Monty Python Talks About... Studio Executives

[PetiteSevi]

I don't understand these people who play a video of Eric Idle talking 'bout studio executives and dislike it. I mean: what the hell they expected? Why did 10 people watch it in the first place if they were not interested in the subject, or at least interested in watch Eric talking. I've got to agree with @WatchVenusSpa That should explain.

[FewL4no1]

The only exception I know to this is Louis C.K's new show 'Louie,' and it's a great show.

[PandaJungle]

.....AND?

[WatchVenusSpa]

10 studio executives 'disliked' this video.

[hollysweetheart1990]

i love this guy : )

[Telektroscope]

Maybe I'll try to make a show similar to ye'old python when I'll graduate from the theatre-academy; People should dare to make wathever they like and dare to be original and mix up things wheter they're relevant or not.

Humor is turning into trash -TV. And I will never let that happen.

-God save the King-

[bernardcz92]

Not just Eric Idle say this, but also many other great comedy writers, like David Croft, argue that in the past, the lack of executives allowed great sitcoms to be made, whilst now they can't do anything.

[DennistheGreat483]

Executives, like most middlemen careers, only exist to keep the unemployment numbers down. Unnecessary bureaucracy at the expense of art and creation for the purpose of an undeserved paycheck :(

[Olaffbog]

That was one of the sadest things I have seen/heard on Youtube. So perfectly delivered by Mr. Idol on the death of art (at least a form of it). Still, always look on the bright side.

[tnekkc]

The same thing happens in engineering.

There are managers who want to make low risk decisions.

So all risks must be taken in tiny companies, where the engineer runs the place.

Then the small company sells the work or is bought out.

Microsoft has never invented anything.

They have just bought small companies.

In the early days, Standard Oil did not drill for oil as much as buy companies or force them out of business.

They partly Python movie Brazil, had terrorists who got things done.

[luizcadu]

The same is valid for the music industry. The fact that we have so many Lady Gagas and Justin Whoeverthefuck today is due to the lack of balls of musical producers, that want to be sure that the artist they're investing in is going to bring profit. As a result, everything you hear today sounds like something you've already heard before, it's a formula for making $.

[xemily91]

Can you imagine what Python would've been like if there were executives in those days? It wouldn't even exist like it did...and what would the world be now?!

thank god, at least if the position had to happen, it didn't happen during Python's reign. Now, I wish I were around for Python. I have to look back now and go "Wow...that was great..."

[MultiSmartass1]

@xemily91 Interesting. As a Python fan for over 20 years, I know a lot about the backstage stories but I didn't know that BBC execs didn't read the script. Part of the reason that Python came about was because the BBC is a government backed channel compared to purely commercial concerns like Channel 4 or ITV. Also, the lads were experienced tv writers and thus trustworthy in an artistic sense.

[VilliGodi]

There are no studio execu(tioners)tives controlling the artistic freedom of youtubers.

[TheRealStarfox]

Thank you Eric for confirming my suspicions about how Monty Python (the BBC show) was constructed. I always believed the show was just the studio giving you access to props, sets, cameras, and other equipment and letting you have free reign. Modern corporate control of media and talent prevents such genius from coming to light. Monty Python represents one of the last great achievements of mankind, and you are right - corporations and their executives marked the end.

RIP Artistic Freedom

[bx6zvo1]

love

[Cowcharge]

Because I have had tea! Lots of tea! Indian tea! AND biscuits!

[MundaneRaptor]

I tell you, while there are creative and visionary executives, they are the exception that proves the rule...

Many of these executives nowadays wouldn't know good content if it came up, smacked them with a mackerel, threw them into the comfy chair, and said 'Ni!'... They are stifling the free expression and culture that were what made the twentieth century great...

[Shadow8055]

Obsession over political correctness in today's society has also driven comedy into the ground.

[mas92]

what pains me more than anything is that my generation's entertainment industry will always be known as the ones who played it safe. no one takes any risks and no one tries anything new. THAT is worse than bad.

[Nautilus1972]

And THAT my friend is America's gift to the world. Homogenisation.

[eric201]

It is sad that something as groundbreaking as Monty Python could never be made today. Fucking network executives.

[earfolds]

And?

[Mironario]

True and wrong.

[skezness]

trong

[El135o]

I read about record company executives telling a current songwriter, "you can't use the line, 'the car parked down by the lake' because it won't sell." Ditto for Sophie B. Hawkins. She was let go from her recording contract because she wanted to use a banjo in one of her songs. The execs said, "it will reduce sales," so she insxisted, and they simply fired her.

The modern salaryman in charge of art is a CROCK OF SHIT.

[dewhistle]

@El135o Then they did her a favor, which I guess goes without saying. If a music company can't understand the use of a musical instrument in a song, they need to find something else to produce.

[McRocket]

Very interesting.

[audreey23]

ahhh. i love the example he used. one of my favorite things about the show was the characters that said, "and now," or "it's" or "and"

it's so clever and silly and random and wonderful!

[ianduckworth]

Another Idle quote 'It was the golden age of executives. There weren't any.'

