Fun Fact*: that sketch was written by Cleese and Palin, one of the relatively few occasions where a sketch was not penned by one of the established writing teams (Cleese/Chapman, Jones/Palin, Idle/his rampaging ego).  Cleese and Palin also wrote the "North Minehead Bye-Election" (aka the "Hilter" sketch) and "Sir…

They also wrote "Camelot" and "All Things Dull and Ugly" (from Contractual Obligation Album).  Though, given what we now know about their collaboration, Chapman's contribution to both may well have been sitting in the room while Cleese wrote, puffing his pipe and saying, "Yes, that's funny.  Carry on."

They also wrote "Camelot" and "All Things Dull and Ugly" (from Contractual Obligation Album).  Though, given what we now know about their collaboration, Chapman's contribution to both may well have been sitting in the room while Cleese wrote, puffing his pipe and saying, "Yes, that's funny.  Carry on."

That's absolutely a part of it - the first Python album lists the sketch as "Trade Descriptions Act."

That's absolutely a part of it - the first Python album lists the sketch as "Trade Descriptions Act."

And the episode will be titled "What Kind of Lay Has It Been."

And the episode will be titled "What Kind of Lay Has It Been."

Good god, @drdarke:disqus , a reference to the almost-totally-forgotten Gary Collins TVehicle The Sixth Sense.  Nicely done.

Good god, @drdarke:disqus , a reference to the almost-totally-forgotten Gary Collins TVehicle The Sixth Sense.  Nicely done.

I'm hoping that whoever found those outtakes from "Sex and Violence" turns up the rushes for the "Penguin on the TV" sketch - John and Graham went through what's said to be dozens of takes, as neither of them could get through it without cracking the other up.  Watching the final version with that foreknowledge makes…

I'm hoping that whoever found those outtakes from "Sex and Violence" turns up the rushes for the "Penguin on the TV" sketch - John and Graham went through what's said to be dozens of takes, as neither of them could get through it without cracking the other up.  Watching the final version with that foreknowledge makes…

No, no, no - the audience cheering in that episode was a joke (though maybe based on the actual audience-cheering incident, who knows?).  You don't really think they were so pleased he had gotten his line right that they threw flowers onto the stage and called him out for repeated bows, do you?

No, no, no - the audience cheering in that episode was a joke (though maybe based on the actual audience-cheering incident, who knows?).  You don't really think they were so pleased he had gotten his line right that they threw flowers onto the stage and called him out for repeated bows, do you?

Ah, the wonderment of the Scholastic Press line of periodicals.  (Pizzazz was Marvel, though, wasn't it?)  That swell of pride one felt when you outgrew the sixth-grade-level writing and subject matter of Dynamite and graduated into the heady, sophisticated, seventh-grade-level writing and subject matter of Bananas……

Ah, the wonderment of the Scholastic Press line of periodicals.  (Pizzazz was Marvel, though, wasn't it?)  That swell of pride one felt when you outgrew the sixth-grade-level writing and subject matter of Dynamite and graduated into the heady, sophisticated, seventh-grade-level writing and subject matter of Bananas……

If you take a look at the movie Downey Sr. (a prince) did direct that year - MAD Magazine Presents Up The Academy - that may answer your question.  Then again, it may not.  You can tell that he had lost whatever satirical snap he once had, which he never really got back (though his later movies give you the…

If you take a look at the movie Downey Sr. (a prince) did direct that year - MAD Magazine Presents Up The Academy - that may answer your question.  Then again, it may not.  You can tell that he had lost whatever satirical snap he once had, which he never really got back (though his later movies give you the…

I've read other critics saying variations of the same thing - Emily Nussbaum, one of The New Yorker's television reviewers, went so far as to say that the first four episodes of this season are excellent but the fifth "is so good that I don’t even want to talk about it, which puts me in an odd position as a critic." …

I've read other critics saying variations of the same thing - Emily Nussbaum, one of The New Yorker's television reviewers, went so far as to say that the first four episodes of this season are excellent but the fifth "is so good that I don’t even want to talk about it, which puts me in an odd position as a critic." …

In Canada, yes.  But the first three seasons were on HBO in the States.