As long as it’s a Monty Python Friday, here is the definitive ranking of the Python players:
#1: John Cleese – There is no need to justify this choice and no arguing with it. As a matter of fact, if you do argue with it, you are required to ban yourself from commenting for 24 hours.
#2: Michael Palin – Nothing better than Palin and Cleese in a sketch together. The pace and timing was always perfect. I understand that Chapman ranks higher for many, but in terms of range and comedic touch, I’ll take Palin.
#3: Graham Chapman – Always enjoyed the late Dr. Chapman, but he frequently overplayed his hand. Not easy to do, within the insanity that was MP, but dear old Graham would try quite often and that ranks him a bit lower in my book. His best may have been better than Palin, but he was not as consistent.
#4: Terry Gilliam – Not a whole lot of comedic range, but how much can you do when the Brits are always giving you the crap parts. “Hey Yank, be a good chap and dress up in a speedo and cape and prance about a bit.” His bizarre cartooning was hit and miss, but fascinating.
#5: Eric Idle – I wonder if Eric suffered from being too likeable. We’re splitting hairs here, because everyone was enjoyable, but Eric just didn’t have the “oomph” factor to his performances that the top four did.
#6: Terry Jones – Naked organ playing, old British bitty screeching, Terry was always my least favorite. As a director, he did some fun stuff with the movies, but as a comedic actor, I think he was the weakest of the bunch.
# Honorable Mention: Carol Cleveland – Whether she knows it or not, the delectable Ms. Cleveland kept me company on many a lonely winter night on the southeast side of Chicago. She just doesn’t remember.
And, of course…
#31: The Larch
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Palin definitely looked better in a dress than Cleese. but Cleese has my vote for “top banana.” And no, I’m not that way. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.
Your comments are correct in every respect. But to rank Terry Gilliam over Idle and Jones smacks of jingoistic American bias.
Carol Cleveland was very good to me as a lad.
Loved John Cleese and hees Franch Accent.Never forget the Mr. Creosote sketch from “The Meaning of Life”…oh,my word.
I dunno if I can rank the Pythons. They all had completely different styles and talents that together made pure magic. It’s like trying to rank the ingredients in biscuits and gravy – all nice by themselves, but damn, put them together……..
Gilliam was eventually the brains of that outfit, so they had their comeuppance for giving him those meager parts. In another post I stated how I hate the show now, but I love the movies. I also responded to something that Floyd posted about Charles Nelson Reilly on Dinner for Five, that Reilly criticized the kid’s show Lidsville that he was on, because all the lines were shouted. This is what I think of MP. It was great when I was ten, but as an adult it’s irritating. Cleese was better on Fawlty Towers which is more a comedic gem to me, than MP will ever be. I’ll take Benny Hill any day over MP, too.
Nice photo of Carol Cleveland!
Connie Booth was kinda cute too. She didn’t do much but a few small parts on Python. I liked her in Fawlty Towers. Did anyone ever see her and Cleese in a thing called “Girl in a Violin Case?” She was kind of nude in it. I don’t remember a lot of the story however, because I only saw it once many years ago on PBS.
Man, I love a nice pair of hooters. Yeah, I said it.
Here ya go!
It seems Threedonia is unpatriotic because they prefer British humor : ) Why is there never a thread on a particular classic American sitcom or comedy, the way that Monty Python has had its day on here (Scrubs doesn’t count)? Is it an oversight? I would love a Honeymooners favorite episodes thread. Or any classic show, before we outsource our entertainment. I think this is because, sadly, most Americans don’t have a clue about TV, or radio shows, before their time.
Matt, I think it’s because British humor at the time was much more irreverent than American. They weren’t afraid to name names and rib the Queen. They poked fun at every institution. We didn’t have much approaching it till All in the Family. Back then I couldn’t handle “Meathead” the son in law Rob Reiner. And he’s even more intolerable these days than the character he “lived.”
There were quite a number of really funny British series. First, in my memory of course was “Monty Python”, then “Fawlty Towers”, then “The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.” There was one called “Butterflies” that was more obscure, but funny. Those were my favorites. There are many others, though I thought not as good.
“Reginald Perrin” just came out on DVD.
I’d put Idle second, and I’m afraid I looked up who wrote what in a Python book, and Chapman co wrote every routine I didn’t like, and wrote every routine I hated. I never went for the insulting-the-audience thing.
Matt Helm,
Here ya go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCJTDsrcXEs
Maybe I’m dating myself, but I feel that truly funny American Humor died with The Three Stooges, Marx Bros., Jack Benny, Dean Martin and Milton Berle. BTW has anyone ever called Henny Youngman’s “Joke of the Day” hotline in New York? I don’t know if it’s even there anymore. It was some years back. Someone told me once it was still there even though he was dead, but I don’t know.
Here is some good American comedy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8M0INTbagE
I think all humor had its day on TV, internationally. I love a lot of British comedies, my favorite being Father Ted (though it’s Irish really). But the truly great comedies of our time weren’t just joke machines. Shows like Honeymooners, All in the Family, MASH, and others, injected true pathos in between the exceptional comedy. Jackie Gleason was a genius and created this brand of sitcom that started back with The Jackie Gleason Show, with characters like the Poor Soul, Fenwick Babbitt and Ralph Kramden. I find this type of comedy more enriching.
“A glass of water for Mr. Granger!”
Eunice from the Family sketches on the “Carol Burnett Show” is another good character.
Here’s an excellent short essay on the subject at Touchstone magazine’s blog.
It wonders what will happen to comedy in a post-Christian world, and concludes: