Infrequently Asked Questions

The
PythoNET
FAQ FILE

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Q: What is an FAQ?

A: FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These files are created for the purpose of reducing the amount of redundant questions being asked. By reading this file, you should have many of your questions answered or be able to find additional resources that can help.

Q: Who is this "Monty Python" fellow, anyway, and why should I care?

A: "Monty Python" is the collective name of six British, Welsh, and American comedians who wrote and starred in a slew of comedy recordings from 1969 to 1989. Their chief works include a TV program entitled "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and five films including "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." They go around and they do things and it is funny. Occasionally they wear humorous costumes as well, though John was known to whine about this. They have nothing to do with snakes. Have I mentioned that they are funny?

Q: Who was in Monty Python and how do we identify them?

A: By the plumage, silly! There were six official cast members and a few others that helped out on a number of occasions.

Cast members:

John Cleese
British. Born in Weston-Super-Mare on 27 October, 1939. Known as the tallest Python. Best known for playing silly authority figures. Played Mr. Praline in the Dead Parrot sketch and Mr. Teabags in the Silly Walks sketch. Played Launcelot and Tim the Enchanter in the Holy Grail. Also the "And Now for Something Completely Different" guy. Actually left Python for a time but returned for the Grail film. Married Connie Booth on 20 February 1968. They divorced shortly after the first series of John's other well-known series Fawlty Towers was broadcast. Wrote most of his stuff with Graham Chapman.

Terry Gilliam
American. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 22 November, 1940. Best known for creating the cutout animation on the shows. Occasionally appeared on-camera. Played Cardinal Fang in the Spanish Inquisition. Played Patsy in the Holy Grail. Best known on-camera for very strange, grotesque characters. Now a legitimate film director with films like "Brazil.".

Graham Chapman
British. Born on 8 Jan, 1941 and died of cancer on 4 October 1989. Best known for playing serious comic actor parts. Played King Arthur in the Holy Grail and the title role in Life of Brian. Had bouts with alcoholism and has written an autobiography. Graham was gay and spent much of his life with David Sherlock. Well-loved by fans until his death in 1989. Wrote most of his stuff with John Cleese.

Terry Jones
Welsh. Born 1 February, 1942. Best known for playing odd little Englishmen and screeching old ladies. Played the head of the Whizzo chocolate company. Played Bedevere in the Holy Grail. Played Mandy in Life of Brian. Wrote most of his stuff with Michael Palin. Now an illegitimate film director with films like "The Wind in the Willows," AKA "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride."

Eric Idle
Born 29 March, 1943. Best known for playing goofy singers and show-biz types. Good with dialogue. Played Mr. Smoketoomuch in the "Travel Agent" sketch, and Mr. Badger. Played Sir Robin and Roger the Shrubber in the Holy Grail. Sang the closing theme in Life of Brian and much of the music in Meaning of Life. Starred in his own rarely-seen (but great) tv show, "Rutland Weekend Television," in 1975.

Michael Palin
Born 5 May, 1943. Best known for playing random character roles. Played the Lumberjack in the Lumberjack song. Played Mr. Print in the "Argument Clinic" and the pet shop owner in the "Dead Parrot." Played T. F. Gumby in "Gumby Brain Surgery," Ken Shabby, and Cardinal Ximinez in the "Spanish Inquisition." Played Galahad, Dennis the peasant, and the head Knight of Ni in the Holy Grail. Known as the nicest Python. Also was the "It's" man. Also appeared with John Cleese in "A Fish Called Wanda" and "Fierce Creatures," and starred in his own tv show, "Ripping Yarns," round about 1975. Wrote that and most of his stuff with Terry Jones.

The extras:

Carol Cleveland
Former cheerleader with stage training. Appeared with the Pythons in almost all the Flying Circus TV series as well as in the films and stage performances. Played Zoot in the Holy Grail.

Neil Innes
Gained popularity originally as a member of the Bonzo Dog (Doo Dah) Band. Wrote and performed songs and appeared with the Pythons in their films, stage shows and a few Flying Circus episodes. Played Sir Robin's minstrel in the Holy Grail. Also figured in Rutland Weekend Television, the Rutles movie, and his own Innes Book of Records tv show.

Connie Booth
Appeared in a few episodes of the Flying Circus and also in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Best known as Polly from Fawlty Towers, which she also co-created. She was married to John Cleese from the late 60s to the mid 70s. Played the Witch in the Holy Grail.

The Fred Tomlinson Singers
Did just about all of the group singing stuff in the Flying Circus, including such things as Summarising Proust and The Lumberjack Song.

There are others, but those are the biggies.

Q: How can I write to the Pythons?

A:

Monty Python
c/o Mayday Management
68a Delancey St.
London NW1 7RY
England

Python Office telephone: 011-44-171-434-2854

Michael Palin
c/o The Gumby Corp Ltd.
34 Tavistock St.
London WC2E 7PB
England

Telephone: 0171 497 1100
Fax: 0171 497 1133

Q: Who else has received writing credits for Python material?

A: Neil Innes and Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) both recieved credits in the fourth series.

Q: When did the Pythons break up?

A: They broke up constantly. I mean that in terms of constantly making each other laugh, and also in terms of splitting apart. John Cleese officially left the group in 1973, but came back soon after. The last real thing they ever did as a group was in 1983, with the film "Monty Python's the Meaning of Life."

Q: Are the Pythons ever going to get back together?

A: They do, from time to time, but in small ways. The death of the late Graham Chapman has prevented them from doing anything larger ever again. In 1998 they gathered together onstage at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, to answer questions posed by Robert Klein in front of an audience of industry professionals [like the cast of "Cheers"] who nevertheless seemed starstruck to see them. This was taped for HBO and is available on video from the BBC in Britain. An American release has not yet been set. Also in Britain in late 1999, BBC2 held a special "Python Night" in which John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Carol Cleveland and the late Graham Chapman performed new silly material all night, inbetween appearances by celebrity guests, rare footage, and lots of interview clips [some featuring Eric Idle, who otherwise did not come along for the festivities]. "Life of Brian" and the previously-unreleased "Mayday Special 1972" were also shown in their entirety. All the Pythons except Terry Gilliam and the late Graham Chapman also appeared in Terry Jones' film "The Wind in the Willows," released in America as "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride."

Q: Is there going to be a reunion show in Las Vegas?
A: No. Eric has said it was a nasty rumor started by John, but they were all interested in it at one point. All the Pythons, indeed, were hoping for a 27th anniversary show, but that didn't happen. They're past 30 now.

