Monty Python’s influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles’ influence on music, a pivotal moment in the evolution of television humor. Celebrating the cultural legacy and influence of the troupe, this special pairs their original material with new and entertaining commentary from celebrities who consider Monty Python hugely significant, both personally and to the history of screen satire. Celebrity humorists discuss, laugh, and reminisce about various Python segments and bring a fresh perspective to the material, connecting Monty Python’s work to today’s most successful television humor. In a time when a few moments of escape and laughter couldn’t be more sought after, this special reminds viewers of Python’s cultural impact, and that PBS introduced them to American viewers.
Terence Graham Parry Jones was a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team. At the age of 4, the Jones family moved to Surrey in England. Jones attended primary school at Esher COE school and later attended the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, where he was school captain in the 1960-61 academic year. He later read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, but "strayed into history". While there, he performed comedy with future Monty Python cast-mate Michael Palin in The Oxford Revue. Jones appeared in the comedy TV series "Twice a Fortnight" with Michael Palin; Graeme Garden; Bill Oddie and Jonathan Lynn, as well as the television series |"The Complete and Utter History of Britain" (1969). He appeared in" Do Not Adjust Your Set" (1967–69) with Michael Palin; Eric Idle and David Jason. He wrote for "The Frost Report" and several other David Frost programmes.