Monty Python sued ABC for good reason

“Monty Python’s Flying Circus” It’s been a tough sell in the US, and it’s easy to see why. Many of the TV shows and media tropes that the Python team parodied in their famously silly comedy show were unbearably off-putting for British audiences. There were jokes about local TV personalities, parodies of English-language news programmes, and messages about the BBC’s tendency to cram dry and wholly unentertaining documentaries into its programming lineups. (And even years later, Python’s John Cleese admitted he had “no idea” Why the drug continues to resonate in the United States)

The BBC had a deal with Time Life Television to broadcast reruns of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” in the United States, but after reaching an agreement, Time Life decided He considered the series “very British” For American audiences. Eventually, it was shelved. Time-Life’s suspicions about the Pythons were proven correct when the band’s 1971 anthology film “And Now for Something Completely Different” became a box office hit. Additionally, the Six Silly Men performed a 30-minute segment of the material on a 1973 episode of “The Tonight Show” and it went like a lead balloon.

It seemed that “Flying Circus” did not find its audience in the United States until the PBS station in Dallas, Texas – KERA – began broadcasting episodes in full. Once PBS audiences (at least the curious ones) finally had the chance to see “Flying Circus” without a sheer, they instantly fell in love. Other PBS stations around the country also began broadcasting it, and the show finally took off. Then, in 1975, the first Python film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, opened in theaters to reasonable acclaim, attracting more Americans to the Python broadcast network on PBS.

Then the networks got involved. ABC picked up “Flying Circus” for national mainstream broadcast in 1975. However, puzzled by the show and concerned by some of the naughty segments, ABC (in its limited wisdom) decided to take the few episodes it had purchased and cut them. They were made into a 90-minute anthology special.

The Pythons didn’t like that. No no. never. actually, The New York Times reported in 1975 That Monty Python sued ABC and insisted on taking back their shows.

They won.

When ABC got its dirty little mitts on “Flying Circus,” it clearly didn’t know what it was going to do with the show. More than anything else, he was concerned about some of the show’s more raunchy elements; “Flying Circus” features a small amount of nudity (which wouldn’t have been allowed on American television), and could be a bit sexier, making toilet jokes more overtly. It is also worth noting that American television programs in the mid-1970s required multiple commercial breaks, while British programs could run a little longer. Time was a legitimate concern. How could ABC fit 30 minutes of filmed material into a 26-minute spot?

A memo about the “Flying Circus” was distributed throughout the ABC network, And the good people at The New Yorker I revealed it.

The infamous memo I also talked about it on Mental Flossnoted that ABC was skittish about some very specific things. The deal was for six episodes, and given its concerns, it appeared to be all six episodes of the show’s fourth season since 1974: “The Golden Age of Inflation,” “Michael Ellis,” “The Light Entertainment War,” “Hamlet” and “Mr. Neutron.” And “the party’s political broadcast.” When the first three of these episodes were broadcast as a specially cut and edited 90-minute special on October 3, 1975, a full 22 minutes of material were cut. Apparently ABC didn’t like the idea A flat dead cat used as a doorbellShe was not keen on explicit references to colonic irrigation. ABC also cut out some expletives like “fuck” and “oh lord.”

When ABC’s Pythons caught wind of cutting three of their episodes, they were furious. They wrote their shows to flow a certain way, and they objected strenuously to the interruption of that flow and to rude censorship. As ABC prepared to air a second 90-minute special, scheduled for December of that year, it similarly intended to cut the material into strips. To prevent the second special from being broadcast, the Pythons filed a lawsuit against ABC.

But the lawsuit was not for any financial compensation. The Pythons just wanted their show to retain its artistic integrity. only Terry Gilliam, the only American in the groupMichael Palin appeared in court in person to object to what ABC was doing. The judge in this case, Maurice E. Lasker, to issue a judgment based on the loss of artistic control over an imported television program, is something that is not often discussed in court. In fact, ABC was legally allowed to edit the show however it wanted, so it wasn’t even a legal issue. I repeat, it was all about integrity. The judge admitted, and it’s funny, that ABC robbed the band of their “rebellious life.”

ABC eventually aired a truncated version as it had intended, but a court injunction required it to be broadcast with an on-screen disclaimer that it had been edited for television. However, after it aired, the Python team appealed their case and actually won. They banned ABC from airing the truncated specials again. The judge struck his little gavel, and from then on, “The Flying Circus” had to be broadcast uncut.

The courtroom win also turned out to be a legal coup. Thanks to some byzantine detail in contracts between the BBC and ABC, it was revealed that the copyright to ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ would be released in 1980. The ABC case allowed ‘Flying Circus’ to return to the hands of the Snakes themselves, giving them Control the entire display. Finally it became their property.