At Last the 1948 Show

Contrary to popular belief, Monty Python's Flying Circus did not spring fully-formed out of thin air. In the heady days of the early sixties lots of young British comic performers were coming up with ideas for shows that, like radio's Goon Show of the fifties, would break the mould of the rather stuffy sitcoms of the time. In 1967, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor got together, with "the lovely" Aimee McDonald as presenter, to create 1967's "At Last the 1948 Show" (the title was based on the idea that TV executives would sit on shows for years before finally broadcasting them). The result was a surreal comic sketch show that can hold its own against the best Python material. Indeed, one sketch involving four impoverished Yorkshiremen, was later incorporated into Python's live routine, and some other 1948 Show sketches were used in the Pythons' two German TV specials. Other highlights include a rather strange English-for-beginners playlet in which Cleese refuses to stick to the script, and a Newhart-style single-header in which Cleese plays a neurotic headmaster (shades of Basil Fawlty already!) The show was produced for the commercial ITV Network, and the copyrights were held by David Frost's production company. Sadly after a few years this company decided to wipe the series, and only two complete episodes out of 26 survived. Some best-of-series compilations were later found in an archive in Sweden, of all places. While the loss of the complete series is a tragedy for students of TV comedy, I can only hope that the surviving material will someday be released on video, so we can all have a good laugh at what's left.

This was one point on the starting ground for what would eventually become the Monty Python troupe. Both John Cleese and Graham Chapman were writers as well as performers on this show along with Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Of course we can't forget the lovely Aimi MacDonald, who always told us that she was both lovely and Aimi MacDonald and provided a lot of linking sketches. Again something that Python would employ when they started.

There are very few of the sketches, much less entire episodes, that are still available. But DVDs were released and while the visual quality of the episodes are poor it shows what these people were capable of doing. It stands up well as an example of pre-Python and you can see where some of their influence came from.

Now say it with me, "we all love the lovely Aimi MacDonald".

Okay, it is black-and-white, but that is what we had in those days. We considered ourselves lucky to have pictures! We were happier then, despite being poor. BECAUSE we were poor! Not long before The 1948 show, this zany British humour could only be found on the radio, in ISIRTA (I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again) or the Goon Show. (Thinks! Did not mention Telegoons! Thinks again... should not think aloud). Afterwards came Monty Python, admittedly zanier and more polished, but At Last The 1948 Show has some advantages for being early in the learning process of translating weirdness to television: it has a warmer touch to it, partly because the actors are more candid, and partly because they are not trying to out-do what Spike Milligan nor Do Not Adjust Your Sets is up to (in fact there is friendly interaction with DNAYS).

Some of the skits here were re-workings of material from radio or live performances, or would be repeated later, elsewhere. Yet these were often the best, the definitive versions. The acting isn't amateurish, it is more like a live performance; they are obviously comfortable with ad-libbing and everyone works well together. By not taking themselves too seriously, even the "lovely" female link between segments, they break molds and the viewer cannot help feeling this is something revolutionary, even today.

But mostly this series is great because it has plenty of extremely funny moments in it, funnier than Monty Python, in my opinion, and done with great style. Pure, clean, unadulterated fun.

A quite early British sketch show and a precursor to the eventual Monty Python and The Goodies, we're joined by comedians John Cleese, Marty Feldman, Graham Chapman, and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Hosted by Ami MacDonald, the series is a pretty typical sketch format even for being so early, sketches typically play one into another or are separated by a short studio segment with MacDonald. Considered lost for multiple years as the original studio had discarded all the original footage; the series was eventually rediscovered on multiple occasions and I ended up catching 5 episodes from a late DVD release of some Swedish archives, which unfortunately visually look quite poor but the jokes play the same. However in recent years even more has been found, and on YouTube you can find extant footage of 11 of the 13 original episodes. As for the sketches themselves, they're quite funny, and I did find myself laughing out loud more than once. Very few of the sketches are dated, in theres little pop culture or political humour in the show, which helps it remain funny even after so many years. If you're into sketch comedy, like older tv, or especially like the later works of Monty Python I'd certainly say give this a go.

I watched the DVD release of the surviving material from "At last the 1948 show" and enjoyed it very much.

The show is a funny humor show, more "classic" in its form than Monty Python and The Goodies. Ami MacDonald is a self-centered hostess pushing herself at any possible moment, while Cleese, Chapman, Brooke-Taylor and Feldman do sketches in-between.

MacDonald is really the most daring part. Otherwise, much is classic punchline-driven sketches. However, beyond the punchlines and laughter tracks, you can feel the humor of what was to come. There are sketches very much in Monty Python-style (for example, "Let's speak English"), as well as Goodies style "Chartered accountant dance"). The show is most famous for including the original "Four Yourshiremen", which was written by Feldman and Brooke-Taylor, later used by Monty Python despite not really being their style. (There shouldn't be a punchline in a Monty Python sketch.)

Fans of Marty Feldman, Monty Python or the Goodies (or why not all three?) will like this both for its humor and its historic/nostalgic value.