[NolanBarker]

this is why Python was the greatest. they did what they wanted

[morenauer]

Unfortunately, Eric is right. Executives are too worried about the ratings and their own ass.

[olstar18]

It isn't necessarily that todays comedy sucks. I think its more a combination of someone has already done it before and it simply isn't the kind of comedy that you like.

[tarranpigkeep]

so true

[fiverivers]

executives kill a lot of creative talent b/c they are interested in making a profit more than anything else.

[petrino]

if shakespear lived today he'd have said "kill all the Executives"

[thejugglenaut91]

god damn, i was just thinking after hearing this, how many great shows were cut down by the executives over the years?

[trublgrl]

"Upright Citizen's Brigade" ran for only like, 12 episodes, "Get a Life" ran for only 24 or so, "The Critic" had three seasons, I think, "Duckman" only two...

SO MANY hilarious programs have been (To quote the torturer's apprentice) "Cut off in my prime!"

[olstar18]

You might have enjoyed them but if thee weren't enough people watching then they can not make money.

[PFWoody488]

Movies and TV today are more concerned with product placement, focus groups, and toy marketing than they are with writing, acting, and well executed plot.

The execs have changed originality from a virtue to a vice.

Taking chances runs counter to CYA corporate culture and so it is actively discouraged.

That is why Hollywood and network TV both suck ass.

The internet rewards originality. Thus it may be a much bigger threat than they realize.

[auerstadt06]

Absolutely. And they wonder why people aren't going to the cinema like they used to.

[sludgiebear]

@PFWoody488 That is if you can find anything good amongst the mass of crap uploaded on the internet. :)

[CorvusCorone68]

@sludgiebear what i do is, i use the internet to find British TV shows, then i watch those, then listen to music mentioned by them, and it works out nicely

[Veggieman87]

It's a shame how right he is. There needs to be some more weird going on in television and movies, instead of just empty, meaningless movies based off of sex, drugs, and other mindless jokes.

[LtGripweed]

And books. I don't think Hollywood has had an original idea in decades.

[olstar18]

What about taken.

[youvebeenthunderstru]

Those who determine our taste for us are ruining art.

[CaptainHellblaze]

not to mention creating a more stupid tomorrow

[PeterTutti]

I know it's a little too common, but I thing that Monty Python should reunite, even without Graham Chapman. Only one sketch, that's it, I guess it would be nice, but that's up to them.

[tsimon1234]

Yeah but I think some of them are pissed of with Idle for using Python as a platform to make even more money.

[imOverWhere]

what did he do?

[tsimon1234]

He like made loads of Eric sings Monty Python songs and he did other things too.

[kyrastube]

I dont think theres anything wrong with eric touring around singing python-songs or that he made spamalot. I mean, I was born in 82 so I never had a chanse to see the whole python-team together IRL, but I might still have a chanse to see eric sing the songs live.

next year spamalot is coming to sweden (where I live) and Im sure as hell going, even if it might be translated

[tsimon1234]

Yeah I dont have a prblem with what he's done myself. Anyways enjoy Spamalot!

[trublgrl]

As I understand it, the original six pythons have either an equal or equitable arrangement where, when Python material is used, they all share in the profits. Eric should probably be applauded for buying more homes and rennaissance literature and fish licenses for the boys, rather than denigrated.

[tsimon1234]

I am not deriding him in anyway I was merely informing someone of the facts as I know them.

[FlawlessFlaw07]

Lol so true, modern TV , cinema.... are actually trends . They televise what you want to see , no surprise there. The only funny shows are those that are not censored in any means... like 1% of what's produced...

[DIABLADIABLA]

I LOVEEEE YOUUUUUU M.P.!!!!!!!!!

[kristell9]

Everyone who likes Eric Idle should read The Greedy Bastard Diary.  VERY funny book.

[GumbyBrainDoctor]

Amen to that. I think the funniest part was when he decided he was a comedy God because a girl threw her panties in the "tip can".

[kristell9]

Reading the book is like being able to hang out with Eric for two weeks. And the comments in the margins are excellent.

[RantingThespian]

. . . and . . .

[SheepasaurusRex]

Boy, Eric really let himself go.

[unquietsoul]

The man was born in 1947, and he's not some American movie star or aging rock star who's obsessed with hair transplants, body modifications and 4 hour daily professional workouts so he can have the healthiest looking corpse.

[SheepasaurusRex]

Ah. But I never said that he's not awesome anymore.

No matter how old he looks, Eric Idle will always be the man.

[Patengers]

Why not? German TV has shown: You can put EVERYTHING on Television.

(And I dont talk about something as high quality as Monty Python...)

[chelzter]

I hate television these days, and I'm not even 20.

[JerberWarren]

You took the words right out of my mouth.

[GWDDUE]

i think south park is the modern monty python, maybe.

[coasterkid345]

wow, really? -1

[Cradboradfy]

Maybe, but it's a tad more Explicit and Vulgar. I still agree Though.

[ChemoEmarles]

No, because South Park relies on profanity and vulgarity to make 9 year-olds laugh, while Monty Python is genuinely funny.

