25% gold 75% bilge.

John Cleese has said pretty much the same thing - that although the good bits (the bits everyone remembers) are exceptionally good, there was also, in his own words, "an awful lot of dross".

I think that's par for the course for sketch shows in general, which have a tendency to be hit-and-miss, and Python was no exception. While Python was actively and self-consciously trying to break conventions, a lot of the sketches did fall a little flat, or were only amusing the first time you saw them.

I have to say, as a long-time Python fan, whenever I re-watch the shows, there is a lot of stuff I skip!


Make tea, not war. 🌈

I kinda like it for that. Very "stream of consciousness." And frankly, even the best sketch comedy has about the same ratio.

I see it the opposite way: 75% gold (or silver) and 25% bilge.

And yes, they had quality control. They've said in interviews there had to be agreement among the group's members about what went into the show, and what didn't - although sometimes bits were filmed spontaneously which they decided to keep. Cleese said the quick skit with him and Palin (where Cleese plays a bobby and Palin propositions him) was one of those, and he doubts it would have made it into the lineup if had been discussed at one of the aforementioned meetings.

I don't think the show would have become legendary if three-quarters of the episodes were "bilge."

i think myself i would say it's about 50/50.

I find it's actually mostly gold. The sketches everyone loves are more "traditional" sketches, but the other stuff gets surreal, weird, and beautiful.

I'd liken it to buying an album for three hit songs, loving those songs, but then "discovering" a bunch of other stuff on the album you love, too.

More 50/50 or 60/40 - the nature of sketch shows.

I actually find some of the more famous stuff not quite as good as some hidden gems.

As an example of the 'shop sketch' - ie anything involving Cleese/Palin (Cheese, Argument, Fish Licence, Parrot, etc), but other members were involved - a hidden gem is the series 2 (about episode 4, 5 or 6) with Idle as a butcher (seller of meat) alternatively sucking up to, and then insulting, Palin.

Priceless! And unlike a few sketches which some anti-Pythons complain about, they know when to get out quickly once the idea had been used up!

I like most of the live-action bits, but I find the animated stuff tiresome.

I would have little hesitation watching some Python, but I do remember once thinking how much I was going to love all this brainy and irreverent humor, then watching the show and thinking how not funny a lot of it was. I thought the cartoon bits particularly fell flat, although I love Gilliam's films. But they still have a special place so I won't try to diminish their legacy. And they have enough catalog that the wiggy bits aren't all representative of the troop.