Monty Python sketch about the funniest joke in the world.

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the interpersonal conflicts within Monty Python, even despite the fact that they haven’t performed as a group in 10 years, two of them are dead and the surviving members are old enough to join up with Hell’s Grannies.

It all started with a back-and-forth social media feud between John Cleese and Eric Idle, which led to Cleese stating that they have “always loathed and despised each other.” While he later claimed to be joking, Cleese, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam then celebrated Palin’s 81st birthday without Idle. This was soon followed by Cleese randomly calling Palin “boring,” forcing Palin to defend himself on national television.

All of which seems like a lot of drama for four octogenarians.

While promoting his Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Live! Tour, Idle was asked by Now to Love about his friendship with his fellow Pythons.

Because Hollywood won’t rest until it’s turned every Terry Gilliam movie into a TV show, Apple TV+ will soon be releasing a Time Bandits series, starring Lisa Kudrow as a temporal plunderer.

While recycling ‘80s films for modern audiences doesn’t always work (I’m looking at you 2014’s RoboCop), this show is produced by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, and judging from the recently-released trailer, it looks like a lot of fun.

Gilliam’s original 1981 Time Bandits was a box-office success when it first came out, and it’s generally regarded to be one of the best children’s fantasy films of its era. But, like much of Gilliam’s work, it was a huge pain in the ass to get made.

As Monty Python fans are well aware, George Harrison put up his own money to fund Life of Brian, mortgaging his home and office when...

Forty-three years after the feature film of the same name, the Time Bandits are back, with Apple TV+ releasing the first trailer for its updated take on the concept introduced in Terry Gilliam’s 1981 comedic fantasy.

The 10-episode series, premiering Wednesday, July 24, comes from longtime collaborators Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows), both of whom have on-camera roles and who serve as creators alongside fellow Flight of the Conchords alum Iain Morris.

More from TVLineWhat’s New on Netflix in July — Plus: Disney+, Max, Amazon and OthersThe Best Streaming Services in 2024: Disney+, Hulu, Max...

While it may have been hell to film Monty Python and the Holy Grail on location in Scotland (John Cleese has frequently complained that it was a “miserable experience” due to the lack of hot water), that commitment to dank medieval realism is arguably what made the comedy work so well.

Because it wasn’t shot on sets that likely would have just ended up in a dumpster, a lot of Python fans are able to make pilgrimages to the real-life locations used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, including Scotland’s historic Doune Castle, which the group sneakily used over and over and over again.

But the specific geographic location where one memorable scene was filmed was never properly documented — which became a problem when two Pythons later tried to track it down.

For the film’s 25th anniversary DVD, Michael Palin and Terry Jones made a short...

It’s been exactly 10 years since Monty Python (minus the late Graham Chapman) began their final run of live shows at London’s O2 Arena, pleasing their legions of fans while also allowing the group to pay off their mounting legal debts — not to mention Terry Jones’ mortgage and John Cleese’s alimony.

The first of 10 total performances occurred on July 1, 2014, and found the group reviving iconic routines like “The Dead Parrot Sketch,” “The Lumberjack Song” and “Argument Clinic.” Monty Python Live (Mostly) also featured some deeper cuts like “Llamas” and “Anne Elk’s Theory on Brontosauruses.”

The initial reviews weren’t exactly raves. The critical consensus seemed to be that it was both undeniably thrilling to see the Pythons performing again, presumably for the last time, yet also kind of sad to see creaky versions of classic sketches mounted by aging comedy legends who were, by their own admission,...

While most of the surviving members of Monty Python seem to be spending their golden years engaging in petty squabbles and/or desperately trying to convince the world that they’re a victim of persecution, Michael Palin appears to be a chill guy who just enjoys writing books and starring in travel programs. That view of Palin likely won’t be shattered by his recent appearance on Good Morning Britain, which is like Good Morning America but with more tea and less handguns (I assume).

During the interview, Palin talked a lot about the loss of his wife Helen, who died last year. Palin revealed that, after 57 years of marriage, he still hears her voice on occasion. “Sometimes I will have done something, and I’ll get back and tell her about it,” Palin revealed to the hosts. “Although she’s not there, I know her reply and it makes me smile.

What rhymes with sperm in Norwegian?

“Quite a few, actually, we got lucky in that respect,” says Tommy Wirkola, whose new film, Spermageddon, is an animated musical about sex and conception, told from the perspective of the spermatozoa. “You’d be surprised how many words you can find that rhyme, and how many variations and puns you can come up with.”

Horror fans know Wirkola for his 2009 Scandinavian splatterfest Dead Snow, which introduced Nazi zombies on ski patrols into the world of cinema, and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, a campy, violent take on the Grimm’s fairy tale featuring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

Spermageddon, as Monty Python would say, is something completely different. Co-directed with fellow Norwegian Rasmus A. Sivertsen, the movie follows the adventures of two awkward teens, Jens and Lisa, who decide to have sex for the first time, and the related quest of Simon the Semen,...