Monty Python: Films vs TV

For years I've watched the television series and the films produced by the British comedy troop Monty Python. And most fans of them enjoy the series just as much as the films but I seem to be on a different side. I'm not a fan of the series but I enjoy the films. Maybe because of the eradicate nature of the series, jumping from one skit to the next without any cohesiveness. I have the same complaints about SNL and MadTV which are very much the same in concept.

However when it comes to the Monty Python films I'm laughing my ass off. Of course there is The Holy Grail but its The Meaning of Life that I find even more relevant to this argument. Like the TV series The Meaning of Life is nothing more than a series of skits looking closely at some of lives important moments and general experiences that we all share.

Naturally one can say that I like the films more based primarily on the fact that the films follow a story or theme that I can easily latch onto. This is probable true but I think it runs deeper than that. For me it seems that the films are much more reflective on human theme's and concepts. They just aren't tied together by a plot line but by what they are trying to say. This is why I've mentioned The Meaning of Life. Throughout the film Monty Python points out the ridiculousness of religion, childbirth, obesity, corporations, the military, and just basic human concepts like happiness, self righteousness, and sex. And all of this is bound together by a simple question, "What is the meaning of Life?"

And essentially they do answer that question unlike most media that simply brushes over it as a great unknown that doesn't matter in the end. But the film states that it does matter in its closing minutes by stating exactly what the meaning of life is.

"Well that was the film, and now here is the meaning of life. Well its nothing very special. Try and be nice to people. Avoid eating fat. Read a good book every now and then. Get some walking in. And try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."

Really I don't know a better response to the question, "What is the meaning of life?"