the declining relevancy of monty python?

Over the weekend I started watching a few episodes of Fawlty Towers, with Monty Python's John Cleese and Connie Booth. I started watching the show probably back in junior high school after discovering the genius of Monty Python. And I remember finding these shows a riot.

I recently saw that Netflix had the show on their instant viewing, so I sat down one evening and starting watching it. I cracked a smile many times and even let a couple of giggles escape, but there wasn't that riotous laughing that I remember.

I mentioned this to a friend and wondered if maybe my humor had changed since then, as things often change. And she said possibly, or maybe I'd just seen it so many times (although that never stopped my friend and me in high school with our movie nights rotating the same three or four movies).

Then I had a thought: What about Monty Python? If my humor was changing, would I still find Monty Python the type of side-hurting humor that I used to? Would I still spend the entire movie/episode laughing so hard I could hardly breathe?

That's a horrible thought.

I hope I never sit through Monty Python and the Holy Grail with only a giggle or two.

And this led me, somehow, to think of future generations. We've got the most brilliant special effects these days, that it can be disappointing to watch older films (I have The Six Wives of Henry VIII on my Netflix list and many of the comments suggest putting aside the poor film quality and occasional bad acting, using the excuse that it was the 1970s). And no one can argue that the Black Knight is realistic.

So if I ever have kids and eventually have them watch Monty Python, will get I get a surly teen look in return and a haughty "why are we even watching this? This is so bad!" Will the poor quality detract from the humor or will the humor have changed so completely that the Python humor is just not funny...to them. Will they even care about an African or European swallow?

I did recently watch Holy Grail several months ago and was very pleased to have found it just as funny, even if my reaction was a little more muted since I knew (by heart) what came next. But...I can only hope that our generation's children will have the same experience I had on that first magical viewing where they may be left wiping tears from their eyes at the end and caught trying to catch their breath.

One of my favorite episodes from Fawlty Towers is up next, so there may be hope left. Here's hoping I get even the slightest cramp in my side from merriment.