150-455: " Archaeology Today ", recorded on 9 October 1970 and broadcast on 17 November 1970, was the 21st episode of the popular British television comedy Monty Python's Flying Circus which was created by the Monty Python group. As stated on the Monty Python's Flying Circus Wiki, "The show often targets the idiosyncrasies of British life, especially that of professionals, and is at times politically charged"; this episode in particular seems to target
300-420: A bazooka out of the back of a trailer, the narrator ( John Cleese ) explains how the fearless backwoodsmen brothers have chosen a life of violence in a world where only the fittest survive. It is the brothers thirst of adventure that lead them off mosquito hunting. When they are asked why they don't simply use fly spray, Roy answers "well, where's the sport in that?". Suddenly, Hank spots the first mosquito of
450-441: A "series of linked nuclear families with a 'father' in common". Polyandry, the practice of a woman having more than one husband at one time, is much less prevalent than polygyny. It is specifically provided in the legal codes of some countries, such as Gabon . Polyandry is believed to be more common in societies with scarce environmental resources, as it is believed to limit human population growth and enhance child survival. It
600-505: A December 1970 meeting: "The Queen Will Be Watching" in which the troupe mocks the UK national anthem , and the " Undertakers sketch " which took a comedic turn on how to dispose of the body of a loved one. The BBC executives criticised producer MacNaughton for not alerting them to the content prior to airing. According to Palin, via his published diary, the BBC started to censor the programme within
750-447: A Monty Python sketch . Monty Python's Flying Circus is a sketch comedy show, though it does not adhere to any regular format. The sketches include live-action skits performed by Graham Chapman , John Cleese , Eric Idle , Terry Jones , Michael Palin , and Terry Gilliam , along with animations created by Gilliam, frequently used as linking devices or interstitial between skits. During the first three series, Cleese would be dressed in
900-552: A brief parody of " Tonight " from West Side Story was removed. Though it was later determined that this version never even aired on BBC at all, instead was first seen in the American broadcasts. There have also been reports of substituting different performances of classical music in some uses, presumably because of performance royalties. A Region 2 DVD release of Series 1–4 was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2007. This included certain things which had been cut from
1050-580: A choreographer (Idle), and being joined by a chorus of spokesmen dancing behind him. The camera passes two Labour Party spokesmen practising ballet, and an animation featuring Edward Heath in a tutu. Once deemed lost, a home-recorded tape of this sketch, captured from a broadcast from Buffalo, New York PBS outlet WNED-TV , turned up on YouTube in 2008. Another high-quality recording of this sketch, broadcast on WTTW in Chicago, has also turned up on YouTube. The Buffalo version can be seen as an extra on
1200-427: A community can increase through the addition of other wives, who add to the family's prosperity or symbolize conspicuous consumption (much as a large house, domestic help, or expensive vacations operate in a western country ). For such reasons, senior wives sometimes work hard or contribute from their own resources to enable their husbands to accumulate the bride price for an extra wife. Polygyny may also result from
1350-405: A dislike for the show, with some BBC documents describing the show as "disgusting and nihilistic ". Some within the BBC had been more upbeat on how the first series had turned out and had congratulated the group accordingly, but a more general dislike for the show had already made an impact on the troupe, with Cleese announcing that he would be unlikely to continue to participate after the making of
1500-586: A dispensation to take a second wife. The double marriage was to be done in secret, however, to avoid public scandal. Some fifteen years earlier, in a letter to the Saxon Chancellor Gregor Brück, Luther stated that he could not "forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture." (" Ego sane fateor, me non posse prohibere, si quis plures velit uxores ducere, nec repugnat sacris literis. ") In Sub-Saharan Africa , tensions have frequently erupted between advocates of
1650-427: A few more rounds from his machine gun . Hank then proceeds by pulling out an enormous curved knife and skins the mosquito. It is said that the wings of a fully grown mosquito can be sold for anything up to point eight of a penny of the open market. After a long and hard day of hunting the two brothers return to their camp for a restful night. Before they can rest, the two brothers, surrounded by their trophies, discuss
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#17327728138881800-600: A hearty laugh from the studio audience . Then-US President Richard Nixon was also frequently mocked, as was Conservative party leader Edward Heath , prime minister for much of the series' run. The British police were also a favourite target, often acting bizarrely, stupidly, or abusing their authority, frequently in drag. There were a total of 45 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus made across four series. Two episodes were produced in German for WDR ( Westdeutscher Rundfunk ), both titled Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus ,
1950-525: A man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 1 Timothy 3:2 states: Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher, See verse 12 regarding deacons having only one wife. Similar counsel is repeated in the first chapter of the Epistle to Titus . Periodically, Christian reform movements that have sought to rebuild Christian doctrine based on
2100-529: A marriage license. The Roman Catholic Church condemns polygamy; the Catechism of the Catholic Church lists it in paragraph 2387 under the head "Other offenses against the dignity of marriage" and states that it "is not in accord with the moral law." Also in paragraph 1645 under the head "The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love" states "The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord,
2250-511: A method of attracting more people and gaining their interest. Two judges ( Eric Idle and Michael Palin ), taking off their robes in a dressing room, chat in a campy manner. One reports that he did his summing-up "in a butch voice", and the jury loved it. They reminisce about flirtations in court. Two middle-aged women ( Eric Idle and Graham Chapman ) meet on a park bench and commiserate: both are exhausted from trivial exertions (making tea, shopping for nothing). They comfort themselves with
2400-511: A middle-aged housewife was louder, shriller, and more dishevelled than that of any of the other Pythons. Examples of this are the " Dead Bishop " sketch, his role as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian , Mrs Linda S-C-U-M in "Mr Neutron" and the café proprietor in " Spam ". Also recurring was the upper-class reserved men, in " Nudge, Nudge " and the "It's a Man's Life" sketch, and incompetent authority figures ( Harry "Snapper" Organs ). He also played
2550-433: A much greater adventure: they are planning a moth hunt. In preparing for the moth hunt, Hank describes how he will use a helicopter to lure the moth away from the flowers. This will present Roy with the perfect opportunity to come along in his Lockheed Starfighter and attack the moth with air-to-air missiles. This article can be related to the field and study of archaeology in many ways. As will be explained, it relates to
2700-518: A new monogamous relationship through death, divorce, or simple dissolution of the relationship, regardless of the length of the relationship (serial monogamy). Anthropologists characterize human beings as “mildly polygynous” or “monogamous with polygynous tendencies.” The average pre-historic man with modern descendants appears to have had children with between 1.5 women (70,000 years ago) to 3.3 women (45,000 years ago), except in East Asia. While
2850-450: A number of households, including mobile children. He says that Britons may have ex‑wives or ex‑brothers‑in‑law, but not an ex‑child . According to him, these "unclear families" do not fit the mold of the monogamous nuclear family. Group marriage is a non-monogamous marriage -like arrangement where three or more adults live together, all considering themselves partners, sharing finances, children, and household responsibilities. Polyamory