[skafskaf]

I think thats like comparing John Coltrane with elevator music

[tjodolF2]

Both are annoying and nobody really likes either?

[RantingThespian]

Nah, south park is great at parts and just generally smart, but some parts seem to rely on shock value or only making fun of celebrities. It also is not revolutionary. A lot of their stuff has been done before, even by them.

Don't get my wrong, I like south park, but it's not python.

[revjimbob]

"It also is not revolutionary"

its comedy, man - not dialectical materialism.

[RantingThespian]

Comedy is art, art can be revolutionary.

[thejugglenaut91]

i don't know man. I think for it's time, with the issues that monty python deals with such as sexuality and victorian age thinking, both of which were monumental "no go zones", there is just no comparison to the controversy. South park, however genius it is and utterly hilarious, was left with what the pythons didn't take care of. I'm american but you have to admit, as even the creators did, that the influence of monty python is direct in the comedy of south park, sometimes even using same jokes

[17latter]

The modern man has lost the good taste of humor. Everything has to be so fucking perfect and political correct today.

[Usethebanana]

And don't forget that everything has to be the same! If a formula works they will milk it until it no longer works, and then the will milk it some more.

The BBC was quite brave by taking risks on giving something new a chance and introducing it to the people. Nowadays, they go for something safe, something they know that works. Perfect examples of this are todays reality shows, "temptation island works over there?" OK! Enter Tempt. Isl. Belgium, Tempt. Isl Spain, Tempt. Isl Italy, ...etc. Shame

[LtGripweed]

Don't forget all the skillions of Survivor spinoffs. And The Apprentice UK.

[Katiefoolery]

I guess today, a show like this would be seen as too much of a risk. So instead, we get commercial-friendly reality TV!

[LordTharrion]

So true... TV Exec.s have no sense of humor now lol

[Zantetsudex]

Executives just don't realise the reason people watch the bile that's streaming from their coloured boxes nowadays is because it's all there is coming out from it.

Life has become so systematic anything that tries to break from the schema is treated like a virus and purged from existence.

[JWJSSIF]

Fuck the system!

[m0osey]

i <3 that song

[uglukdermage]

sign

[ShadowlostArts]

It's quite true that British light entertainment has gone down the pan.

[MarkALoopy]

And?

[Slashgibber]

I suppose they have never seen any Adult Swim shows.

[Dinoslay]

That's because executives don't understand artistry by the slightest. They've become like this all thanks to the industrialization of everything. The government, schools, they have all become executives to our lives.

[pauldelacroix]

But television is dying out. The Internet is the future.

[ZachsMind]

We could put it on television if we buried the hatchet on the television executives' heads. Oh wait. No that's incarceration, not distribution. I guess the old bugger is right.

[Simonhakken]

he's the awesomestest python

[mikwid]

Yep, the good ol days in a lot of ways...

[Texcentric]

Spot on Mr. Idle. That's why after growing up watching TV I now spend my time on the internet. At least until the executives figure out a way to get their grubby little paws into that too. Enjoy the internet frontier while it's still unconquered. It's days of relative freedom may be numbered.

[dapanzy]

the days of relative freedom already are numbered on youtube, they've been removing anything they think has any sort of copyright in it for a bit of a while now...

[Texcentric]

I was referring specifically to artistic freedom to express oneself. Copyright infringement is a separate issue that is easier to define & come to terms with than the appropriateness, or acceptability of someones artistic vision of the world. As long as it's your original work you can currently present some fairly edgy material on YT for the time being. How long that will last is another story.

[dapanzy]

I guess I kinda missunderstood what you meant, sorry about that.

[Texcentric]

No problem. Just thought I'd flesh out my thought & clarify myself a bit there.

[GoldFloride]

"We can't put this on television" just another reason the internet kicks ass.

[42fba]

Fortunately, there are no executive reading scripts for youTube clips. Hurray!

[schmiiid]

god, i love him

[sevvy5]

i'm hungry. Make Me Some Dang Waffles Woman!!!

[katalina2007]

I like Eric.

[deadredeyes]

I agree with Eric, in that having a show like Monty Python being made today would be damn near impossible. A hefty amount of execs seemingly nitpick through everything already, and when they can't understand something they either turn the idea down, or call it stupid. It's amazing that MP didn't have to go through that process. No wonder why the show was so racy for its time.

[killblade99]

and that, exactly why there is nothing but SHIT on tv now

[FutureAbe]

thats why we'll never have another show like monty python

[OMGpistolsatdawn]

one of the funnniest men alive! :D

[PuppyZwolle]

Or dead.

[PuppyZwolle]

I think you mean he's not the most gifted actor of the bunch but you should read his stuff.

He's very funny

[SpiderXxPirate]

Boo your opinion.

[mas92]

congrats. you just insulted a man who died of cancer at the age of 46. you are obviously a saint.

[ruleta74835]

Wow, I say certainly not. I often think of Idle as my favorite of the troup.

[HenshinMasta]

We love you Eric!

[PuppyZwolle]

We sure do.