Q: When did Monty Python become a comedy troupe?

A: Most probably on 11 May, 1969.

John Cleese and Graham Chapman were formally introduced to Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin after a filming of Do Not Adjust Your Set, a children's program they were working on at the time. Their next meeting was 23 May, 1969 where the BBC gave them the go-ahead to begin creating 13 episodes of a programme for the BBC.

Q: What is the real name of the Monty Python's Flying Circus theme?

A: The music is from the Liberty Bell March by John Philip Sousa. It is not known who selected the music as all the Pythons have taken credit for it at one point or another. It was probably selected by Terry Gilliam from a suggestion by program director Roger Last, and then cut down to thirty seconds to roll with Gilliam's animation. Being on a tight budget, Gilliam needed something that was out of copyright to avoid paying royalty fees. The recording is a rather old one from the BBC library, by the Coldstream Guards. As for the march itself, now tied permanently with lumberjacks and silly walks, it is still performed by marching bands, but not without a good deal of snickering from their audiences.

Q: How many episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus are there?
A: There were 13 shows from each of the first 3 series and 6 shows in the 4th series plus 2 specials made for German television for a total of 47.

Q: When were these episodes originally shown in the U.K.?
A: The broadcast dates for Monty Python's Flying Circus are as follows:

Series 1: 5 October 1969 - 11 January 1970 Series 2: 15 September 1970 - 22 December 1970 Series 3: 19 October 1972 - 18 January 1973

Since John Cleese left the group after the third series, the fourth was called simply Monty Python.

Series 4: 31 October 1974 - 5 December 1974

Q: What are the German episodes?
A: Two special episodes of "Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus" were done especially for German television in 1972 and 1973. One was done in German, the other done in English and dubbed over in German. These remained mostly unaired for years, but the Pythons were proud of them, and had the backing for Life of Brian fallen through they planned to use the bits in a cheap sketch film. Segments have been used as time-fillers during the live Python stage shows. Brief portions appeared in specials like "Parrot Sketch Not Included." Portions of the German "Happy Valley" were used in a sketch on Monty Python's Previous Record. The German translation of the Lumberjack Song as well as "Ya Di Buckety" from Happy Valley appear in the Python Songbook. They have been more recently shown in their entirety on Comedy Central, and released on video by Guerrilla Films.

Q: Does every Flying Circus episode have a title?
A: Depends on which system you use. For many years the only titles being accepted for the episodes were anything used in place of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" in the closing credits. Only a few episodes did this, so most episodes remained untitled. However, in Kim "Howard" Johnson's book "The First 200 Years of Monty Python" Kim gives titles for each and every one of the shows, and presents them in the order they originally aired. This system had appeared before but the book brought it out into the open. In this system every episode has a title. One episode is "Untitled" but that is its title, "Untitled," so it does have a title, even if that title is "Untitled." Therefore "Untitled" is not untitled, since it is titled "Untitled," and if "Untitled" is its title then it is "Untitled," not untitled, and has a title after all.

Q: How did Monty Python get its name?

(The Exciting Sequel to "How The Leopard Got Its Spots")

A: Accounts vary as to the source of the name, but our best information goes as follows: There was once a veteran BBC writer/producer named Barry Took, who "took" under his wing a group of five wet-behind-the-ears British comedy writer-performers, and one wide-eyed innocent American animator to form a new BBC comedy show in the spring of 1969. Cleese and Chapman had done "At Last the 1948 Show," and Idle, Palin, Jones and Gilliam had done "Do Not Adjust Your Set," which were nice shows but rather traditional, and black-and-white, so forget them. One of Barry's nicknames around the water cooler was "Baron von Took", so this proposed new show became known in sniggering internal BBC memos as "Baron von Took's

Flying Circus" (a reference to WWI German air ace Baron von Richtofen's Flying Circus). This seemed appropriate as the planned show soon became notorious for being uncontrollable. The future Pythons themselves wanted it called something different every week, an idea echoed at the end of each first series episode.

Spring turned to summer, the show was officially signed up by the BBC, and a real title was needed."Whither Canada?", "Owl-Stretching Time", "Bunn, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble, and Boot", "It's", "It," "The Venus Di Milo Panic Show," "The Toad Elevating Moment," and "A Horse, a Basin, a Bucket and a Spoon" were all rejected. They decided to keep the "Flying Circus" suffix because that's what everyone had been calling it anyway, and by this point the BBC wouldn't let them call it anything else. They went through a variety of names for whose Flying Circus it was ("Cynthia Fellatio's Flying Circus" was considered). Michael Palin had seen the name "Gwen Dibley" in a women's journal and wanted that used, but as it was a real person the idea was nixed. Somehow someone (probably John Cleese) thought of "Python". Then "Norm Python" and "Bob Python" came and went. The "Monty" is mysterious, but it is said that Eric Idle dredged up a memory from his local pub,

where a small man in a suit and bow tie would always come in and ask everyone "Has Monty been in yet?" It conjured up an image of a seedy, sixth-rate theatrical booker, sitting in a darkened corner of the pub. Monty was a sharp kind of name, and combined with "Python" it became suddenly unusually pleasing and resonant. Thus began "MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS." Most of the other names were used eventually. The name of Gwen Dibley popped up fairly often, and before each show a ragged old man called out "It's." Most of the others got to be the show's title for one episode each in the first series.

Q: Where does that big animated foot in the opening titles come from?
A: That big foot comes from a painting by Agnolo di Cosimo, better known as IL BRONZINO (1503-1572), one of the most respected masters of High Tuscan Mannerism who painted with supreme classical elegance, bringing out the abstract nature of form with careful geometric balance and a glossy marble-like sense of purity that only Ingres was to capture some three centuries later. Get all that? Bronzino's "Allegory of Luxury," or "Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time," hangs in the National Gallery, London. The foot is in the lower left corner.

Q: Are the Python shows and movies available on video?
A: The movies, especially the Grail, have been on video since the late 70s/early 80s. They have been reissued several times and should be for rent or purchase in the comedy section of better video stores. Several of these films are also available on laserdisc, and DVD is under discussion. The Flying Circus shows have been rereleased recently by A&E in the United States, along with special "Life of Python" and "Monty Python Live!" boxed sets. The original US set (from Paramount) of 17 came out in the early 90s to coincide with Python's 20th anniversary. It featured favorite episodes from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd series in random order, two on a tape. Fourth season episodes eventually followed. The German episodes did not. Some fans including myself preferred these releases as favorite Python episodes were released first. The UK tapes were issued in the order of the original airings and featured three on a tape. The 2000 releases by A&E were also in the order of the original airings. Flying Circus tapes are scarce in some areas but are available at many larger video stores such as Blockbuster video. The German shows can as of fall 1998 be ordered from Guerrilla Films. The German episodes also feature on the A&E boxed sets "Life of Python" and "Monty Python Live!" Call your local shop and see what they've got.