3000-729: A party ( Graham Chapman ) introduces John Stokes ( Michael Palin ) to his neighbour A Sniveling Little Rat-Faced Git ( Terry Jones ) and then leaves them to an awkward conversation. John has some trouble absorbing the knowledge that this string of insults is the man's name; meeting A Sniveling Little Rat-Faced's wife, Dreary Fat Boring Old Git ( John Cleese ), doesn't help. John's wife Norah Jane approaches and he reluctantly introduces them by their full names. Mr and Mrs Git chat about how their children, Dirty Lying Little Two-Faced and Ghastly Spotty Horrible Vicious Little, are constantly teased for their unfortunate surname; and about other matters as disgusting as their names. Mr and Mrs Stokes try to escape
3150-533: A political seat to Engelbert Humperdinck . Several recurring characters are played by different Pythons. Both Palin and Chapman played the insanely violent Police Constable Pan Am . Both Jones and Palin portrayed police sergeant Harry 'Snapper' Organs of Q division. Various historical figures were played by a different cast member in each appearance, such as Mozart (Cleese, then Palin), or Queen Victoria (Jones, then Palin, then all five Pythons in Series 4). Some of
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#17327728138883300-493: A significant association with rates of polygamy in sub-Saharan Africa, rather than female agricultural contributions (which are typically relatively small in the West African savanna and sahel, where polygyny rates are higher), finding that polygyny rates decrease significantly with child mortality rates. Polygynous marriages fall into two types: sororal polygyny , in which the co-wives are sisters, and non-sororal , where
3450-492: A social situation feel uncomfortable. The mixing of cultures makes life more interesting but more complicated. The reference to the nun liking the "dirty version" also could be viewed as her saying that she preferred the real version not the censored one, preferring a "real life" situation than one created for public consumption. This episode begins with brothers Hank ( Graham Chapman ) and Roy ( Eric Idle ) walking through what seems to be fairly rough country terrain. As Hank pulls
3600-434: A spouse from a monogamous marriage, i.e. multiple marriages but only one legal spouse at a time (a series of monogamous relationships). According to Danish scholar Miriam K. Zeitzen, anthropologists treat serial monogamy , in which divorce and remarriage occur, as a form of polygamy as it also can establish a series of households that may continue to be tied by shared paternity and shared income. As such, they are similar to
3750-502: A subset of men fathered children and did so with multiple women (and may suggest that many men either did not procreate or did not have children that survived to create modern ancestors). This circumstance could occur for several reasons, but there are three common interpretations: The serial monogamy interpretation of genetic history would be congruent with other findings, such as the fact that humans form pair bonds (although not necessarily for life) and that human fathers invest in at least
3900-772: A time when the 1966 The Royal Guardsmen song Snoopy vs. the Red Baron had been at a peak. Freiherr Manfred von Richthofen , the World War ;I German flying ace known as The Red Baron, commanded the Jagdgeschwader ;1 fighter squadron known as "The Flying Circus". The words "Monty Python" were added because they claimed it sounded like a really bad theatrical agent, the sort of person who would have brought them together, with John Cleese suggesting " Python " as something slimy and slithery, and Eric Idle suggesting "Monty". They later explained that
4050-511: A tuxedo and introduce the show with the phrase "And Now for Something Completely Different". Afterwards, a long-haired man (called the It's man) played by Michael Palin would run all the way to the camera and say "It's.." which would start the show proper. The show's introductory theme, which varied with each series, was also based on Gilliam's animations and was accompanied by a rendition of " The Liberty Bell " march by John Philip Sousa , as performed by
4200-528: A woman enter a wedding registrar's office, and Mr Cook ( Eric Idle ) explains to the registrar that he is dissatisfied with the blonde he married last week and wants to exchange her for this woman ( Barbara Lindley ). The registrar ( Terry Jones ) tries to explain that it can't be done, and Mr Cook tries to haggle, remarking that "I only wanted a bloody good—" He is interrupted by a whistle; a referee ( John Cleese ) enters and takes down Cook's personal information. When he has finished, he blows his whistle again and
4350-493: Is a rare form of marriage that exists not only among poor families, but also the elite. For example, in the Himalayan Mountains polyandry is related to the scarcity of land; the marriage of all brothers in a family to the same wife allows family land to remain intact and undivided. If every brother married separately and had children, family land would be split into unsustainable small plots. In Europe, this outcome
4500-468: Is accepted in the community, the majority of relationships in the society are monogamous in practice – while couples remain in the relationship, which may not be lifelong. In many historical communities, serial monogamy may have been the accepted practice rather than a lifelong monogamous bond. How monogamy is defined when it comes to accepted sexual activity outside of the relationship, however, may differ by society. Recent anthropological data suggest that
4650-539: Is also considered the best singer/songwriter in the group; for example, he played guitar in several sketches and wrote and performed " Always Look on the Bright Side of Life " from The Life of Brian . Unlike Jones, he often played female characters in a more straightforward way, only altering his voice slightly, as opposed to the falsetto shrieking used by the others. Several times, Idle appeared as upper-class, middle-aged women, such as Rita Fairbanks ("Reenactment of
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4800-538: Is also very glamorized and portrayed as being very dangerous. To simply kill a mosquito, both brothers use weapons of mass destruction instead of simple fly spray. The various ways in which archaeology as a field is glamorized are also noted and further explained in Cornelius Holtorf's book From Stonehenge to Las Vegas and in Archaeology as a Brand! . Glamorizing a field like archaeology can be used as
4950-671: Is also well known for his leading role in " The Lumberjack Song ". Palin also often plays heavy-accented foreigners, mostly French ("La marche futile") or German ("Hitler in Minehead"), usually alongside Cleese. In one of the last episodes, he delivers a full speech, first in English, then in French, then in heavily accented German. Of all the Pythons, Palin played the fewest female roles. Among his portrayals of women are Queen Victoria in
5100-682: Is desired by men more for the generation of male offspring whose labor is valued. Anthropologists Douglas R. White and Michael L. Burton discuss and support Jack Goody's observation regarding African male farming systems in "Causes of Polygyny: Ecology, Economy, Kinship, and Warfare" where these authors note: Goody (1973) argues against the female contributions hypothesis. He notes Dorjahn's (1959) comparison of East and West Africa, showing higher female agricultural contributions in East Africa and higher polygyny rates in West Africa, especially
5250-412: Is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to husband and wife in mutual and unreserved affection. Polygamy is contrary to conjugal love which is undivided and exclusive." Saint Augustine saw a conflict with Old Testament polygamy. He refrained from judging the patriarchs, but did not deduce from their practice the ongoing acceptability of polygyny. On the contrary, he argued that
5400-554: Is more widespread in Africa than on any other continent, especially in West Africa , and some scholars see the slave trade 's impact on the male-to-female sex ratio as a key factor in the emergence and fortification of polygynous practices in regions of Africa. In the region of sub-Saharan Africa , polygyny is common and deeply rooted in the culture, with 11% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa living in such marriages (25% of
5550-569: Is not satisfied with one woman and seeks out other women is on the path to decline". Other fragments in the Buddhist scripture seem to treat polygamy unfavorably, leading some authors to conclude that Buddhism generally does not approve of it or alternatively regards it as a tolerated, but subordinate, marital model. Polygamy in Thailand was legally recognized until 1935. Polygamy in Myanmar
