Monty Python's Flying Circus Region 1 question (1 Viewer)

[Charlie O.]

Is it true there are a number of censorship cuts for region 1 DVDs?

 

[Rob Lutter]

There's a censorship cut in one show that I know of (everyone knows the "MASTURBATE" cut)... but that was how it originally aired on the BBC.

 

[Jon B NY]

I bought that box set a few years back. Haven't played a disc in over a year, but I don't remember any really bad censorship cuts. Nudity and language was still there to my rememberance. But then again, my memory is bad.

 

[JohnSmith]

Apparently so..

http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparison...e.php?fid=2232

:frowning:

 

[Michael Reuben]

I don't take that link seriously. A generic statement like this isn't terribly credible:

Does anyone know of a detailed listing of these alleged cuts? It shouldn't be that hard to compile, since the show scripts have all been published.

M.

 

[Jeff Kuykendall]

There is a Monty Python fan website that lists the cuts, but for the life of me, I can't find it.

The "masturbation" line has aired numerous times uncensored; in fact, for years I had a version taped off Comedy Central with that line intact. I thought it would be uncensored in the A&E boxes when they started coming out, so I threw my tape away prematurely. Oops.

I can say that there aren't very many "edits" to the show in those boxes, and A&E wasn't censoring it--it's just that they used the prints they were given, which weren't always the completely uncut versions. There is still nudity, violence, etc., intact--and in abundance, thankfully.

The biggest crime, in my opinion, is that they didn't put more episodes on each DVD, or have any substantial extras.

Hopefully a better expert will step forward...

 

[Jay Pennington]

I googled on groups and found these tidbits. Cut-and-pasted from a few different posts by different authors (too lazy to attribute):

====
There are a few episodes that have cuts, I think they're all from
Series 3. One is the "Book at Bedtime" show as mentioned. This show
ended with a fade to black, and then an Eric Idle announcement over a
BBC logo for fake programming on the BBC, including a sitcom called
"Dad's Pooves". I think whoever transferred the episode saw the fade
to black and assumed the episode was over, not noticing the extra bit
at the end. Python was well known for having extra stuff after the
credits, sometimes even placing the credits in the middle of the
program. This episode also has a sketch missing from the beginning, a
"Party Political Broadcast" sketch. I've never seen this sketch
anywhere, even when the episode is shown on Comedy Central this is cut
out. I think it might be missing footage at this point.

#


> One was a Gilliam
>cartoon, something with Jesus in it,

I believe it shows a telephone message, illustrated by a bright light, running
across a number of telephone poles, one of which has Jesus crucified on it.

John Cleese was very uncomfortable w. it.

#

One censored piece overlooked is the row of animated crucifixes in the
"which church" episode, which the Pythons decided to cut themselves. A
brief flash frame of it is in the "this episode highlights" montage at the
end of that show.

#

...the "Prejudice" sketch remaining intact ("Of course it's not just niggers we're prejudiced against on this
show - it's stinking homosexuals too!!!" has to be about the most controversial line I've ever heard in Monty Python)

###


Apologies for any offense, just pasting...

I am unclear which of these cuts being discussed were cut before original broadcast, and which were altered later.

 

[Jeff Kuykendall]

Terry Gilliam's Jesus-on-the-telephone-pole animated bit was thought lost for years, but recently rediscovered and screened in England. It would be nice to reinstate it on some future DVD release.



Here's a page reconstructing the sequence.

 

[Malcolm R]

A&E uses that excuse a lot when releasing BBC material. They used it last year when there were edits discovered on the "Mr. Bean" set.

You'd think they'd have been more careful to ask if they're receiving the full, uncut masters...but apparently not.

 

[Terry St]

3 to 4 half-hour shows per DVD is perfectly fine. The crime they did commit was to produce the most hideously command-restricted set of DVD's I've ever seen. Don't even try to watch these without region-killer or something similar than disables all the freaking P-Ups they added to this set. The Monty Python set was the first and *last* A&E DVD set I will ever buy.