Q: Isn't it a violation of copyright to use Python stuff, or indeed anybody's stuff, on a webpage?
A: Possibly, but it is common practice and the copyright holders, such as the Pythons, generally do not mind as it is free advertising for them. We do all that we do with the greatest of respect for these fine loonies.

Q: What is the correct pronunciation of the name "Raymond Luxury Yacht"?
A: The name is pronounced "Throat-wobbler Mangrove".

Q: What is the translation of the world's funniest joke? (Wenn ist das Nunstuck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!)
A: There is no translation since it is just gibberish. A few of the words are German but others are just made up. The same is true for another joke in the same episode, namely "Die ist ein Kinnerhunder und zwei Mackel uber und der bitte schoen ist den Wunderhaus sprechensie. 'Nein' sprecht der Herren 'Ist aufern borger mit zveitingen." "It was actually German gibberish," Eric Idle explains. "It's written-down gibberish, because we all had to learn the same thing, yeah, but it's gibberish! It doesn't mean a thing at all. At least, I don't think it does..." Nevertheless one fan, Dirk Rehberger, wrote a lengthy translation a little while back in which he attempted to figure the whole thing out. Here is a snippet:



     Wenn ist das    -   If is the  (note: "Wann" means "when", which
                                     would make slightly more sense, since
                                     it's a question) 


     Nunstueck       -   nun = now,  Stueck = piece


     git             -   that's obviously English! (but similar to "gibt" 
                         meaning "gives" or, in the phrase "es gibt", 
                         "there is".) 


     und             -   and


     Slotermeyer?    -   DOESN'T MAKE SENSE  (Meyer is a common German 
                                              surname) 


     Ja!             -   Yes! 


     Beiherhund      -   Hund = dog, Beiher doesn't make any sense
                         (Bayer means Bavarian, but you can't say 
                         "Bayerhund" for "Bavarian dog", you would have 
                          to say "bayrischer Hund")


     das oder die    -   the or the  (das is neuter, die is feminine) (or: 
                                     "that")


     Flipperwaldt    -   Flipper = pinball, Wald = wood/forest


     gersput         -   DOESN'T MAKE SENSE ("ge" and "ver" are very
                                             common German prefixes for
                                             past participles, but not
                                             "ger".)

All in all: If is the now-piece (git) and (Slotermeyer)? Yes! ...(Beiher)dog that or the pinball wood (gersput)!

Q: What is a blancmange?

A: A blancmange (orig. blancmanger) is a dessert whose name comes from the French for "white" and for "to eat." It is a type of custardy pudding which was known to the Europe of the middle ages and was considered a rare delicacy, though there was no fixed recipe, and the concept of "blancmange" varied wildly from one area to another. What this has to do with tennis and turning Englishmen into scotsmen I don't know.

Q: How many films have Monty Python done and what are they about?
A: They made five full-length features. A description of each follows.

1. And Now For Something Completely Different (1971)
The Pythons made this film for about 80,000 (GBP) and recorded it at various locations over a period of five weeks during November and December of 1970. Most of the interior shots were filmed in a former milk depot in north London. The film opened on 28 September, 1971 and consisted of highlights from the first two series of the Monty Python's Flying Circus television programme. The Pythons were endlessly irritated with producer Victor Lownes (among his decisions were to cut Ken Shabby and place his own name in large letters in the otherwise wordless opening credits, cutting Terry Gilliam's animation to bits) and the poor plotlessness of the film itself. They have described it as "just a lot of men sitting behind desks." The filming postponed the third series of the Flying Circus.

2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
This film was also shot in about five weeks on a budget of just under 230,000 (GBP). The locations used for the film were mostly in Scotland in and around Doune Castle, Castle Stalker, Glen Coe,

Arnhall Castle, Bracklinn, Killin, and Sherriffmuir. The scene with the Black Knight was shot in a forest outside of London. The film first premiered in March 1975 in Los Angeles and opened in London on 3 April, 1975. The movie is based upon King Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail, and is easily their most successful film. John Cleese, who had left the show by this time, came back for the film, whose success kept Python alive. The filming was arduous but directors Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam kept things in check. Probably their best-known work.

3. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Shot entirely in Tunisia, this movie was filmed from 16 September to 12 November, 1978. The script had gone through a number of revisions before the final version was settled upon. Funding was also a major problem since EMI, who originally said it would fund the film, withdrew its support. Luckily, Handmade Films, which was created by George Harrison and Denis O'Brien, stepped in and saved the project. The movie premiered 17 August, 1979 in New York and is about a regular guy who is born next mager over from Jesus Christ and who in his adulthood is burdened with none-too-bright religious "followers." The film caused quite a stir amongst the religious communities in many countries because they believed that it was blasphemous towards Christ. The book Monty Python: The Case Against gives an excellent detailing of these events. The film, though not terribly interesting, is proably the most coherent story the Pythons ever attempted. In the final moments, the film inexplicably becomes a musical, and the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" became a hit on college radio during the film's run.

4. Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
While struggling trying to write the script for their next film, the Pythons decided to take a break and raise some more money for their project. The idea of performing a high-budget live show at the Hollywood bowl was struck upon, as the Pythons had had some success performing their comedy in concert. Four night's concerts were videotaped and later transferred to film, re-edited, then released in New York on 25 June, 1982. The movie contains some of their best sketches and also footage from the German TV specials that they did in 1971 and 1972. It, like And Now for Something Completely Different, has no plot, but this does not really hurt it as it is a concert film. Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland are the extras and also perform original material.

5. Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life (1983)
By far the most difficult movie for the Pythons to agree upon. Filming began on 12 July, 1982 and continued throughout that summer. The movie went through a number of screenings and re-edits before finally being released on 30 March, 1983. The film examines the different stages of life and attempts to answer the question of the meaning of life. It is their third original film and more resembles a very high-budget and well-thought-out episode of the old Flying Circus series. Considering that it was their last film, and that the final shot is that of a television set, showing MPFC, drifting out into space, this may have been intentional, kind of a way of "closing the loop," if you will. There is a deliberate attempt to invite controversy, and the plot, though there is one, is a very loose one. It is basically a jumble of sketches with a common theme, and often allows one Python at a time to perform in their own style. Terry Gilliam's contribution is an odd but clever pirate saga entitled "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" which takes up 20 minutes or so before the start of the actual film.

