Monty Python on DVD

[RWels]

David said:

I'm the chap with the pledge drive-burned video of "Choreographed Conservative Party Speech."

I'd be very interested if a TV station is running old master tapes, though it's unlikely as they would not contain closed-captioning. (When CC came in in the '90s, fueled in part by the Americans With Disabilities Act, older tapes were often replaced with new, CC-encoded tapes.) And none of the PBS stations I've contacted have confirmed that they kept older Python tapes from the '70s, which would predate the cuts we've discussed. The only archive I've found that has '70s era Python tapes is the Library of Congress which has a couple of episodes on Quad but none of the ones that have since been cut.

What forum did you see this inforrmation on?

David Morgan (Monty Python Speaks")

By the way, going a bit OT here. David, was it difficult to get your book published? I had something in mind to publish myself. Do you think publishers are interested in books on python?

[David Morgan]

You can e-mail me at my web site:

members.aol.com/morgands1/closeup

David

[RWels]

I already had your email, come to think about it. But the site I didn't know. Thanks.

[Charles Roberts]

Is the "Personal Best" the same thing as the "best of Monty Python plus Live at Aspen" set? Or at least does it contain very much of the same material?

[RWels]

First question: no, not at all. That is something completely different.
Second question: All are these discs contain compilations of the same old material. Except for "Live at Aspen". That contains an interview, live, at Aspen, and almost the entire Python 30th anniversary special.

[Charles Roberts]

Thanks, Norman
We still naively cling to the hope that a complete Region 2 set, with restored quality, and xtras like the B&W "Satan" sketch will surface........

[Kevin Scott]

I wrote a review a couple of years ago for the DVD set which omitted Dad's Pooves, the Choreographed Party Political Broadcast, and contained the blip which ruined the Biggles sketch. You can read it here...

www.amazon.com/Monty-Pythons-Flying-Circus-33-39/dp/0767024524

When I contacted A&E to see if they'd be fixing the problems, they said they had no plans to. That was a while ago. I think the show really would benefit from a proper DVD reissue with the restored sketches and a lot of cleaning up in terms of the overall picture which is quite grainy and poor. Maybe there should be some kind of online petition or something. I've got the entire A&E set on DVD but would gladly purchase them all again in improved editions.

Monty Python's too good for this kind of treatment.

There are lots of unseen Python rarities out there, such as John Cleese's "Away from it All" short, the mock travelogue that ran before The Life of Brian in theatres. It'd be good to see those become available sometime too.