5700-412: Is often pointedly intellectual , with numerous erudite references to philosophers and literary figures and their works. The team intended their humour to be impossible to categorise, and succeeded so completely that the adjective " Pythonesque " was invented to define it and, later, similar material. Their humour was not always seen as appropriate for television by the BBC, leading to some censorship during
5850-499: Is on a continuum of family-bonds that includes group marriage. The term does not refer to bigamy as no claim to being married in formal legal terms is made. Scientific studies classify humans as "mildly polygynous" or "monogamous with polygynous tendencies." As mentioned above, data from 1960 to 1980 in the Ethnographic Atlas Codebook indicated that polygamy was common. A separate 1988 review examined
6000-538: Is practiced, but sometimes father and son have a common wife, which is a unique family structure in the world. Other forms of marriage are also present, like group marriage and monogamous marriage. Polyandry (especially fraternal polyandry) is also common in Tibet Some pre-Christian Celtic pagans were known to practice polygamy, although the Celtic peoples wavered between it, monogamy and polyandry depending on
6150-548: Is the accepted form in the vast majority of cases. According to the Ethnographic Atlas Codebook , of 1,231 societies noted between from 1960 to 1980, 588 had frequent polygyny, 453 had occasional polygyny, 186 were monogamous, and 4 had polyandry – although more recent research found some form of polyandry in 53 communities, which is more common than previously thought. In cultures which practice polygamy, its prevalence among that population often correlates with social class and socioeconomic status. Polygamy (taking
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6300-448: Is the practice of marrying multiple spouses . When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny . When a woman is married to more than one husband at the same time, it is called polyandry . In sociobiology and zoology , researchers use polygamy in a broad sense to mean any form of multiple mating . In contrast to polygamy, monogamy is marriage consisting of only two parties. Like "monogamy",
6450-629: The Live at the Hollywood Bowl film, the line remained intact. Both sketches were included in the Danish DR K re-airing of all episodes ("Episode 31", aired 1 November 2018, 6:50 pm). Some sketches were deleted in their entirety and later recovered. One such sketch is the "Party Political Broadcast (Choreographed)", where a Conservative Party spokesman (Cleese) delivers a party political broadcast before getting up and dancing, being coached by
6600-591: The Band of the Grenadier Guards . The march was first published in 1893; Gilliam chose it as the show's theme because it had fallen into the public domain under the terms of the Berne Convention and United States copyright law , and could thus be used without royalty payments . The title Monty Python's Flying Circus was partly the result of the group's reputation at the BBC. Michael Mills ,
6750-499: The Qing dynasty (1644–1912). This constitutes a form of de facto polygyny referred to as concubinage . Marriage is the moment at which a new household is formed, but different arrangements may occur depending upon the type of marriage and some polygamous marriages do not result in the formation of a single household. In many polygynous marriages the husband's wives may live in separate households. They can thus be described as
6900-467: The cultural belief that a child can have more than one father. Non-fraternal polyandry occurs when the wives' husbands are unrelated, as among the Nayar tribe of India , where girls undergo a ritual marriage before puberty, and the first husband is acknowledged as the father of all her children. However, the woman may never cohabit with that man, taking multiple lovers instead; these men must acknowledge
7050-517: The "Cartoon Religion Ltd" animation, and preceding the " How Not To Be Seen " sketch: this had been edited out of the official tape. Six frames of the animation can be seen at the end of the episode, wherein that particular episode is repeated in fast-forward. A black and white 16 mm film print has since turned up (found by a private film collector in the US) showing the animation in its entirety. At least two references to cancer were censored, both during
7200-472: The "Michael Ellis" episode, Debbie Katzenberg the American in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life , a rural idiot's wife in the "Idiot in rural society" sketch, and an implausible English housewife who is married to Jean-Paul Sartre . The first five episodes of the series were produced by John Howard Davies , with Davies serving as studio director, and Ian MacNaughton acting as location director. From
7350-452: The "Mr. and Mrs. Git" sketch). Cleese also played intimidating maniacs, such as an instructor in the "Self-Defence Against Fresh Fruit" sketch. His character Mr. Praline , the put-upon consumer, featured in some of the most popular sketches, most famously in " Dead Parrot ". One star turn that proved most memorable among Python fans was " The Ministry of Silly Walks ", where he worked for the eponymous government department. The sketch displays
7500-625: The "Pythons". The first episode was recorded at the BBC on 7 September 1969 and premiered on 5 October on BBC1 , with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV. A feature film adaptation of several sketches, And Now for Something Completely Different , was released in 1971. The series stands out for its use of absurd situations , mixed with risqué and innuendo-laden humour, sight gags , and observational sketches without punchlines . Live-action segments were broken up with animations by Gilliam, often merging with
7650-598: The 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3 high-coverage Complete Genomics whole-genome dataset. They found that the Southern Han Chinese had a male bias (45% female, indicating that women were likely to reproduce with multiple men). This region is known for its lack of a concept of paternity and for a sense of female equality or superiority. The Musharoff study also found a male bias in Europeans (20% female) during an out-of-Africa migration event that may have increased
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#17327728138887800-457: The Atlantic led to the Pythons going on live tours and creating three additional films, while the individual Pythons flourished in solo careers. Monty Python's Flying Circus has become an influential work on comedy as well as in popular culture. The programming language Python was named by Guido van Rossum after the show, and the word spam , for junk email, took its name from a word used in
7950-416: The BBC's Head of Comedy, wanted their name to include the word "circus" because the BBC referred to the six members wandering around the building as a circus, in particular, "Baron Von Took's Circus", after Barry Took , who had brought them to the BBC. The group added "flying" to make it sound less like an actual circus and more like something from World War I . The group was coming up with their name at
8100-518: The Battle of Pearl Harbor") and the sexually-repressed Protestant wife in the " Every Sperm is Sacred " sketch, in The Meaning of Life . Because he was not from an already-established writing partnership prior to Python, Idle wrote his sketches alone. Although all of the Pythons played women, Terry Jones is renowned by the rest to be 'the best Rat-Bag woman in the business'. His portrayal of
8250-643: The Bible alone ( sola scriptura ) have temporarily accepted polygyny as a Biblical practice. For example, during the Protestant Reformation , in a document which was simply referred to as "Der Beichtrat" (or "The Confessional Advice" ), Martin Luther granted the Landgrave Philip of Hesse , who, for many years, had been living "constantly in a state of adultery and fornication ",
8400-554: The Christian insistence on monogamy and advocates of the traditional practice of polygamy. For instance, Mswati III , the Christian king of Eswatini , has 15 wives. In some instances in recent times, there have been moves for accommodation; in other instances, churches have strongly resisted such moves. African Independent Churches have sometimes referred to those parts of the Old Testament that describe polygamy in defense of