Q: Did any of the Pythons create TV series after MPFC, and are these available on video?
A: 'Round about 1975, just after filming and promotion on the Holy Grail movie was completed, some of the individial Pythons left to create their own tv series, in the styles we've come to know and love. John Cleese and then-wife Connie Booth created the most successful of these, "Fawlty Towers," about an incompetently-run hotel in Torquay (inspired by a genuine article encountered on an early Python shoot). Cleese plays Basil Fawlty, for whom frustrations mount to the point of insanity, to the delight of the audience. The show is generally recognized as one of the classic sitcoms of our time. The 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers have a laugh track, comprise two seasons, are available on video, and also feature Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs. Michael Palin and Terry Jones went off to create a special called "Tomkinson's Schooldays: A Ripping Yarn," about a boy at a prisonlike public school who is kicked up the ranks to become the new school bully, and the painfully funny plotting convinced executives to order two whole series of Ripping Yarns, nine in all, until the expense forced the series' cancellation. The shows were filmed rather than taped and parodied the boys' adventure stories of the Edwardian era. Many of these had a laugh track, but not all -- those that did suffered because the series did attempt high drama, albeit with a great deal of silliness along the way. Palin starred in each, and Terry Jones appeared in the first -- John Cleese can be seen briefly in "Golden Gordon." These were released on video, though now probably out of print. Eric Idle and Neil Innes took an offer of a very small amount of money to create a very small-budgeted comedy show, "Rutland Weekend Television," for BBC2. Eric's verbal madness and Neil's musical talents helped make RWT much better than it ought by rights to have been. It concerned the programming of a small regional tv service broadcasting from the smallest county in Britain and consisted mainly of Pythonesque sketches bridged by two or three songs per show. RWT also featured Henry Woolf, David Battley, Gwen Taylor, John Halsey, Terence Bayler and Bunny May, and ran for two seasons, fourteen shows in all. These have not to date been released on video but the show did inspire the NBC movie "The Rutles: All You Need is Cash," a fan favorite still in print from Rhino video.

Q: What does the witch say after she has been tried and found guilty by the logician?
A: "It's a fair cop." The phrase is thieves' cant for "you've got me dead to rights" which means that there has been no entrapment and the person was fairly caught in the act. The line has also been used in a few other Flying Circus sketches like The Church Police, Njorl's Saga, and Whizzo Chocolates.

Q: At the beginning of the film, the guard speaking to Arthur says "Pull the other one." What is the guard implying?
A: In essence, the guard conveys his disbelief of what Arthur had just said. The phrase might also be taken as a challenge to Arthur to tell yet another, even more exaggerated lie. The origin of the phrase comes from "You're pulling my leg" (i.e. "You're lying to me").

Q: What is an anarcho-syndicalist commune?
A: Anarcho: relating anarchism; the rejection of the state or any other forms of authority for a society based upon voluntary cooperation of individuals.
Syndicalist: relating to syndicalism; originally, a socialist doctrine that emphasized the workers taking control of the factories where they worked; the term has been broadened to include many other doctrines that support worker control.
Commune: A settlement of people based upon the common ownership of material goods which have a tradition of self government.

Q: What do the monks chant in the film?
A: The language they are chanting in is Latin and the phrase is Pie Iesu Domine. Dona Eis Requiem. It means "Holy Lord Jesus. Grant them rest." The phrases are included in many Catholic funeral masses.

Q: Who is that playing the Head Knight of Ni in the Holy Grail?
A: The Head Knight is Michael Palin, doing a variation on the voice used in the Spanish Inquisition.

Q: What do the knights who no longer say "NI!" now call themselves?
A: They are now the knights who say "Ekki ekki ekki ekki pikang zoom-boing zoowlishivm..." This is more of a phonetic spelling since what was actually said does not match what was printed in the script ("Neeow ... Wum ... PING!"). It is thought to be mostly an adlib by Michael Palin, but knowing what it is helps at parties.

Q: Who is that playing God in the Holy Grail?
A: It is a Terry Gilliam cutout with the voice of Graham Chapman. The face is that of W. G. Grace, an English cricketing champion. Or so I hear.

Q: Who is that playing anyone in Swamp Castle in the Holy Grail?
A: Father ("No singing!") is played by Michael Palin under a great deal of fur. Prince Herbert ("That certain... special... something!") is played by Terry Jones under a bit of pale makeup. The talkative guard is played by Eric Idle. The hiccoughing guard is played by Graham Chapman.

Q: Whose face was that on "Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film" in the Holy Grail?
A: Michael Palin's then-young son, Thomas Palin.

Q: In the Grail opening credits "Additional Music" is credited to "DeWolfe." Who or what is DeWolfe?
A: DeWolfe Music Publishing is a company which produces public-domain music records. Their music was used by the Pythons on several albums and the Grail film for the simple reason that it was cheap. Some of it is quite good. The original Grail score was a traditional medieval effort by Neil Innes, but it didn't have the bombastic, epic sense that the movie really needed, so much of it was replaced. The main (coconut) theme from the Grail was lifted from a DeWolfe record but was only partially used in the film. It was finally heard in full 20 years later in the Grail CD-ROM game and is now posted at PythoNET.

Q: John Cleese was the most famous of the team even before Python started. How the heck did that happen?

A: Mostly thanks to the radio show "I'm Sorry, I'll Read that Again," which had a huge fan following for reasons still unknown to those who participated in it. Cleese himself was baffled by the show. He created a great series, "At Last the 1948 Show," starring Marty Feldman, Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor, shortly before Python, but this was not widely seen and only three episodes are known to exist in full today, the rest long since erased.

Q: What is that that the lingerie shop robber mutters under his breath in "And Now for Something Completely Different?"
A: The line is "adopt, adapt, improve." It is used here without proper explanation but comes from an episode of the Flying Circus. It is, supposedly, the motto of the Round Table, and the robber's motivation for stealing panties when he finds no cash.

Q: What is the name of Biggus Dickus' wife in the film Monty Python's Life of Brian?
A: Incontinentia Buttocks. If you don't understand the reference, drink a lot of Guinness, or eat a lot of curry (of course, you could just look incontinence up in the dictionary, but the other methods are more fun!).

Q: Who is that playing Biggus Dickus in Life of Brian?
A: Graham Chapman under a curly beard.

Q: What is Brian's last name?
A: Cohen. It is the name of an ancient line of Jewish priests.

