As informative as it is engaging and entertaining, this book will appeal to film and media scholars, popular culture enthusiasts, and Monty Python fans alike.

A look at the work of the members of the Flying Circus before and after their work together describes how they met, provides exclusive interviews, and discusses such films as A Fish Called Wanda, Brazil, Nuns on the Run, and The Fisher King. Original.

In 1969, the BBC aired the first episode of a new comedy series titled Monty Python's Flying Circus, and the rest, as they say, is history. An instant success, the show ran until 1974, producing a total of 45 episodes. Despite the show's very English humor and allusions to many things British, the series developed a cult following outside the United Kingdom, particularly in the United States. Known for its outrageous humor, occasionally controversial content, and often silly spirit, Monty Python's Flying Circus poked fun at nearly all institutions-domestic or foreign, grand or intimate, sacred or not. Indeed, many of the allusions and references in the program were uniquely British and routinely obscure, and therefore not always understood or even noticed outside the British Isles. This exhaustive reference identifies and explains the plethora of cultural, historical, and topical allusions of this landmark series. In this resource, virtually every allusion and reference that appeared in an episode-whether stated by a character, depicted in the mise-en-scene, or mentioned in the printed scripts-is identified and explained.Organized chronologically by episode, each entry is listed alphabetically, indicates what sketch it appeared in, and is cross-referenced between episodes. Entries cover literary and metaphoric allusions, symbolisms, names, peoples, and places; as well as myriad social, cultural, and historical elements (photos, songs, slogans, caricatures) that populate and inform these episodes. Entries Include: * Arabella Plunkett * Group of famous characters from famous paintings * Hell's Grannies * HRH The Dummy Princess Margaret * Kandinsky * On the Dad's Liver Bachelors at Large * Raymond Baxter type * Scun * Spanish Inquisition * Third Parachute Brigade Amateur Dramatic Society * total cashectomy * Two-Sheds * Umbonga's hostile opening * Vicar sitting thin and unhappy in a pot * What's all this then? Monty Python's Flying Circus: An Utterly Complete, Thoroughly Unillustrated, Absolutely Unauthorized Guide to Possibly All the References from Arthur Two Sheds Jackson to Zambesi