8550-516: The Fred Tomlinson Singers for musical numbers. The programme came about as the six Pythons, having met each other through university and in various radio and television programmes in the 1960s, sought to make a new sketch comedy show unlike anything else on British television. Much of the humour in the series targeted the idiosyncrasies of British life , especially that of professionals, as well as aspects of politics. Their comedy
8700-537: The Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right." (1 Peter 2:13,14) Pro-polygamists argue that, as long as polygamists currently do not obtain legal marriage licenses nor seek "common law marriage status" for additional spouses, no enforced laws are being broken any more than when monogamous couples similarly co-habitate without
8850-626: The Muslim population and 3% of the Christian population, as of 2019). According to Pew, polygamy is widespread in a cluster of countries in West and Central Africa, including Burkina Faso, (36%), Mali (34%) and Nigeria (28%). Anthropologist Jack Goody 's comparative study of marriage around the world utilizing the Ethnographic Atlas demonstrated a historical correlation between the practice of extensive shifting horticulture and polygamy in
9000-422: The Pythons' real-life targets recurred more frequently than others. Reginald Maudling , a contemporary Conservative politician, was singled out for perhaps the most consistent ridicule. Then- Secretary of State for Education and Science , and (well after the programme had ended) Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , was occasionally mentioned, in particular referring to Thatcher's brain as being in her shin received
9150-620: The UK in 1971 and in the United States in 1972, was not a hit in the USA. During their first North American tour in 1973, the Pythons performed twice on US television, firstly on The Tonight Show , hosted by Joey Bishop, and then on The Midnight Special . The group spoke of how badly the first appearance went down with the audience; Idle described The Tonight Show performance: "We did thirty minutes [thirty minutes' worth of material] in fifteen minutes to no laughs whatsoever. We ran out onto
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#17327728138889300-489: The US A&;E releases, including the "masturbation" line, but failed to reinstate most of the long-lost sketches and edits. A Blu-ray release of the series featuring every episode restored to its original uncut broadcast length was released by Network for the show's 50th anniversary in 2019. Rediscovered sketch Ursula Hitler, once deemed impossible to find, was re-released with the 50th anniversary sets in 2019. Also some of
9450-452: The West African savanna, where one finds especially high male agricultural contributions. Goody says, "The reasons behind polygyny are sexual and reproductive rather than economic and productive" (1973:189), arguing that men marry polygynously to maximize their fertility and to obtain large households containing many young dependent males. An analysis by James Fenske (2012) found that child mortality and ecologically related economic shocks had
9600-619: The accepted practice rather than a lifelong monogamous bond. The genetic record indicates that monogamy increased within the last 5,000-10,000 years, a period associated with the development of human agriculture, non-communal land ownership, and inheritance. Polygamy exists in three specific forms: Polygyny, the practice wherein a man has more than one wife at the same time, is by far the most common form of polygamy. Many Muslim-majority countries and some countries with sizable Muslim minorities accept polygyny to varying extents both legally and culturally. In several countries, such as India ,
9750-580: The advent of property ownership and therefore inheritance. Men would therefore seek to ensure that their land would go to direct descendants and had a vested interest in limiting the sexual activities of their reproductive partners. It is possible that the concept of marriage and permanent monogamy evolved at this time. Other scientific arguments for monogamy prior to 2003 were based on characteristics of reproductive physiology, such as sperm competition, sexual selection in primates, and body size characteristics. A 2019 synthesis of these and other data found that
9900-466: The animator of the series, Gilliam was not thought of (even by himself) as an on-screen performer at first, being American and not very good at the deep and sometimes exaggerated English accent of his fellows. The others felt they owed him something and so he sometimes appeared before the camera, usually in the parts that no one else wanted to play, generally because they required a lot of make-up or involved uncomfortable costumes. The most recurrent of these
10050-428: The bird cackles at him, Beethoven shoots it and it falls off its perch. He is clearly agitated with difficulty composing his Fifth Symphony . He only becomes more agitated as his wife ( Graham Chapman ) runs a vacuum cleaner and pesters him about a missing sugar bowl and other mundane matters. The scene then cuts to Shakespeare ( Eric Idle ), Michelangelo ( Terry Jones ), and Mozart ( Michael Palin ), all discussing
10200-580: The bridgekeeper at the Bridge of Death as well as the 'deaf and mad' jailer in Life of Brian . In Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Terry Jones thought Mr Creosote should be played by fellow Python Terry Gilliam , before Gilliam persuaded Jones to play the role instead. Eric Idle is known for his roles as a cheeky, suggestive playboy (" Nudge Nudge "), a variety of pretentious television presenters (such as his over-the-top portrayal of Philip Jenkinson in
10350-439: The co-wives are not related. Polygyny offers husbands the benefit of allowing them to have more children, may provide them with a larger number of productive workers (where workers are family), and allows them to establish politically useful ties with a greater number of kin groups . Senior wives can benefit as well when the addition of junior wives to the family lightens their workload . Wives', especially senior wives', status in
10500-563: The conversation. The sketch is then restarted in a "nice version": as before, the host introduces John to his neighbour and turns away, but this time the neighbor's name is Mr Watson. A nun ( Carol Cleveland ) tells the audience that she "preferred the dirty version". She is then punched by a boxer (Terry Gilliam). This skit highlights an anthropological concern of the "Culture Clash" of modern globalization . The mixing of people with different cultural backgrounds can cause situations where someone's name and daily life practices can make others in
10650-468: The cut, thinking it was because producer Ian McNaughton "just didn't get what it was and he cut it. That was a big mistake." Music copyright issues have resulted in at least two cuts. In episode 209, Graham Chapman as a Pepperpot sings " The Girl from Ipanema ", but some versions use " Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair ", which is public domain. In the bus conductor sketch in season 3 episode 4,
10800-410: The day. Viewers are left tense as they watch both brothers crawl through the bushes to ambush the mosquito. As Roy fires off a bazooka , Hank quickly follows by shooting off a machine gun . As the smoke from their shots begins to dissipate, the brothers, with delight, notice that they have successfully killed the mosquito. However, just as a measure of precaution, Roy approaches the body and fires off
10950-429: The early upbringing of their children. Serial monogamy would also be consistent with the existence of a "honeymoon period", a period of intense interest in a single sexual partner (with less interest in other women) which may help to keep men invested in staying with the mother of their child for this period. When reciprocated, this "honeymoon period" lasts 18 months to three years in most cases. This would correspond to
11100-478: The extra American broadcast material, for instance the original parody of "Tonight" from West Side Story in the bus conductor sketch from season 3 episode 4, were included as deleted scenes. At the time of the original broadcasting of Monty Python in the United Kingdom, the BBC used Time-Life Television to distribute its shows in the United States. For Monty Python , Time-Life had been concerned that
11250-521: The field in relation to the appeal of adventure and the fashion. As noted in Timothy Clack and Marcus Brittain's book Archaeology and the Media , in the clip one can see that both Roy and Hank match the description. Both brothers are seen throughout the clip dressed in typical colonial wear. The action of hunting the mosquitoes is also greatly dramatized to give it more of an archaeo-appeal. The hunt
