Don’t Run Away From the Monty Python Movie Marathon

This Friday, Nov. 29, TCM will be airing a Monty Python marathon beginning at 8pm ET. The British comedy team of Monty Python — Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin — began airing their surreal sketch series Monty Python’s Flying Circus in 1969, with the episodes eventually coming across the pond in the early ’70s for Americans to discover. Fans everywhere continued enjoying Python beyond the series, when they began bringing their absurdist humor to the big screen in both original productions and in filmed productions of their stage shows where they re-created famous sketches.

Everett Collection

Several of those features are airing for the first time on TCM tonight, beginning with the troupe’s first theatrical film: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), a hilarious take on Arthurian legends. Next is the concert comedy film Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982), followed by Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), a dark (and probably still controversial to some) comedy that mercilessly pokes fun at religious tenets and beliefs. Next are two documentaries: Monty Python: The Meaning of Live (2014) and The Meaning of Monty Python (2013). The lineup concludes with Monty Python Live at Aspen (1998), a reunion show with surviving Python members Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones and Palin appearing onstage together for the first time since the early ’80s.

Monty Python Movie Marathon Schedule

8pm Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 

9:45pm Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) 

11:15pm Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) 

1am Monty Python: The Meaning of Live (2015) 

2:45am The Meaning of Monty Python (2013)

4:30am Monty Python: Live at Aspen (1998)

Cast of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus': Where Are They Now?

Learn more about the six core members.

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