how to irritate people

[William Martin]

this was the david frost special with most of the monty python lot and a couple of the goodies et.c

I know from the recording I have that it was made in 1968
in 525line NTSC ,by LWT

but what can anybody else tell me about it

was it one show or a compilation
were there more similar programs
was it a collection of one off clips from the frost program

and so on

[David Brunt]

One show to try and break the American market.

It was all new material IIRC and also a load of tedious tosh?

[William Martin]

A lot of Mr Frosts LWT programs were dropped after 18 months or so, ie the frost show, simon dee show et.c much to Sir Lew Grades' pleasure.

[Matthew K Sharp]

William said:

this was the david frost special with most of the monty python lot and a couple of the goodies et.c

but what can anybody else tell me about it

It's a follow-on from At Last The 1948 Show with Palin replacing Feldman (the music over the end credits is the same as used on ALT48S) shot in colour (maybe that should be color?) as part of a deal Frost had to deliver comedy specials to Westinghouse stations in the States. It was non-networked (played in Philadelphia in January 1969, but didn't screen in New York until May 69) and not screened in the UK.

Contemporary reviews note that there was an introduction to the show by Frost (who was by 1969 a known face on US TV) which is omitted from the VHS/DVD releases; also, the show screened in a 60 min slot, which suggests that some of the material on the VHS/DVD (which runs over 60 mins) was not included in the broadcast version.

And yes, it's predominantly god-awful.

MKS

[moss]

Matthew said:

And yes, it's predominantly god-awful.

Objection. It's about a third too long, and the later sketches aren't as good as the earlier ones, but there's some fantastic stuff in there. The pepperpots in the cinema, with Palin desperately trying not to corpse, is the best.

"OOOOOOOH! BEDPAN! BEDPAN! BEDPAN!"

[William Martin]

and an example of how MPs' flying circus may have looked without being influenced by Q milligan

[Steve Burstein]

So why did Frost save this and erase '1948'?[Because It was color?]

[Gary C]

I remember when I was working at TVi in Wardour Street in about 1991, we had the original 2" NTSC masters delivered from Paradine Productions for conversion to PAL. I knew what the show was already and was hugely chuffed that I managed to get a VHS dub from new PAL masters. Trouble was, when I viewed it at home I realised that the show was just bluddy awful! Don't think I've watched it since!!

[John G]

Steve said:

So why did Frost save this and erase '1948'?[Because It was color?]

'1948 ' was made by Rediffusion TV . Rediffusion lost their franchise to broadcast in the mid sixties and were given their marching orders by the controler of the network . They bowed out in July 1968. The fate of the videotape library is a mystery that is often discussed here, as very few people know what happened to the archive. The general concensus is that its fate was similar to the American Archive that ended up in the East River, in that contracts and legal stuff was so complicated somebody in frustration just wiped/dumped the lot.

So far the only things that remain are some filmed productions, kinoscopes found in foreign TV stations and a couple of color VT dramas of co productions found in the US.

[RWels]

I heard when it was re-discovered in the early nineties, it was re-edited. Some sketches were cut.
Then again I also thought it wasn't aired at all before 1991.

Gary C, if you can bear to watch, was it perhaps longer originally?

[Gary C]

y'know, I was thinking that myself after I posted earlier. I'll have to dig out my VHS and have another look (if I can find it!!)

[Deleted]

and an example of how MPs' flying circus may have looked without being influenced by Q milligan

And what Python would have been like with Tim Brooke-Taylor rather than Graham Chapman ...

[William Martin]

darrg said:

and an example of how MPs' flying circus may have looked without being influenced by Q milligan

And what Python would have been like with Tim Brooke-Taylor rather than Graham Chapman ...

It would have been time to send in cosmo.

[Deleted]

william said:

darrg said:

And what Python would have been like with Tim Brooke-Taylor rather than Graham Chapman ...

It would have been time to send in cosmo.

Yes? May I be in help of something?

[RWels]

Gary said:

y'know, I was thinking that myself after I posted earlier. I'll have to dig out my VHS and have another look (if I can find it!!)

Another case of: Keep us informed...

I think I recall John Cleese told of the re-discovery, and how they decided to cut some bits that they thought were not so good.