11400-410: The form of polygyny) is most common in a region known as the "polygamy belt" in West Africa and Central Africa , with the countries estimated to have the highest polygamy prevalence in the world being Burkina Faso , Mali , Gambia , Niger and Nigeria . The term "polygamy" may be referring to one of various relational types, depending upon context. Four overlapping definitions can be adapted from
11550-443: The forms of non-monogamy in prehistorical times is unknown, these rates could be consistent with a society that practices serial monogamy. Anthropological observations indicate that even when polygyny is accepted in the community, the majority of relationships in the society are monogamous in practice – while couples remain in the relationship, which may not be lifelong. Thus, in many historical communities, serial monogamy may have been
11700-515: The found artifacts and killing each other. With his dying breath, the interviewer addresses a typical signoff to the camera. Rev. Arthur Belling ( Graham Chapman ), of St Looney Up the Cream Bun and Jam, appeals for help in curing our less fortunate neighbours of their sanity. A smartly-dressed woman ( Eric Idle ) appears, to make an appeal on behalf of the " National Truss ", but is derailed by her inability to remember her own name. Mr Cook and
11850-608: The green grass in Burbank and we lay down and laughed for 15 minutes because it was the funniest thing ever. In America they didn't know what on earth we were talking about." Despite the poor reception on their live appearances on American television, the Pythons' American manager, Nancy Lewis, began to push the show herself into the States. In 1974, the PBS member station KERA in Dallas
12000-665: The host is interested mainly in their heights; he insults Kastner (5′10″) and fawns over Sir Robert (6′5″). When Sir Robert brings up his discovery of Polynesian influences, the host asks about the Polynesians' stature; Sir Robert replies that it "has nothing to do with archaeology," whereupon the host takes an artifact and smashes it, enraging Kastner. Sir Robert punches the host, who swears revenge. We then see Sir Robert with his assistant Danielle ( Carol Cleveland ) digging in Egypt 1920. Sir Robert had been finding great artifacts and
12150-547: The household formations created through divorce and serial monogamy. Serial monogamy creates a new kind of relative, the "ex-". The "ex-wife", for example, can remain an active part of her "ex-husband's" life, as they may be tied together by legally or informally mandated economic support, which can last for years, including by alimony , child support , and joint custody . Bob Simpson, the British social anthropologist, notes that it creates an "extended family" by tying together
12300-492: The husband in the " Marriage Guidance Counsellor " sketch, the boring accountant in the " Vocational Guidance Counsellor " sketch, and the hapless client in the " Argument Clinic ". He was equally at home as the indefatigable Cardinal Ximinez of Spain in " The Spanish Inquisition " sketch. Another high-energy character that Palin portrays is the slick TV show host, constantly smacking his lips together and generally being over-enthusiastic (" Blackmail " sketch). In one sketch, he plays
12450-458: The iconic Nude Organist that introduced all of series three. Generally, he deferred to the others as a performer, but proved himself behind the scenes, where he would eventually end up pulling most of the strings. Jones also portrayed the tobacconist in the "Hungarian translation sketch" and the enormously fat and bucket-vomiting Mr. Creosote in Meaning of Life . Michael Palin was regarded by
12600-460: The island of Jersey . Pre-production of the series had started by April 1969. Documents from the BBC showed that the viability of the show had been threatened around this time when Cleese reminded the BBC that he was still under contract from David Frost's David Paradine Productions , who wanted to co-produce the show. The BBC memos indicated the potential of holding off the show until 1971, when Cleese's contract with Paradine expired, but ultimately
12750-484: The late wife, in other words, must provide a replacement for her, thus maintaining the marriage alliance. Both levirate and sororate may result in a man having multiple wives. In monogamous societies, wealthy and powerful men may establish enduring relationships with, and established separate household for, multiple female partners, aside from their legitimate wives; a practice accepted in Imperial China up until
12900-582: The law only recognizes polygamous marriages for the Muslim population. Islamic law or sharia is a religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition which allows polygyny. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the hadith . In Arabic , the term sharīʿah refers to God 's ( Arabic : الله Allāh ) immutable divine law and is contrasted with fiqh , which refers to its human scholarly interpretations. Polygyny
13050-459: The legal sphere, defining polygamy can be difficult because of differences in cultural assumptions regarding monogamy. Some societies believe that monogamy requires limiting sexual activity to a single partner for life. Others accept or endorse pre-marital sex prior to marriage. Some societies consider sex outside of marriage or "spouse swapping" to be socially acceptable. Some consider a relationship monogamous even if partners separate and move to
13200-472: The literal German translation of the English title. While visiting the UK in the early 1970s, German entertainer and TV producer Alfred Biolek caught notice of the Pythons. Excited by their innovative, absurd sketches, he invited them to Germany in 1971 and 1972 to write and act in two special German episodes. The first episode, advertised as Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus: Blödeln für Deutschland ("Monty Python's Flying Circus: Clowning Around for Germany"),
13350-543: The live action to form segues . The overall format used for the series followed and elaborated upon the style used by Spike Milligan in his groundbreaking series Q... , rather than the traditional sketch show format. The Pythons play the majority of the series's characters, along with supporting cast members including Carol Cleveland (referred to by the team as the unofficial "Seventh Python"), Connie Booth (Cleese's first wife), series producer Ian MacNaughton , Ian Davidson , musician Neil Innes , and Fred Tomlinson and
13500-579: The majority of sub-Saharan African societies. Drawing on the work of Ester Boserup , Goody notes that the sexual division of labour varies between the male-dominated intensive plough-agriculture common in Eurasia and the extensive shifting horticulture found in sub-Saharan Africa. In some of the sparsely-populated regions where shifting cultivation takes place in Africa, women do much of the work. This favours polygamous marriages in which men seek to monopolize
13650-529: The modern concept of life-long monogamy has been in place for only the last 1,000 years. Genetic evidence has demonstrated that a greater proportion of men began contributing to the genetic pool between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago, which suggests that reproductive monogamy became more common at that time. This would correspond to the Neolithic agricultural revolution. During this time, formerly nomadic societies began to claim and settle land for farming, leading to
13800-623: The mynah bird miming " The Guy Who Found the Lost Chord " by Jimmy Durante . The episode closes with a return to the Judges, still chatting about various random topics. Monty Python%27s Flying Circus Monty Python's Flying Circus (also known as simply Monty Python ) is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman , John Cleese , Eric Idle , Terry Jones , Michael Palin , and Terry Gilliam , who became known collectively as " Monty Python ", or
13950-739: The name Monty "made us laugh because Monty to us means Lord Montgomery , our great general of the Second World War". The BBC had rejected some other names put forward by the group, including Whither Canada? ; The Nose Show ; Ow! It's Colin Plint! ; A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin ; The Toad Elevating Moment and Owl Stretching Time . Several of these titles were later used for individual episodes. Compared with many other sketch comedy shows, Flying Circus had fewer recurring characters, many of whom were involved only in titles and linking sequences. Continuity for many of these recurring characters
