Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus

A two-part mini-series by British comedy group Monty Python made especially for German TV.

Being a massive fan of Monty Python and Monty Python's Flying Circus I was a bit sceptical how a German version would work. Surely you lose something by having them do the skits in German and then having to read the subtitles to get some of the jokes (for those of us who don't speak German, of course)? Can the Pythons even speak German?

Yes, they can speak German, to varying degrees. You do lose a smidge of the impact by having it spoken in German and then having to read sub-titles but it largely feels quite seamless. Moreover, only Episode 1 is in German. Episode 2 is in English and might as well be a Flying Circus, rather than Fliegender Zirkus, episode.

The quality of the humour is on the same level as the Flying Circus stuff, i.e. Wonderfully absurd and brilliant, so no issues there. There are quite a lot of skits from Flying Circus, e.g. Lumberjack Song (in German), Olympic Philosophy Final, Prince Charming marries Mitzi Gaynor, so it's not all new. That would be the only negative, the fact that a large portion of this isn't original. Still very funny though, even if you have seen it before.

I am a total GEEK and must admit that have seen just about everything done by the Pythons--including these German episodes (done either in German language or subtitled). And, because I am such a geek, I loved them. BUT, to someone unfamiliar with the team, I don't recommend this until you've seen their other work first. For example, the one episode that consisted mostly of a long fairy tale was very dry and not filled with the outrageous laughs of many of their other episodes--though it was great seeing John Cleese as Red Riding Hood. I also LIKED watching the travelers in Germany being abused (slapping them with fish, etc.) but I realize that this might not be everyone's cup of tea. You won't find as big a laughs as the Parrot Sketch in this batch but a few of their classic bits are reprised (The Lumberjack skit) along with new material.

BBC America offered the 1st German production for free as part of my local cable company's digital on-demand service so I finally saw it.

It was definitely a surprise to the entire group doing really well with their German. Graham Chapman even attempted to imitate an American tourist speaking German poorly. However, quite a bit of the narration was provided by a professional German announcer.

At first the whole 45 minute effort seemed off and I thought that it was probably since comedy is 90% timing and if you are not comfortable speaking then your timing will likely be off. Later I thought that the material was repetitive from the British show (in tone not content) but that was because the Python crew knew that the German audiences were probably not familiar with their work. As the show progressed and we get an unusual amount of "toilet" humor, I thought that possibly they were using rejected / censored material from their British show. Then I noticed that the whole production was on film instead of the film/ live studio mix of the British show. That's when I realized why I didn't fully enjoy this production.

Compare the troupe's skits from the TV show (most of which were performed in front of live audiences) with the same skits in the film "And For Something Completely Different". The energy and timing, the use of multiple TV cameras versus one film camera and the input from the audience all combined to improve their work. Imagine if they had done the Bavarian restaurant sketch on their regular show, it would have been funny as opposed to amusing.

I can watch some of the TV episodes over and over, this German one... once is enough.

For the obsessed fan, a rare treat. For non-python people probably just a strange foreign curiosity. Yes, it is real. The Beatles sang in German, Abba sang in German; and then Monty Python acting on an invitation made two episodes for German / Austrian television in 1972.

It is essentially the same concept as an English episode, but in German. The paintings by Albrecht Dürer, fall victim to silly animations. Little Red Riding Hood shows up too. A number of familiar sketches, including the Lumberjack song, work as well in German as they do in English. For those familiar with the original series, it is a very nice mix of known and new material.

In fact, some material has been re-used later with new voice-overs, the Philosophers football match and the Silly Olympics for example, turn up at the Hollywood Bowl performance in 1982 (but the caption gives it away: Epikur is the German name for Epicurus).

All in all, it is for fans only. Relatively unknown and only the first episode is included on the 'Monty Python Live' DVD. The DVD quality is poor. Apparently no German DVD is available! Pity.

Nevertheless, for real fans, it's 'Go get it now!'.

Can you get any funnier this really shows people they we'rent just known in England but Germany as well. Imagine that they not only took time to look through the German landscape but also learned the language. Saturday night Live certinley would not go that far to do something like that. Real classic gems. I wish they would have made more of them.