‘It’s…’ Pythons’ turn to share their favorite Monty bits

The British invasion was more than just four mop-headed dudes rocking out, or a big-lipped singer and his mates singing about “Satisfaction.”

On TV Monty Pythons Personal Best, 9 and 10 p.m. Wednesdays; KCTS.

A major part of the British invasion had nothing to do with guitars and drums.

It was a sextet of sketch comics from Britain – including one American – whose BBC comedy show landed on PBS in the United States in 1974, when their now-famous foot made a lasting imprint on the culture.

In four seasons, totaling 45 episodes, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” gave American audiences their share of favorite moments and recurring catch phrases, such as “wink, wink, nudge, nudge,” and “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!”

Now the cast members take a moment to highlight their own favorite moments from the show – a luxury that’s not often afforded them.

“My entire life consists of people coming up to me and telling me what their favorite bloody ‘Monty Python’ sketches are,” says John Cleese, in character in a new sketch. “I don’t give a stuff what they think.”

“Monty Python’s Personal Best,” a six-part series of one-hour episodes that pulls together each cast member’s personal selections from the show, will air at 9 and 10 p.m. each Wednesday night for the next three weeks on KCTS.

With the exception of the late Graham Chapman, each Python wrote and produced his own episode. The two episodes available for review featured Idle and Cleese and include some new stuff, including Cleese as a 99-year-old, hard-of-hearing and all-too-blunt version of himself conducting a poolside interview with a TV reporter.

And nothing is off limits.

“Half the time he was dead drunk,” the “old” Cleese says about Chapman, his writing partner. “Then he stopped being drunk and started being dead. Still takes the royalties, though, lazy bum.”

“You know dying is often a cry for attention,” he tells the reporter. “Did you know that?”

Here’s what you should know: the breakdown of whose episode airs when, and what to expect:

* 9 p.m. Wednesday: Idle, the third-tallest member of the cast, returns to the Hollywood Bowl to introduce his favorite skits, which include the Silly Olympics, the Bruces, Lumberjacks and the Hairdressers’ Expedition to Mount Everest.

* 10 p.m. Wednesday: This memoir of the late Graham Chapman from his fellow Pythons includes their favorites featuring Chapman and a selection of his own favorites, including Spam, wrestling, a documentary on mollusks and the wit of Oscar Wilde.

* 9 p.m. March 1: Cleese chooses instructive selections, including showing viewers how to defend themselves against fresh fruit, perform brain surgery Gumby-style and fly. His musical offering is the exploding version of the Blue Danube.

* 10 p.m. March 1: Terry Gilliam presents his cartoon favorites from the show in a complete format reversal from the original show. This time, live-action segments link the cartoons in a surreal collection of killer cars, sprouting hands and dancing teeth.

* 9 p.m. March 8: Michael Palin takes an in-depth look at fish slapping, examining method, technique and equipment. In between, he offers some of his favorite sketches, including the Cheese Shop, Blackmail and the Piranha Brothers.

* 10 p.m. March 8: Terry Jones reveals for the first time that he was the true creative genius behind Monty Python and in fact wrote all the shows himself. This makes the job of selecting his favorites harder, but he produces an hour that features the Bishop, News for Parrots, Bicycle Repair Man and the Spanish Inquisition.

You might not necessarily find your own personal favorites, but keep in mind that this time it’s about the cast members. Consider it even better than a reunion special. This will give you even more insight into each of them while reliving a few laughs from years past.

“I think from the ‘Personal Best,’” Idle told the Miami Herald last week, “you’ll see that people have quite different choices about what they find funny.”

Victor Balta’s TV column runs Mondays and Thursdays on the A&E page. Reach him at 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.