14100-461: The names of their current projects comically while discussing their issues with their home life. Mozart's rat-catcher son, Colin "Chopper" Mozart, then goes to shoot some rats in Beethoven's apartment with a machine gun. Mrs Thing and Mrs Entity remark that Beethoven was glad when he went deaf, because there would be less distractions while he composed music. Beethoven and the mynah reappear, with
14250-550: The new Region 2 / 4 eight-disc The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus DVD set. The Region 1 DVD of Before The Flying Circus , which is included in The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Collector's Edition Megaset and Monty Python: The Other British Invasion , also contains the Buffalo version as an extra. Another lost sketch is the "Satan" animation following the "Crackpot Religion" piece and
14400-407: The next sketch begins: A doctor ( Michael Palin ) calls for the next patient ( Graham Chapman ), who tries to clarify that he is not Mr Watson but Dr Watson. The first doctor persistently misunderstands. A whistle blows and a caption appears: That sketch has been abandoned. This skit illuminates a field of study within the archaeological/anthropological realm of marriage. This skit brings up
14550-531: The notably tall and loose-limbed Cleese's physicality in a variety of silly walks. Despite its popularity, particularly among American fans, Cleese himself particularly disliked the sketch, feeling that many of the laughs it generated were cheap and that no balance was provided by what could have been the true satirical centrepoint. Another of his trademarks is his over-the-top delivery of abuse, particularly his screaming "You bastard!" Cleese often played foreigners with ridiculous accents, especially Frenchmen, most of
14700-693: The number of men successfully reproducing with women, perhaps by replenishing the genetic pool in Europe. The study did confirm a more typical female bias in Yorubans (63% female), Europeans (84%), Punjabis (82%), and Peruvians (56%). Buddhism does not regard marriage as a sacrament ; it is purely a secular affair. Normally Buddhist monks do not participate in it (though in some sects priests and monks do marry). Hence marriage receives no religious sanction. Forms of marriage, in consequence, vary from country to country. The Parabhava Sutta states that "a man who
14850-605: The opening titles featuring the iconic giant foot that became a symbol of all that was 'Pythonesque'. Gilliam's unique visual style was characterised by sudden, dramatic movements and deliberate mismatches of scale, set in surrealist landscapes populated by engravings of large buildings with elaborate architecture, grotesque Victorian gadgets, machinery, and people cut from old Sears Roebuck catalogues. Gilliam added airbrush illustrations and many familiar pieces of art. All of these elements were combined in incongruous ways to obtain new and humorous meanings. The surreal nature of
15000-462: The other members of the troupe as the one with the widest range, equally adept as a straight man or wildly over the top character. He portrayed many working-class northerners, often portrayed in a disgusting light: " The Funniest Joke in the World " sketch and the " Every Sperm Is Sacred " segment of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life . In contrast, Palin also played weak-willed, put-upon men such as
15150-494: The paternity of their children (and hence demonstrate that no caste prohibitions have been breached) by paying the midwife . The women remain in their maternal home, living with their brothers, and property is passed matrilineally . A similar form of matrilineal, de facto polyandry can be found in the institution of walking marriage among the Mosuo tribe of China. Serial monogamy refers to remarriage after divorce or death of
15300-439: The period necessary to bring a child to relative independence in the traditionally small, interdependent, communal societies of pre-Neolithic humans, before they settled into agricultural communities. While genetic evidence typically displays a bias towards a smaller number of men reproducing with more women, some regions or time periods have shown the opposite. In a 2019 investigation, Musharoff et al. applied modern techniques to
15450-612: The polygamy of the Fathers, which was tolerated by the Creator because of fertility, was a diversion from His original plan for human marriage. Augustine wrote: "That the good purpose of marriage, however, is better promoted by one husband with one wife, than by a husband with several wives, is shown plainly enough by the very first union of a married pair, which was made by the Divine Being Himself." Augustine taught that
15600-441: The practice of levirate marriage . In such cases, the deceased man's heir may inherit his assets and wife; or, more usually, his brothers may marry the widow. This provides support for the widow and her children (usually also members of the brothers' kin group) and maintains the tie between the husbands' and wives' kin groups. The sororate resembles the levirate, in that a widower must marry the sister of his dead wife. The family of
15750-523: The practice of polygamy and have upheld monogamy alone as normative. Nevertheless, some Christians groups in different periods have practiced, or currently do practice, polygamy. Some Christians actively debate whether the New Testament or Christian ethics allows or forbids polygamy. In the New Testament , Jesus recalled the earlier scriptures , noting that a man and a wife "shall become one flesh". Paul stated in one of his letters that "For
15900-469: The practice. The illegality of polygamy in certain areas creates, according to certain Bible passages, additional arguments against it. Paul the Apostle writes "submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience" (Romans 13:5), for "the authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1) St Peter concurs when he says to "submit yourselves for
16050-447: The practices of 849 societies from before Western imperialism and colonization. The review found that 708 of the societies (83%) accepted polygyny. Only 16% were monogamous and 1% polyandrous. Subsequent evidence in 2012 found that polyandry (in which women have multiple male partners) was likely in pre-history; it also identified 53 communities studied between 1912 and 2010 with either formal or informal polyandry, indicating that polyandry
16200-682: The premise of a new comedy show which presented a number of skits with minimal common elements, as if it were comedy presented by a stream of consciousness . This was aided through the use of Gilliam's animations to help transition skits from one to the next. Although there were few recurring characters, and the six cast members played many diverse roles, each perfected some character traits. Graham Chapman often portrayed straight-laced men, of any age or class, frequently authority figures such as military officers, policemen or doctors. His characters could, at any moment, engage in "Pythonesque" maniacal behaviour and then return to their former sobriety. He
16350-410: The production of women "who are valued both as workers and as child bearers". Goody however, observes that the correlation is imperfect and varied, and also discusses more traditionally male-dominated though relatively extensive farming systems such as those traditionally common in much of West Africa, especially in the West African savanna , where more agricultural work is done by men, and where polygyny
16500-408: The professional world of anthropology and archaeology. The trailer includes the theme song and an introduction to this episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus . It has an animated introduction where there is a large foot that becomes broken and disintegrates into the ground, with no evidence left. Nature continues its natural action and the surroundings grow and eventually has a city built on top of
16650-499: The question of what is the "proper" form of marriage. Many cultures around the world have different definitions of a marriage and who may be married. Some other types of marriage practices include: monogamy , polygamy , polyandry . The name "Watson" comes up often in this skit which could be a reference to Dr. Watson of the Sherlock Holmes series. This highlights a stereotype of archaeologists as detectives. The host of
16800-647: The reason patriarchs had many wives was not because of fornication, but because they wanted more children. He supported his premise by showing that their marriages, in which husband was the head, were arranged according to the rules of good management: those who are in command ( quae principantur ) in their society were always singular, while subordinates ( subiecta ) were multiple. He gave two examples of such relationships: dominus-servus – master-servant (in older translation: slave ) and God-soul . The Bible often equates worshiping multiple gods, i.e. idolatry to fornication. Augustine relates to that: "On this account there
