Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
Cover of the British VHS release.
Written by	Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam
Directed by	Ian MacNaughton
Starring	Monty Python, Connie Booth
Country of origin	West Germany
Language(s)	German
No. of episodes	2
Production
Producer(s)	Alfred Biolek, Thomas Woitkewitsch
Location(s)	Bavaria
Cinematography	Justus Pankau, Ernst Schmid; animation by Terry Gilliam
Running time	45 minutes
Production company(s)	Westdeutscher Rundfunk Python (Monty) Pictures
Broadcast
Original channel	ARD
Picture format	Film
Original run	3 January 1972 – 18 December 1972

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (Monty Python's Flying Circus) consisted of two 45-minute Monty Python German television comedy specials produced by WDR for West German television. The two episodes were first broadcast in January and December 1972 and were shot entirely on film and mostly on location in Bavaria, with the first episode recorded in German and the second recorded in English and then dubbed into German.

Production

While visiting the UK in the early 1970s, German entertainer and TV producer Alfred Biolek caught notice of the Pythons, and excited by their innovative, absurd sketches, he invited them over to Germany in 1971 and 1972 to write two special German episodes of their show Monty Python's Flying Circus and act in them. The result, Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus, was produced by Biolek in co-production with Westdeutscher Rundfunk. Eric Idle has described the conception of the specials as "The Germans came to us and said 'Look, we haven't got a sense of humour, but we understand you do. Can we use yours?'"

The second episode was recorded in English because of issues with the German accents of some of the members: only John Cleese and Michael Palin spoke German in linguistic perfection that could be easily understood by native speakers.^[1] The other Python performers all had very thick accents (particularly Terry Jones), making them difficult to understand. In some cases, the episode was broadcast with German subtitles.^[1]

Sketches

Some of the material was reworked from At Last the 1948 Show.

Footage from these specials was used to fill time between live stage performances, as seen in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Also, "Ten Seconds of Sex" from episode two was shown in Series 3 episode 9, "Nude Organist," of the TV show.

Several new sketches were written specifically for this show, including "William Tell", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "The Merchant of Venice" as performed by a herd of cows. Only "The Lumberjack Song" was translated from a previously existing BBC "Monty Python" episode.

List of episodes

Episode 1 (produced in 1971 and originally broadcast on ARD TV on 3 Jan 1972, at 9 pm CET)

• An Introduction to Monty Python By Frau Newsreader Claudia Doren
• The Journey of The Olympic Flame
• Monty Python’s Guide to Albrecht Dürer
• Anita Ekberg Sings Albrecht Dürer
• The Merchant of Venice as performed by a herd of cows
• Doctor Breeder
• Little Red Riding Hood
• Silly Olympics
• Stake Your Claim
• The Lumberjack Song with The Austrian Border Police
• The Bavarian Restaurant

The "Little Red Riding Hood" (in a much shorter edited form) and "Silly Olympics" sketches were dubbed into English and included in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl; "Stake Your Claim" turned up on the English language record Another Monty Python Record.

Episode 2 (produced in 1972 and originally broadcast on ARD on 18 Dec 1972, at 9 pm CET)

• William Tell
• Euro Sex Maniacs
• The Sycophancy Show
• Mouse Reserve/Fish Park
• Chicken Mining
• The Philosophers' Football Match – Greeks vs Germans, First Half
• Colin "Bomber" Harris vs Colin "Bomber" Harris
• The Philosophers' Football Match – Greeks vs Germans, Second Half
• 10 Seconds of Sex
• I Want A Hearing Aid
• The Tale of Happy Valley (The Princess with The Wooden Teeth)

An English language version of "The Philosophers' Football Match" was included in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. "The Tale of Happy Valley" turned up on the English language record Monty Python's Previous Record.

Media

Guerilla Films released both episodes on a single VHS tape, available in either PAL or NTSC format, in 1998. The American A&E Network used this release as the basis of their DVD releases of the same material, with the first episode being included on Monty Python Live and the second episode included on The Life of Python. (This arrangement resulted in the second episode being omitted from A&E's otherwise-complete 16-DVD box set of Monty Python's Flying Circus.)

The Australian DVD company Rainbow Entertainment also released both episodes, on one DVD.

The Swiss publisher Haffmans released a hardbound book containing the scripts of both episodes, with introductions and essays by the German producers, in 1998. This book has not been translated into English, as of 2007.

Both episodes have been shown on the Paramount Comedy Channel in the UK.

Lost sketches

Several behind-the-scenes photos from the specials' production were published in the group's autobiography,^[1] some of which were from sketches cut from the specials:

• A version of the Marriage Guidance Counsellor sketch.
• A sketch involving a flute player (Graham Chapman) in front of a German sign.
• A version of the Sir Edward Ross sketch
• An alternate ending to the first special, in which two stage hands are carrying a giant sign that says ENDE off a huge field. Behind the sign is Terry Jones' singer character from the Albrecht Dürer sketch.

References

External links

• Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus at the Internet Movie Database
• PythoNET transcripts and multimedia from orangecow.org
• Guerilla Films site with history and interviews