Q: Is Brian supposed to be a parody of Jesus?
A: Not really. It would ruin the joke. Brian is not a holy man, nor particularly nice. Besides, as the Pythons learned in early drafts of the story, there is nothing about Jesus that invites ridicule. The parallels between the two are just a chance to poke fun at organized religion, a favorite sport of the Pythons (Church Police, Every Sperm is Sacred), but the Pythons are not nasty enough to go at Jesus, Mary, Mohammed, Moses, etc., or God himself, though they do occasionally suggest that God may look like W.G. Grace. Jesus of Nazareth has a brief cameo towards the beginning of the film.

Q: I don't find the "Crimson Permanent Assurance" funny. Is there something wrong with me?
A: Yes. Take fifty aspirin per day and stay off your feet until the condition ceases... No, seriously the humor there is so low-key that most can't appreciate it, at least not on first viewing. Upon repeated viewing, once you know what it's all about, it is for most much more entertaining rather than just strange. It is very Gilliamesque and if you don't find Brazil funny you probably won't appreciate CPA either. If you still can't appreciate it at least take heart in knowing that they all get squished at the end, and again halfway through the main film.

Q: Why is the "Penis Song" also called the "Not Noel Coward Song?"
A: Noel Coward was a playwright who considered himself frightfully witty. Eric is doing an impression of him there. Graham's character in "Christmas in Heaven" is also a parody of Tony Bennett.

Q: Why was Eric called in to replace Mike as the Lumberjack in the "Hollywood Bowl?"
A: Mike was busy as the head of the "Church Police," sadly. He did play the Lumberjack at some of the other live shows, like "Pleasure at Her Majesty's."

Q: I could've sworn I heard Mike's voice as both Arthur and Launcelot in the "King Brian the Wild" sketch at the end of the "Grail" game. Was it?
A: Yup. Unfortunately, John Cleese had had little to do with the video games thus far (He does do quite a bit of work in Meaning of LIfe) and Graham Chapman is still dead. I think he did a good job, considering.

Q: Is Pythonline dead?
A: Yes. At the moment it has been dead for over a year.

Q: Can you tell me the Pythons' e-mail addresses?
A: No.

Q: But, don't you know them?
A: A few of them, yes.

Q: Come on! PLEASE can I have the Pythons' e-mail addresses?
A: No.

Q: Spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam?
A: Yes and no, but only on alternate thursdays.

Q: Why are some episodes missing John Cleese?
A: John, who felt the group was repeating itself and falling too far under the control of Terry Jones, left the show in late 1973, and the final six episodes were done without him (although he contributed written material, left over from early, unused drafts of the Holy Grail).

Q: Did Hormel mind the reference to SPAM in the TV series?
A: Hormel never gave permission to use the SPAM reference. However, they never bothered the Pythons, even as the episodes gained American popularity. They were good sports about it, and even offered to send the Pythons a few free tins of the stuff, which they politely refused. It is guessed, though not known, that they did so knowing the references boosted their sales. The sketch may be the sole reason that SPAM T-shirts etc. are so popular. Nor did the Pythons have any trouble with DC Comics for the early sketch "Bicycle Repairman."

Q: Who is that military fellow who stops the show and two of the movies for being too silly?
A: He is Graham Chapman's Colonel. No other name has been given, though John Cleese has suggested Colonel Muriel Volestrangler. He first appeared in a few early episodes of the Flying Circus and didn't do much, but in the episode "Full Frontal Nudity," which also featured the Parrot sketch, he got angry at the silly sketches being offered him and took military control of the show, stopping and starting sketches if they got too "silly." It was a very funny bit, and good enough to be used in several other episodes as well as in the films "And Now for Something Completely Different" and "Live at the Hollywood Bowl." The Colonel has been cited by one site under the name of "The Sergeant-Major," but that is another character, namely that in the "Fresh Fruit Self Defense" bit. Cleese did play the Colonel in a few other episodes. A character closely resembling and acting like the Colonel, and played by Graham, but without the moustache or clothing style, appears in the Meaning of Life film, and is destroyed by the Hand of God. Whether this was intended to be the Colonel or not is unknown.

Q: What is "Semprini," anyway?
A: According to Pythonline sources, Semprini was sort of a UK version of Liberace (an annoying entertainer then, an Italian orchestra leader making easy-listening music in the Mantovani mould) whose name was interjected by Graham Chapman as a non-sequitur into boring conversation. Bad music is always a dirty word. The original script read "biscuit-barrel" in the same spot, which is more obviously a naughty word and not nearly as funny. In the show a Gumby can be seen to yell "SEMPRINI!" while still mouthing "biscuit-barrel."

Q: Pardon my ignorance, but isn't a "Gumby" a little green man made of clay?
A: For Python's purposes, no. On the Python shows the Gumbies were a race of characters who talk very loudly, break things, and wear a precise costume capped off by gumboots (hence the name) and a handkerchief upon the head. The catchphrase of the class is "My brain hurts." All the Pythons played Gumbies at one point or another but the best of these is usually recognized as Michael Palin, followed closely by John Cleese. Cleese claims to have created the character during an improvised filming session while Python was still in its planning stages. He was supposed to stand in a lake and say "I would tax people who stand in water," a particularly idiotic line, and developed the costume and persona while unsure of what to do. This story may be incorrect as the bit he speaks of did not surface in an actual episode until series 2, episode 2 (The Spanish Inquisition), and this is a bit long to wait on a clip of that sort. However, we have no better explanation so Cleese's story stands. The connection, if any, to the claymation character is unknown, but it remains the only thing Art Clokey, Eddie Murphy, and the Pythons have in common.

Q: What is the deal with that stock film of old ladies applauding?
A: The clip appears in a lot of Circus shows and is taken from the BBC library. It is a clip of a women's institute meeting, and was selected just for its absurdity, to show the ladies applauding at a sketch their real-life counterparts probably wouldn't have had anything to do with.

Q: Who are Reginald Maudling, Mary Whitehouse, and Reginald Bosinquat?
A: Reginald Maudling was the English Tory home secretary under MacMillan, Home, and Heath, prominent during the sixties and seventies. He died not long after he was featured on Python. Mary Whitehouse was leader of a prominent citizen's group for better television, and therefore obviously the sworn enemy of the Pythons, during the sixties and seventies. Reginald Bosinquat was a newscaster on the News at Ten, also during the sixties and seventies.

Q: What is a pooftah?
A: A poof, poofter or pooftah is slang for a (male) homosexual.

