At Last The 1948 Show

"...John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor and the Lovely Aimi McDonald are hilarious and very Pythonseque in this series. After working on THE FROST REPORT, this move into more free sketch comedy gave all the cast, also talented writers, the chance to really cut loose.

Some of this material, reworked, found its way into Python programmes but it is wonderful to see it in its original form. If you are a Python fan, indeed, a fan of Brit comedy in general, grab up this collection and savor some of the funniest material of its time..." Amazon reviewer LP45CD Woman

...approached Michael Palin to work with them. He brought in his writing partner, Terry Jones, while Eric Idle & Terry Gilliam just seemed to sort of fall in along the way, with the first Monty Python episode going to air in late 1969. 

Due to programming problems that played the first series late at night in some areas of the U.K. (and in an era of few or no repeats), response was muted...but a groundswell had started through wonderfully high-quality silly sketches linked by Terry Gilliam's surreal animation links (influenced by the Yellow Submarine movie), which frequently gave the programs a hip, alternative, arty feel, something far beyond sketch comedy.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what that "feel" was. Perhaps it was just:

• the right combination of talents
• being in the right place, the at-that-time fairly easy-going BBC
• at the right time, when there were enough university boomers intellectually ready for anarchistic comedy  

Although Python  gained a reputation for occasionally being highbrow, sketch comedy was their bread and butter. Many of their sketches have become part of popular culture, known throughout the world e.g.:

• The Dead Parrot Sketch
• I'm A Lumberjack
• Nudge Nudge etc.

...some with punch-lines, some just spinning into even more ludicrous directions. By 1973, with some smart marketing decisions, such as releasing annual record albums and their two books:

The Big Red Book

The Brand New Monty Python Papperbok

"...One of the most original and groundbreaking humor classics of all time, the Papperbok was compiled for Methuen in the early 1970s by the young Monty Python team at the height of their surreal powers...(and) the Papperbok was a testing ground for ideas equally as fresh and funny as the Flying Circus material. It is full of:

• colorful and rude illustrations by Terry Gilliam
• oddball instruction sheets
• schoolboy stories about adventure and mischief
• misleading horoscopes
• thrilling features-such as "Hamster: A Warning," "The Python Book of Etiquette," and "The London Casebook of Detective Ren Descartes"
• zany competitions
• fake editorials
• spurious film reviews and
• some of the oddest miscellany ever pressed between the pages of a book.

The extraordinary comic genius of Monty Python is on full display in this humor classic, too-long unavailable and now back by popular demand...." Amazon blurb

...mostly created by literally cut-and-pasting sketches, photos and animation stills from the TV shows,  the Monty Python team were recognised globally as some of the funniest men in existence. In just a few short years they released an astonishing ouput of television:

• TV Series 1    13 episodes 1970
• TV Series 2    13 episodes 1972
• TV Series 3    13 episodes 1973

...By the end of series 3, the team was crippled by constant internal struggles and obviously pulling in different directions. John Cleese eventually left them to create his own TV series, Fawlty Towers and the Cleese-less Pythons went on to create:

• TV Series 4     6 episodes 1974

However, Cleese continued working on their 3 subsequent Monty Python movies and rejoined the team for concerts, including an American tour which resulted in another movie, Monty Python Live At The Hollywood Bowl.

Monty Python weren't just a comedy show, they were a phenomenon, capturing the minds of young people around the world with their intelligent, anarchic silliness. Perhaps the nearest modern comparison might be South Park:

• but without the general nastiness and bile &
• with the input of six world class, highly critical comics

It's difficult to recommend a television show that's now almost 40 years old, because technically, the production values appear so terribly amateur. Nevertheless, there is much comic genius within these programs, and any serious fan of comedy should check them out.

Presently the individual series of Monty Python are quite expensive, so if you're interested in purchasing them, I'd recommend...

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus

...which provides all 39 episodes made for TV plus the Monty Python LIVE DVD. For the serious fan, there are also two volumes of the complete TV scripts...

The Complete Monty Python scripts Vol. 1

The Complete Monty Python scripts Vol. 2

The team have also collaborated on numerous films & TV series:

• Graham Chapman wrote an autobiography (of sorts), passed away in 1990
• John Cleese co-wrote books, TV programs and movies, including in A Fish Called Wanda 
• Terry Gilliam is now an established...though feared Hollywood director, with a reputation that has grown far beyond his Pythonic beginnings
• Eric Idle has written two novels, published a diary, recorded an album of smutty songs, acted in a number of comedy movies and has lately been instrumental in the creation of Spamalot, a musical based on their movie, Monty Python & The Holy Grail
• Terry Jones has written and/or directed several movies, written several children's books,  and several more as an amateur and enthusiastic historian & 
• Michael Palin worked with Terry Jones on Ripping Yarns during the 1970s, was a successful actor for much of the 1980s and for many years, has concentrated on his several well-received travelogue TV series and books