16950-404: The role with an underlying hint of self-revulsion, where he wipes his oily palms on his jacket, makes a disgusted face, then continues. One of his most famous creations was the shopkeeper who attempts to sell useless goods by very weak attempts at being sly and crafty, which are invariably spotted by the customer (often played by Cleese), as in the " Dead Parrot " and " Cheese Shop " sketches. Palin
17100-420: The second series. Separately, the BBC had to re-edit several of the first series' episodes to remove the personal address and phone number for David Frost that the troupe had included in some sketches. The second series, while more popular than the first, further strained relations between the troupe and the BBC. Two of the sketches from the series finale "Royal Episode 13" were called out by BBC executives in
17250-435: The second series. In the sixth episode ("It's A Living" or "School Prizes"), Carol Cleveland 's narration of a Gilliam cartoon suddenly has a male voice dub ' gangrene ' over the word cancer (although this word was used unedited when the animation appeared in the movie And Now for Something Completely Different ; the 2006 special Terry Gilliam's Personal Best uses this audio to restore the censored line). Another reference
17400-437: The segments connecting the " Cheese Shop " and " Salad Days " sketches), a crafty, slick salesman ("Door-to-Door Joke Salesman", "Encyclopedia Salesman") and the merchant who loves to haggle in Monty Python's Life of Brian . He is acknowledged as 'the master of the one-liner' by the other Pythons, along with his ability to deliver extensive, sometimes maniacal monologues with barely a breath, such as in "The Money Programme". He
17550-434: The series allowed Gilliam's animation to go off on bizarre, imaginative tangents, features that were impossible to produce live-action at the time. Some running gags derived from these animations were a giant hedgehog named Spiny Norman who appeared over the tops of buildings shouting, "Dinsdale!", further petrifying the paranoid Dinsdale Piranha ; and The Foot of Cupid, the giant foot that suddenly squashed things. The latter
17700-485: The show prematurely, the final episode being broadcast on 5 December 1974. The first cut that the BBC forced on the show was the removal of David Frost's phone number from re-airings of the second episode of the first season, "Sex and Violence", in the sketch "The Mouse Problem". The Pythons had slipped in a real contact number for David Frost to the initial airing, which resulted in numerous viewers bothering him. Some material originally recorded went missing later, such as
17850-487: The show was "too British" in its humour to reach American audiences, and did not opt to bring the programme across. However, the show became a fixture on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation beginning in the fall of 1970, and hence was also seen in some American markets. The Pythons' first film, And Now for Something Completely Different , a selection of skits from the show released in
18000-540: The show, the six main cast members had met each other as part of various comedy shows: Jones and Palin were members of The Oxford Revue , while Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of Cambridge University 's Footlights , and while on tour in the United States, met Gilliam. In various capacities, the six worked on a number of different British radio and television comedy shows from 1964 to 1969 as both writers and on-screen roles. The six began to collaborate on ideas together, blending elements of their previous shows, to devise
18150-683: The site. The city becomes condemned and is then bulldozed down with plans for new luxury apartments. While constructing the new, luxury apartments, an "artifact" is found which resembles a very large big toe, and is brought to the British Museum , where it is called the "archaeological find of the century!" They were able to "accurately reconstruct" the artifact, using the toe as a trunk for an elephant. A television interviewer ( Michael Palin ) introduces two archaeologists: Professor Lucien Kastner ( Terry Jones ), of Oslo University , and Sir Robert Eversley ( John Cleese ). It soon becomes obvious that
18300-530: The situation was resolved, though the details of these negotiations have been lost. The first episode aired on the BBC on Sunday, 5 October 1969, at 10:55 p.m. The BBC had to reassure some of its workers (who were considering going on strike and who thought the show was replacing a late-night, religious/devotional programme) by asserting that it was using the alternative programming to give clergymen time off on their busiest day. The first episode did not fare well in terms of audience, capturing only about 3% of
18450-609: The sixth episode onwards, MacNaughton became the producer and sole director on the series. Other regular team members included Hazel Pethig (costumes), Madelaine Gaffney (makeup) and John Horton (video effects designer). Maggie Weston, who worked on both makeup and design, married Gilliam in 1973 and they remain together. The series was primarily filmed in London studios and nearby locations, although location shooting to take in beaches and villages included filming in Somerset , Norwich and
18600-532: The stage for the Pythons' next film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail , released near simultaneously in the UK and the United States in April 1975, to also perform well in American theaters. The popularity of Monty Python's Flying Circus helped to open the door for other British television series to make their way into the United States via PBS and its member stations. One notable American fan of Monty Python
18750-537: The term "polygamy" is often used in a de facto sense, applied regardless of whether a state recognizes the relationship. In many countries, the law only recognises monogamous marriages (a person can only have one spouse, and bigamy is illegal), but adultery is not illegal, leading to a situation of de facto polygamy being allowed without legal recognition for non-official "spouses". Worldwide, different societies variously encourage, accept or outlaw polygamy. In societies which allow or tolerate polygamy, polygyny
18900-483: The term refers to a physical, rather than a spiritual, union. Such a claim also contradicts Paul's statement regarding authority other each other's bodies. Some Christian theologians argue that in Matthew 19:3–9 and referring to Genesis 2:24, Jesus explicitly states a man should have only one wife: Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall
19050-452: The third series following this. Cleese remained for the third series but left afterwards. Cleese cited that he was no longer interested in the show, believing most of the material was rehashes of prior skits. He also found it more difficult to work with Chapman, who was struggling with alcoholism . The remaining Pythons, however, went on to produce a shortened fourth series, of which only six episodes were made prior to their decision to end
19200-399: The third series. Cleese left the show following that series, and the remaining Pythons completed a final, shortened fourth series before ending the show. The show became very popular in the United Kingdom, and after initially failing to draw an audience in the United States, gained American popularity after PBS member stations began airing it in 1974. The programme's success on both sides of
19350-512: The thought that women in the past had worse morning chores: Mrs Stanley Baldwin had to catch partridges with her bare hands, Mrs William Pitt the Elder had to dig for truffles with her nose, and Mrs Beethoven had to spur on her husband's mynah bird. Ludwig van Beethoven ( John Cleese ) sits at his piano. A rude mynah bird perches nearby, not making any noise; Beethoven shouts, "You don't fool me, you stupid mynah bird, I'm not deaf yet!" After
19500-567: The time period and the area. In some areas this continued even after Christianization began, for instance the Brehon Laws of Gaelic Ireland explicitly allowed for polygamy, especially amongst the noble class. Some modern Celtic pagan religions accept the practice of polygamy to varying degrees, though how widespread the practice is within these religions is unknown. Although the Old Testament describes numerous examples of polygamy among devotees to God, most Christian groups have rejected