Q: How do I tell a series one episode from a series two episode, and so forth?
A: Here goes.

SERIES ONE: Begins with the "It's" Man saying "It's." Editing on the theme song is very rough, and the animation is mostly old photographs, beginning with flowers and ending with a nude woman. The foot quacks as it hits. SERIES TWO: Begins with the Man in the Dinner Jacket saying "And Now for Something Completely Different," then "It's." The editing is clean, if a bit staticy, and the animation is both photos and original art. It begins with flowers (recycled from series one) and ends with the little bird (chicken) man. The foot "poots" as it hits. SERIES THREE: Begins with a fanfare by the Nude Organist, then the Man in the Dinner Jacket saying "And Now," then "It's." The editing is clean, but the animation very dark, not a good print. The animation is mostly original art, beginning with water pipes filling up little balloons, and ending with a small sumo wrestler. The foot "poots" as it hits. "Royal Episode 13" is also part of the third series. SERIES FOUR: The name of the show is now just "Monty Python," no Flying Circus. Say no more! Opening animation appears in most (not all) shows, and features a coin-machine which builds block-by-block a small "MPFC" logo of nude people which are then squashed by a small foot, and then a small Venus head spends some time trying to avoid capture by various god-figures.

Q: Is there an official Monty Python fan club?
A: No. But there are many unofficial ones.

Q: Do you have a list?
A: Not really.

Q: Is there an official Python store for merchandise?
A:Check online at pythonline.com, montypythondirect.com, and pythonshop.com. You can now get mugs and plush dead parrots along with the standard CDs, videos and DVDs. Unless you meant a real-life store, in which case ... are you mistaking Python for the Disney corporation or something? The Pythons did not merchandise outright for many years, so a real-life store would be rather bare, at least until Mr. Gumby action figures start cluttering the shelves of Wal-Marts everywhere. But Python merchandise can sometimes be found at gift stores like Spencer's gifts, if you're very lucky. Actually, an interesting fact about your humble webmaster - I worked on the Python merchandising campaign by Blisshouse, designing and drawing the art for such nonsense as the Python Toilet Paper from onarollonline.com ... Yes, my drawings now adorn toilet paper. My legacy. And there was much rejoicing. Yay.

Q: Will there be another Python CD-ROM?
A: One based on Terry Gilliam's book "Animations of Mortality" was suggested but never happened. The "Life of Brian" disc was killed in preproduction but may surface yet. Since neither 7th Level nor Panasonic Interactive Media are currently carrying or selling their original Python discs at all, we will have to wait for a new company to pick up the license.

Q: What is a Criterion Laserdisc, and are Python movies available in that form?
A: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was available as part of the Criterion Collection of laserdiscs, which featured a much higher standard of quality than videotapes or even regular laserdiscs. (Laserdiscs have now been replaced by DVDs.) They usually featured a second and third audio track featuring director's commentary and incidental music, along with stills, production sketches, and storyboards. The "Grail"

disc included a brief, previously-unseen bit in the "Tale of Sir Galahad" in which Dingo says she's enjoying the film so far. This is now the version most often seen on television. A "Life of Brian" disc was also made available, and includes five deleted scenes, two commentary tracks, trailers, and more fun. The deleted scenes are presented in rough format, since the negatives of the uncut version of "Brian" were destroyed some time ago by Paragon Entertainment ... these are just a few short clips which were transferred to video some time ago by chance. Also try their excellent laserdiscs of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," "The Fisher King" and "12 Monkeys." The "Brazil" disc is one of the most comprehensive ever made.

Q: Are Python films available on DVD?
A: Yes. Check your local retailer. There now exist special editions of Holy Grail, Life Of Brian, Brazil ... etc. These are as comprehensive as the previous Criterion editions of these films, and have replaced them, as laserdisc is an obsolete format. Still no special edition of Meaning of Life. I also recommend the DVD of Terry Gilliam's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Q: Will we ever see any official Python outtakes?
A: The BBC probably has erased the "Flying Circus" outtakes (the show itself was very nearly erased, and other favorite shows of the time were), but film outtakes still exist, and may surface in some form or other, possibly on a future CD-ROM thingy. Listen for "Holy Grail" audio outtakes on the "Holy Grail" CD-ROM. Several "Meaning of Life" outtakes are in the vaults, including Terry Jones' "Martin Luther" sketch (a sex-for-pleasure tale with Mike, Graham and Terry J), and more material with the Hendys, the couple in the Hawaiian luau/medieval dungeon restaurant (including scenes with Carol Cleveland as "Diana," Terry Gilliam as "Ricky," and a whole lot of tampons). The Pythons feel that only a Python should be in charge of an official outtake compilation, and their schedules may not allow it for a while. The Galahad scene on the Grail laserdisc (see above) is a good example of what we might find, however. Scenes cut from "Brian" include an long early scene with three shepherds (Eric, Terry J and Mike) watching their flocks by night as attentively as we now watch television, thus being oblivious to the entrance of a Holy Light, and a scene late in the film with Eric Idle as Otto, fascist leader of a suicide squad (the Judean People's Front!) in search of a leader. (The squad has a brief cameo at the end in the released version.) In fact, up to 40 minutes may have been removed from "Life of Brian," and it was hoped that this would one day be released on laserdisc, but several years ago all the negatives from "Brian" were destroyed by Paragon Entertainment, and this material apparently no longer exists, apart from video copies of five brief scenes, placed on the Criterion laserdisc and DVD as mentioned earlier.

Q: Is "Jabberwocky" a Python film?
A: No. It was co-written and directed by Gilliam, starred Palin, and had extremely brief appearances by Gilliam and Jones, and Idle was known to have visited the set. The misconception about the dark comedy arose out of unscrupulous promoters advertising it as a Python film, which it is not nearly silly or Pythonic enough to have been, and even now it is often sold on video under the title of "Monty Python's Jabberwocky." Buyer beware.

Q: Are the Pythons going to make another movie?
A: No. For the last time, no.

Q: What would it take to get them back together?
A: Since Graham is dead I'd imagine a few bullets each would do the trick.

Q: No really! I've got several billion dollars to kill and an amazing bit of pull down in Hollywood. I could arrange the whole thing, it'd be great!
A: Well, the Pythons are rumored to be considering a new film, and even "People" magazine has reported it in their gossip mill. If you are a Hollywood backer wanting to make a reuion of the surviving Pythons together I'd doubt that you would be reading this silly FAQ in the first place, but if you are them what are you waiting for? Hesitate any further and I shall have to shoot you.

