Highs:
Gilliam’s intro
Architect Sketch
Recognizing a mason
Satire…Satire…Satire
Mr. Devious
The Bishop!
Wombat Harness
Sudden weather report
nude man
The Bishop!
Apology
Apology
Chemist Sketch
the basement
Buzz Aldrin
Grade: A+ (The unquestioned one-episode height of ‘Flying Circus’)
Highs:
Flying lessons
BALPA spokesman
polite hijacker
Cleese’s blue chair
most of the complaints
Psychiatric Milkman
It’s The Mind
Gilliam’s world of hands
Lows:
Unexplained (and unfunny) exploding zoo
Longggggg walks
Overrated(On Purpose):
50 Pounds To Mend The Shed
Grade: A-
Highs:
Terry Jones’ intro
Spanish Inquisition theme
“The Rack”
Opening a door
Chapman’s head
Soft Cushions/Comfy Chair
Court Charades
Cup/Ant
Lows:
Semaphore Wuthering Heights
other weird juxtaposition movie shorts
parts of the Court Sketch
Grade: A-
Highs:
Small patch of brown liquid
New Cooker Sketch
Vintage Monarch shaving
A bit of pram in good condition
Ministry of Silly Walks
well-crafted links throughout
heads nailed to things
Doug, Dinsdale, and Spiny Norman
Psychotic criminologist
Chinese Watches from Mr. Luigi Ficotti
Lows:
Anglo-French Silly Walk lead-up and performance
Grade: A
Highs:
Albatross!
A.T. Hun
Similar offices
Lows:
Intro
Restaurant Cannibalism sketch of INTERMINABLE length
Intermissions
Gumbys
John the Baptist
Fairy Stories about the Police
Grade: C-
Highs:
Wilkins/Robertson
Meaningless graph
Mr. Hilter (at the beginning)
Ken Shabby
The Wood Party
Spectrum Host’s Demise
Lows:
Hilter and company get a bit dull after a while
Vocal Annoyances
Speech Analysis
“No…No…No…”
Overrated (But not bad):
Upper-Class Twits
Grade: B-
Highs:
Wistful undertakers
Terry Jones’ pep talk
Nobody being asked to leave the room
very long arms
Proustian display of modern existentialist football
Jimmy Buzzard
Sleepy bricks
Flying Cat
Lows:
Mr. Walters
Extreme undertaker attrition
The World of History
Overrated:
Gumbys
Pearl Harbor re-enactment
Grade: B-
2012: Bad parts not so bad, just not nearly as good as the good parts. Grade: B
Highs:
Polite robber
“It’s a Tree”
A piece of laminated plastic
Vocational Guidance Counselor
gay banter
“The Larch”
Luigi Ficotti
Ron Obvious
Pet Conversions
Gorilla Librarian
Gilliam’s “Survival of the Fittest” during an intellectual debate
Lows:
Lonnnnnnnng (and boring) bedroom seduction
Grade: A-
Highs:
Llama info
Cleese behind a desk
Double Vision Mountaineering
Michael The Homicidal Barber/Lumberjack
The Larch
Ken Buddha
Unwanted Knight
“Let’s have a ding-dong”
Lows:
Professor Gumby
Gilliam’s animation goes on a BIT too long
“Hunting Film”
Overrated:
Man with a tape recorder up his…
Grade: B
Highs:
Watkins the Coward
Army Shakedown
Colonel Chapman’s bits throughout
Art Critic
“Dog Kennels”
Vicious “Keep Left” signs
Dead Parrot Sketch
Lows:
None…just mediums.
Grade: A-
8/8/12: The “Lows” are only low compared to the other bits. They’re not actually bad. Grade: A
Highs:
(very) minor embezzling
“Detective Inspector!”
“Tragic” vs. “Funny”
Lows:
Most of the “Science Fiction Sketch”, unfortunately
Grade: C
Highs:
Cleese’s impromptu burial
The Whizzo “Quality Assortment”
Dull City Stockbroker
Cleese’s “Free Officer”
Twentieth Century Vole
Yes Men/Pencil Droppers/Lousy Ideas/SPLUNGE
Lows:
The self-indulgent and admirable but somewhat painful Yohan G…whatever.
Grade: A-
8/8/12: Yohan G. is brilliant in its apathy for ratings. But it still gets dull. Grade: A-
Highs:
Confuse the……..cat
The world’s worst smuggler
A Duck
A Cat, and
A Lizard
“Sandwiches???”
Attacking the lower classes
Unfortunate Newsreader
Stock film or sex
Gilliam’s marked improvement
Management Training Course
Encyclopedia Salesmen
Lows:
Careers Advisory Board
Grade: A+
Highs:
Last slap of “Art Gallery”
Army Spokesman Graham Chapman’s frequent interruptions
Self Defense (Against Fruit)
The first appearance of the 16-ton weight
Lemming…of the BDA
Lows/Overrated:
Terry Jones trying to strip
Grade: B+
Highs:
The Larch
Mr. Larch’s “Freedom” rant
The late Arthur Aldridge
John Cleese going “Wooooo…”
“E-wic” and “Mi-chael”
Nudge Nudge Wink Wink
Dirty Cutlery
THE HORSE CHESTNUT
Lows:
Bicycle Repairman (Except the random “international communism” part)
Grade: A-
Highs:
A quick…visual…Arthur Frampton
Palin’s first charming utter wimp receiving counseling with gorgeous “wife” Carol Cleveland
Tungsten-Carbide Drills
“The Epilogue” : A Question of Belief
Mr. A (Arthur Jackson)
Lows:
Eric Idle’s first (and only) attempt at being the “completely different” guy
Queen Victoria “Vaudevillian” film
Overrated: The whole “Sheep” theme
Grade: B-
2012: Flickering with energy, just not fully focused yet. Grade: B
Highs:
Sir Edward………….Ross.
Arthur “Two Sheds”……………Jackson(And a Viking) in a remarkably similar studio.
Palin’s “lost soul” emerging from the water.
Lows:
Terminally mediocre Palin/Jones bit about Picasso on a bicycle.
Early Terry Gilliam misses and “hits”.
Overrated:
The not-very-funny-World’s-Funniest-Joke.
Grade: C+