19650-409: The time with Palin. Sometimes this extended to the use of actual French or German (such as "The Funniest Joke in the World", "Mr. Hilter ", or "La Marche Futile" at the end of "The Ministry of Silly Walks"), but still with a very heavy accent (or impossible to understand, as for example Hilter's speech). Many Python sketches were linked together by the cut-out animations of Terry Gilliam , including
19800-474: The total UK population, roughly 1.5 million, compared to Dad's Army that had 22% on the Thursday of that same week. In addition to the lowest audience figures for shows during that week, the first episode has had the lowest Appreciation Index for any of the BBC's light entertainment programmes. While public reception improved over the course of the first series, certain BBC executives had already conceived
19950-493: The use of the word "masturbating" in the "Summarize Proust" sketch (which was muted during the first airing, and later cut out entirely) or "What a silly bunt" in the Travel Agent sketch (which featured a character [Idle] who has a speech impediment that makes him pronounce "C"s as "B"s), which was cut before the sketch ever went to air. However, when this sketch was included in the album Monty Python's Previous Record and
20100-436: The weight of the evidence supports a mating bond that may include polygyny or polyandry, but is most likely to be predominantly serial monogamy. More recent genetic data has clarified that, in most regions throughout history, a smaller proportion of men contributed to human genetic history compared to women. Assuming an equal number of men and women are born and survive to reproduce, this would indicate that historically, only
20250-482: The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does". However, some look to Paul 's writings to the Corinthians : "Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, 'The two will become one flesh. ' " Supporters of polygamy claim that this verse indicates that
20400-423: The work of Ulrich Reichard and others: Biologists , biological anthropologists , and behavioral ecologists often use polygamy in the sense of a lack of sexual or genetic (reproductive) exclusivity. When cultural or social anthropologists and other social scientists use the term polygamy, the meaning is social or marital polygamy. In contrast, marital monogamy may be distinguished between: Outside of
20550-537: Was The-Knight-Who-Hits-People-With-A-Chicken, a knight in armour who would walk on-set and hit another character on the head with a plucked chicken either to end a sketch or when they said something really corny. Some of Gilliam's other on-screen portrayals included: Gilliam soon became distinguished as the go-to member for the most obscenely grotesque characters. This carried over into the Holy Grail film, where Gilliam played King Arthur's hunchbacked page 'Patsy' and
20700-569: Was also skilled in abuse, which he brusquely delivered in such sketches as "Argument Clinic" and "Flying Lessons". He adopted a dignified demeanour as the leading " straight man " in the Python feature films Holy Grail ( King Arthur ) and Life of Brian (the title character). John Cleese played ridiculous authority figures. Gilliam claims that Cleese is the funniest of the Pythons in drag, as he barely needs to be dressed up to look hilarious, with his square chin and 6' 5" (196 cm) frame (see
20850-404: Was an NTSC copy of the episode, duplicated before the cut had been made. Animation in episode 9 of series 3 was cut out following the initial broadcast. The animation was a parody of a German commercial, and the original owners complained about the music use, so the BBC simply removed part of the animation, and replaced the music with a song from a Python album. Terry Gilliam later complained about
21000-539: Was appropriated from the figure of Cupid in the Agnolo Bronzino painting Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time and appeared in the opening credits of every series to crush the show's title when it appeared on-screen. Notable Gilliam sequences for the show include Conrad Poohs and his Dancing Teeth, the rampage of the cancerous black spot, The Killer Cars and a giant cat that stomps its way through London, destroying everything in its path. Initially only hired to be
21150-471: Was avoided through the social practice of impartible inheritance , under which most siblings would be disinherited. Fraternal polyandry was traditionally practiced among nomadic Tibetans in Nepal , parts of China and part of northern India, in which two or more brothers would marry the same woman. It is most common in societies marked by high male mortality. It is associated with partible paternity ,
21300-446: Was frequently non-existent from sketch to sketch, with sometimes even the most basic information (such as a character's name) being changed from one appearance to the next. The most frequently returning characters on the show include: Other recurring characters include: Other returning characters include a married couple, often mentioned but never seen, Ann Haydon-Jones and her husband Pip. In " Election Night Special ", Pip has lost
21450-535: Was introduced as 'Spot The Braincell'. This sketch was deleted shortly afterwards from a repeat broadcast as a mark of respect following Miles' death in February 1971. Also, the controversial "Undertaker" sketch from Episode 13 of the same series was removed by the BBC after negative reviewer response. Both of these sketches have been restored to the official tapes, although the only source for the Undertaker sketch
21600-439: Was more common worldwide than previously believed. The authors found that polyandry was most common in egalitarian societies, and suspected contributors to polyandry included fewer men (due to the existence or threat of high adult male mortality or absence/travel) and higher male contributions towards food production. Polyandry still appears to occur in the minority of societies. Regardless of the type of polygamy, even when polygyny
21750-528: Was outlawed in 2015. In Sri Lanka , polyandry was legal in the kingdom of Kandy, but outlawed by British after conquering the kingdom in 1815. When the Buddhist texts were translated into Chinese, the concubines of others were added to the list of inappropriate partners. Polyandry in Tibet was traditionally common, as was polygyny, and having several wives or husbands was never regarded as having sex with inappropriate partners. Most typically, fraternal polyandry
21900-605: Was produced in 1971 and performed in German. The second episode, advertised as Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus: Blödeln auf die feine englische Art ("Monty Python's Flying Circus: Clowning Around in the Distinguished English Way"), produced in 1972, was recorded in English and dubbed into German for its broadcast in Germany. The original English recording was transmitted by the BBC in October 1973. Prior to
22050-492: Was removed from the sketch "Conquistador Coffee Campaign", in the eleventh episode "How Not to Be Seen", although a reference to leprosy remained intact. This line has also been recovered from the same 16 mm film print as the above-mentioned "Satan" animation. A sketch from Episode 7 of Series 2 (subtitled 'The Attila the Hun Show') featured a parody of Michael Miles , the 1960s TV game show host (played by Cleese), and
22200-499: Was singer Elvis Presley . Billy Smith, Presley's cousin noted that during the last few months of Elvis' life in 1977, when Elvis was addicted to prescription drugs and mainly confined to his bedroom at his mansion Graceland , Elvis would sit at his room and chat with Smith for hours about various topics including among other things, Presley's favourite Monty Python sketches. Polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek πολυγαμία polygamía , "state of marriage to many spouses")
22350-457: Was the first television station in the United States to broadcast episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus , and is often credited with introducing the programme to American audiences. Many other PBS stations acquired the show, and by 1975, it was often the most popular show on these stations. And Now for Something Completely Different was re-released to American theaters in 1974 and had a much better box office take that time. That would also set
22500-529: Was very happy which caused him to break out in song. He finds a Sumerian drinking vessel, an unprecedented find in the context of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt . The interviewer then appears and challenges Sir Robert. Kastner leaps onto the interviewer's shoulders, making them together almost twice as tall as Sir Robert. Danielle then leaps onto Sir Robert's shoulders, and each stack is further heightened by an Arab servant. The six of them brawl, smashing
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