Q: No really! A couple billion doll... AAAAGHHHH!!!
A: What a senseless waste of human life.

Q: What is the Python connection to "Hitchhiker's Guide" author Douglas Adams?
A: Adams was a good friend of Graham's, appeared for a total of two seconds as an extra in two fourth series bits, and co-wrote, among other things, the doctor's office sketch with Graham in the final episode, which also appears in brief in the "Parrot Sketch Not Included" special. Terry Jones wrote the novel of "Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic" and voiced a deranged parrot in the game ... They also say that Jones is really a Vogon in disguise, but I doubt there's any truth to that.

Q: What is the Python connection to the Beatles?
A: Eric Idle and Neil Innes created a TV special parodying the Beatles that was financed by Lorne Michaels. Loosely based on the never-released film "The Long and Winding Road" (later reworked into the Beatles Anthology miniseries), it was called "All You Need is Cash" and featured the Rutles, and is easily one of the better Post-Python productions and Neil Innes' shining moment. This was only part of a long and odd Python/Beatle connection. Consider:

GEORGE HARRISON: Met Eric Idle in 1975 while Idle was promoting "Holy Grail". They became friends. Idle directed some early music videos for Harrison in 1976, and Harrison appeared on Idle's "Rutland Weekend Television" (in a very funny bit, credited as "Pirate Bob") and in the TV special "All You Need Is Cash". When financing fell through for "Life of Brian," Harrison formed a film company with business partner Denis O'Brien called Handmade Films to see that the film got made. He also produced "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl," and several other films featuring individual Pythons. He appears in Life of Brian as a man who rents the PFJ some camels. His only line is "Hello."

RINGO STARR: Met Graham Chapman while shooting the 1969 film "The Magic Christian," which a very young John Cleese and Graham Chapman wrote some comedic bits for (both show up in in brief cameo roles). Made a quick appearance at the end of Flying Circus series 3, episode 2, as a guest on the "It's" Man's talk show. He shows up with Lulu but discovers to his annoyance that his host cannot say "It's" without starting up a bunch of animated titles. He goes off punching and pissed. He has no lines.

PAUL McCARTNEY: Graham related a funny story in his autobiography about attending the Wings launch party at the London Hard Rock Cafe in about 1973.

JOHN LENNON: Once declared he would rather have been a member of Python than the Beatles.

Q: What is the Python connection to Robin Williams?
A: He appeared in director Terry Gilliam's films "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and "The Fisher King", and was supposed to appear with John Cleese in a film version of "Don Quixote," but that has apparently fallen through. Has praised PythOnline in the Yahoo! magazine, resulting in a flood of publicity, and people turning up on the Message Boards looking for him.

Q: What is the Python connection to Steve Martin?
A: Eric Idle made a brief appearance on his Greatest Show Ever. He is known to be friendly with the Pythons. They both love jokes about animals. His photo appears as a "sponsor" in John Cleese's "Fierce Creatures" film, and as a "starring role" in John Cleese's "The Out-of-Towners." He is interviewed briefly in the television documentary "Life of Python." He hosted the TV special and video "Parrot Sketch Not Included." Says he regarding the Pythons: "Some people like 'em, I guess."

Q: Did Terry G. contribute to the writing of the sketches, apart from his animation?
A: Terry G. has recently revealed that he wrote ALL of Python the WHOLE time.

Q: Will Terry Gilliam ever do animation again?

A: Don't bet on it. Live-action films are his field now. He had much trouble with coming back to animation after leaving it once, and the shaky quality of some the animation in the "Meaning of Life" (though most of it is great) is attributable to his own rustiness but mostly due to the fact that he hired assistants for the job. The closest thing he's done of late in that regard is the character design for the "King Brian the Wild" animated sequence at the end of the Holy Grail CD-ROM, but the actual animation there was done by professionals. He has done the art for pythonline.com and may contribute new material for the planned "Animations of Mortality" CD-ROM, but his animation days are pretty much over. Best to watch his old stuff. Some of his best work appears in the title sequence of "Life of Brian" as well as the higher-budget redos of his Flying Circus work in "And Now for Something Completely Different."

Q: I really enjoyed Terry Gilliam's film "Brazil." Are there any Brazil sites on the web?
A: Yes there are. The best of these is "Frittz's Brazil," found on our own Links page, and this inspired our own Brazil section, which was done with Frittz's help and which is really quite smashing. We have created a video game based on the film, in our Games section.

Q: I really didn't enjoy Terry Gilliam's film "Brazil." Didn't understand it at all. Can I find help on the web?
A: Yes you can. Try looking for Brazil-specific pages which might help you make sense of the thing. The best of these is "Frittz's Brazil," found on our own Links page, and this inspired our own Brazil section, which was done with Frittz's help and which is really quite smashing. We may be able to answer Gilliam-related questions ourselves also, so don't fear.

Q: Will the movie "Watchmen" ever be made?
A: Not unless a miracle happens, and not by Terry Gilliam.

Q: Will Eric Idle be the next Dr. Who?
A: He doesn't seem to think so.

Q: Will we ever see Eric Idle's novel "Hello Sailor" again?
A: Excerpts may appear on PythOnline. Eric claims to own every copy currently in existence.

Q: Was Graham really gay?
A: Yes.

Q: Really?
A: Well, if he wasn't his mate David Sherlock is going to be very surprised.

Q: But doesn't that violate the cardinal rule of the University of Woolamaloo -- "No pooftahs?"
A: We recently spoke to Bruce and he likes Graham's work so much that for him he's willing to make an exception. So there.

Q: Was Graham really an alcoholic?
A: Definitely yes. At his peak he was reportedly consuming two quarts of gin a day.

Q: When did Graham Chapman die?
A: He died on October 4, 1989, just one day before Monty Python's 20th anniversary. As Kim 'Howard' Johnson said, "Somehow I think Heaven has become a slightly sillier place." And now, the biggie:

Q: What did he die of?
A: Graham Chapman died of cancer.

The rumors of him contracting AIDS are completely false. It must come from that infamous (and yet utterly stupid) notion that dead + homosexual = AIDS.

In about 1992, when the Python newsgroup (alt.fan.monty-python) first started up there was a long and tedious debate based on the theory Homosexual + Dead = AIDS (apparently nothing much has changed on that front). There were one or two people insistent that he did indeed die of AIDS, so someone in London went to the public records office, checked in the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, pulled out a copy of Graham Chapman's death certificate and posted it. (The point is, this comes from a valid source.)

