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DVD - Monty Python: The Other British Invasion

As hard as it is to imagine, there was a world before Monty Python. And just like any other great historical epoch--the Jurassic Period, the Age of Chivalry, The Dawn of Disco--scholars have invested hundreds of hours examining the Rise of Python: that brief shining moment before the world knew how brilliant buffoonery could be.

Watch, laugh and learn:

Before the Flying Circus: Rare vintage footage and interviews trace the pre-Monty Python influences that honed the wit of the future Pythons and shaped their destinies as the world's most innovative comedy partnership.

Monty Python Conquers America: This is the story of the OTHER British invasion--the funny one. Monty Python's astonishing American success was due as much to the passion of well-placed fans as it was to a string of absurdly lucky breaks. Being really, REALLY funny helped some, too. Featuring interviews with the Pythons, Hank Azaria, Jimmy Fallon, David Hyde Pierce, and others.

And now for something completely different, unless you own the Spiny Norman-sized The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Collector's Edition Megaset, which includes this pair of authoritative, entertaining, and not at all silly 2008 documentaries as bonus features. Before the Flying Circus is present at the creation, chronicling the formative years of John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam, and how they met, formed creative partnerships, and developed their singular comic voice. Monty Python Conquers America follows the troupe's long and winding road to the States and acknowledges the unsung heroes in the Python story, the tenacious marketing reps and risk-taking public television execs (Luke and Owen Wilson's father among them) and radio djs and program directors who helped to unleash upon unsuspecting citizens the troupe that conventional wisdom said was too crazy, too eccentric, too British, and too silly to be a success here. Both programs eschew the usual bits to present rarely seen footage. Before boasts a treasure trove of clips of pre-Python projects, such as the loony children's show Do Not Adjust Your Set. Conquers contains priceless home-movie glimpses of fledgling Python-mania as well as new interviews with the Montys and some admirers, including Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Judd Apatow, and Carl Reiner. For passionate Pythoneers and the uninitiated who may be wondering what's all this then, The Other British Invasion is an invaluable addition to the Python canon. --Donald Liebenson