The primary cause of death was cancer of the larynx (throat) with secondary cancers elsewhere, including the liver. Cancer of the liver is quite common (and fatal) but it is usually a sign of cancer elsewhere; the liver gets affected only in the final stages. Liver failure will eventually kill you if pneumonia doesn't get you first.

Death certificates in the UK are required by law to state both the primary and secondary causes of death - in the case of Graham, he died of pneumonia as a result of cancer of the larynx which had spread to many other sites, including the liver.

Q: Where is the final resting place of Graham Chapman?
A: He was cremated, and rumor has it that some of his ashes were scattered over the first row of the 25th anniversary Python screening in LA. His companion, David Sherlock, still keeps plenty on hand, possibly for future screenings. Eric once joked that they'd be auctioning them off on Pythonline, but this is unlikely. A fake version of the ashes also figured prominently in the Aspen reunion special which aired on HBO and is transcripted in our own Post-Python section.

Q: Where is Carol Cleveland?
A: She has a semi-official web site called "Castle Cleveland." If you would like to visit it head over to "Links." We try to fit her in here as best we can simply because we like her, but the regular Pythons are our focus. Ditto to Neil, Connie, etc. The exception to this is the Bit Players page in our Cast section. Try looking there first.

Q: I really like Neil Innes and want to know more about him. Is this wrong?
A: Yes. But it's okay, you're not alone. Neil actually has a long and shockingly high-quality career which includes rendezvous with Python and the Beatles. He began as the "Urban Spaceman" in the Bonzo Dog (Doo-Dah) Band, a very silly and offbeat group fond of frightening but comical visual performances. Befriending Paul McCartney they appeared in the Beatles film "Magical Mystery Tour," and befriending, among others, Eric Idle, they appeared on the also rather frightening children's comedy program "Do Not Adjust Your Set," the cast of which would evolve into Monty Python. The Bonzos broke up after a few albums (recommended, if you can find them) but Neil was smart enough to hang about with the Pythons and appeared in the episode "Anything Goes" as well as in Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and the Python live shows, in which he performed a few of his tunes between acts. At the end of the Drury Lane show Neil became bored with his one line in the Silly Elections sketch and broke out, in a bizarre adlib, into "Climb Every Mountain," encouraging everyone to join in, and this wound up on the album. Then there's the matter of Eric getting his own show, called "Rutland Weekend Television," designed to be taped entirely on a near-nonexistent budget. RWT, ranging out of necessity from stultifying boredom to hilarious Pythonesque comedy, went on, mostly unwatched, for two seasons and then was never heard from again. It is hard, though worth it, to find copies of today. But anyway it featured Neil Innes in every episode, and he sang a lot, and it also inspired the tv movie "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash," starring a Beatles parody band: Dirk (Eric, who doesn't sing), Nasty (Neil, who doesn't dance), Stig (Ricky Fataar, who doesn't speak), Barry (John Halsey, who doesn't juggle), and Leppo (Ollie Halsall, who doesn't really appear in the film at all). The film gained great reviews, if "disappointing" ratings, but Neil's music was the real star. At some point Neil released a couple of fairly tough-to-find-but-worth-it albums and also had his own tv series, the "Innes Book of Records," basically an early music video effort rarely interrupted by plot. Facing baldness and obscurity, Neil mostly sat out the 80's but in 1996, inspired by the Beatles Anthology talks, released his best album yet, called "The Rutles Archaeology." Neil returned as a balder Nasty, and Stig and Barry also joined in the fun. Leppo had sadly passed away and Dirk, AKA Eric, refused to show up because he thought it was "dumb." His loss. Old Leppo tracks were worked in, as well as many good Beatles jokes, for those who can spot them. Additional funny tracks were tossed onto the Japanese release. And a small but devoted group of Neilfans waits for his next move, if one will even be made. See our "Links" page for Neil on the web, including the wonderful "Words of Innespiration."

Q: Mick, will the Rutles ever get together again?
A: I hope not!

Q: What happened to Terry Jones' "The Wind in the Willows" movie, starring Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin? Was it released in America?
A: It was released in America, sort of. In America, you have to look for it under the title "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," and it's pretty hard to find. Definitely worth finding, as it is a charming children's film for all ages. But the American release was a disappointing botch job ... almost nobody was able to see it, the release was so small. Sony killed it in theaters, and Disney killed the video, which then passed to Columbia and back to Disney, who released the video after three years with a new title, minor cuts and an ugly box cover as "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." So look for it under that title. You can order it on the 'net, and even Disney has put up information on their website.

Q: In The Medical Love Song, there is a reference to "NSU". What is this?
A: Non-Specific Urethritis. That is, any inflammation of the urethra, caused by an organism not otherwise covered in any other disease.

Q: Koko love Bobo?
A: Yes, Koko love Bobo. But Bobo no love Koko. Koko love Shecky. Love triangle. What to do? Stay tuned.

Q: I was listening to the Contractual Obligation Album the other day and some of the songs seem cut up to me. I'm sure there are verses I'm not hearing. What's going on?
A: The original Contractual Obligation Album, which is mostly musical, had to be cut up heavily to fit on one LP. Portions of songs like "Henry Kissinger" and "A Medical Love Song" were snipped for time, and only recently have the full versions of the songs been released on "Monty Python Sings." At our own page, even in transcripts of the abridged album, we list the lyrics to the longest version known.

Q: What is shandy?
A: Shandy is a mixed drink of beer with

ginger beer or lemonade (for the US readers, substitute "lemonade" with "7-UP").

Q: Are all the philosophers in the "Bruces' Philosophers Song" real philosophers?
A: Of course, Bruce. Look 'em up in the 'pedia.

Q: Where can I find lyrics to Python songs?
A: At our own page under "Song Lyrics." This is in HTML format but can be saved in plaintext.

Q: I've heard that The Philosopher's Drinking Song and The Lumberjack Song both have different lyrics for a few phrases. What are the correct lyrics for these songs?
A: Actually there is no one correct version. Usually if someone posts a transcription of a song or sketch, it has been taken from only one source. The Pythons on many occasions performed songs or sketches differently by changing lyrics or adding different conclusions and transitions. An excellent example of this is the Pet Shop (Dead Parrot) sketch that can be found on many of the Pythons' recordings. At our own page we try to post the sketch exactly as it appears in the recording we're transcribing, and if we're just posting the sketch itself without other explanation we will include any part of any version that seems worth including to us, and have even been known to make up bits of it ourselves. It's all part of growing up and not being British. See the Sketches section.

Q: How is Palin pronounced? Is it (pay-lin) or (pal-lin) ?
A: