John Cleese On How Monty Python Invaded America | CONAN on TBS

(Original Airdate: 11/18/15) John details the early days of Python in the US, from their PBS roots to their rock star concerts.
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[@wyliehigh2108]

I loved watching Andy slide one in and make John Cleese genuinely laugh. Really cool moment:)

[@BOZ_11]

Andy is quite for so long and then hits you with his wit

[@AkiroKiro]

Many reasons to love John Cleese, but the way he kept turning around to involve Andy was just such a genuinely nice gesture, and Andy of course payed it back with a classic Richter zinger :D

[@ElvarMasson]

​@@BOZ_11 Quite what?

[@BOZ_11]

@@ElvarMasson keep it a secret or your not long for this world (yeah i did it again)

[@BobBigWheels]

Love how Cleese involved Andy in his interview. Normally people just talk to Conan and don't get Andy involved. Andy is amazing.

[@E_y_a_l]

Every time you publish a video with a past guest I start worrying that they just died.

[@billy9497able]

Haha me too. I just gave him a Google

[@kevboard]

same

[@ErenTheWarcriminal]

Maybe that’s not so bad in this case

[@ElminoVevo]

@@ErenTheWarcriminal what did john do to you?

[@sirinkat2623]

Indeed.

[@Woozlewuzzleable]

Now I have to google John Cleese..........good he's alive.

[@Kickex]

Now you jinxed it

[@Woozlewuzzleable]

@@Kickex You scared me and I had to google him again.

[@experi-mentalproductions5358]

@@Woozlewuzzleable You know what they say when you google someone twice in a row... they die...

[@chej9]

@@experi-mentalproductions5358 i heard you had to google someone 5 times in a mirror for it to work

[@4seeableTV]

I love Cheese. But he's pretty old now and he's got that beer belly. He seems to be the most out of shape of the remaining Pythons, so it wouldn't be surprising if he was the next to go. Or maybe he'll live to 101 like his mother.

[@phaedrawidney5246]

I could listen to John Cleese tell stories all day.

[@timcalvert5919]

You could do that. At least for the better part of one day, maybe two, depending on your tolerance for side-splitting laughter. Get the audio book of his autobiography, read by Mr. Cleese himself. It's one of the funniest things I've ever listened to.

[@rob_4227]

I think it’s fitting that Monte Python was produced with public money in England and it took off in America because of PBS, publicly funded television. I wish our government invested more money in artistic media like England. Really amazing art can come of it.

[@conanichigawa]

Wow. Didn't think of it that way before.

[@chrisjohnston4445]

When Holy Grail aired on KCET (the PBS affiliate in Los Angeles) during a pledge drive in the late-70s, with Graham Chapman presenting, I was in my mid-teens, and my parents sat me down to watch it. I had very bad asthma, so laughing too hard was very dangerous for me. That night, I inaugurated my "Phlegm Factor" system for rating comedy, of which that film achieved a perfect 10.0!

[@timothyhunter4724]

Seeing Monty Python every week in Nashville Tennessee saved my life

[@medicalstudybuddy2964]

Thanks Conan for making me Google John Cleese to make sure he didn't die....

[@grokeffer6226]

Mr. Cleese has been one of my favorite entertainers for a long time. I hope he and his family and herd of large cats are all doing okay. 😸🐅🐆

[@kastriotgjeloshgjokaj6923]

i love all John's stories and the way he tells them

[@MrNawaf93]

Can’t imagine any Conan show with out Andy 🥹, his quips are hilarious

[@joaomarreiros4906]

One of the last living British citizens I still respect, for his utter madness, mental freedom, and intelligence.

[@joykraft1175]

For as much as people bag on PBS their programming is top notch. Educational entertaining and groundbreaking ps huge John Cleese fan!

[@johnking5174]

I believe the main reason why PBS became the home of so many British programs is that PBS doesn't have to bow down to advertisers and sponsors, and so they are not scared to air unique British shows, as they don't have to rely on ad revenue for funds.

[@thomast4315]

Andy once again steals the bit. With a Pythonesque quip no less.

[@funnyusername8635]

I bet that stage hand that explained John was doing a rock concert not a comedy show has some fascinating stories.

[@CanadianShieldMan]

If anyone gets that book theres very very little about python in it but its still amazing to read. So many hilarious stories.

[@johanf9279]

I liked the chapters about when he was a teacher.

[@CanadianShieldMan]

@@johanf9279 I really enjoyed all the stories with Marty Feldman

[@MightyEFX]

i love john cleese, my father showed me his comedy films and monthy python wish my father would meet him some day, but first i hope he recovers well from his fever 🙏

[@borhaptrash5454]

Gotta love him! Can’t wait to see him in Berlin this June

[@johnkevin5420]

Great respect to the great John Cleese. Conan pays his respect to his comedic hero.

[@jamesstuart3346]

Saturday nights at uni we'd get together with a jug of London Red Supper Wine and watch Python in the Common Room. Miss those days :(

[@PrimarchX]

I remember seeing this come on PBS with my parents as a kid. We were hooked!

[@JohnSmithZen]

Big props to any famous people who are speaking against the current push for 1984-world. GOD BLESS YOU Mr. Cleese.

[@pikedylan2488]

He cancelled himself before the leftist could! What a boss!

[@PopeLando]

It's hard to remember that there was enough nudity in Python that would give American executives some pause. Many of Terry Gilliam's animations used classical art, a lot of which was nudes; Terry Jones used to sit at a Hammond organ completely nude; and there was one sketch where someone bought a newspaper in a shop and the girl behind the counter was topless. I never thought of Monty Python as something that had salacious naughty bits, but others might well have seen it differently.

[@inoderlulzer5163]

The least thing you would expect John Cleese to say ( almost like a ring tone ): *6ixty 9ine!*

[@mohamedmatog6297]

England has high ping 😄

[@clay1521]

And I would watch all 40 days

[@finalxxxpunch2964]

John Cleese is 6'5"?!

[@patrickmanion9646]

I was one of those teenagers in the Dallas area who saw the first Monty Python episodes on KERA. I was 14, and I've never been sane since.

[@ryansmiley5495]

Fawlty towers is a masterpiece!

[@NitroGummyBear]

My dad had a friend as a teen when this movie came out. It showed in a small theater here for like a week and my dads friend wrote this guy or another about how amazing the movie was. He got a signed copy of the movie with a long note from the actor. Wasn’t big in America at the time.

[@johnminarik3442]

He will also teach you how to defend against an attacker using fresh fruit as a weapon. Should set him up with TFG.

[@AraceaeFanatics]

Living Legend

[@cjhepburn7406]

Bless Ron Devilius…PBS…Cj

[@Gorays943]

I named my son and cat after Monty python characters.

[@honeybeebadger]

Legend

[@richiecuna5781]

yes everyone once in a while ill hear a good song from when and think well that got 6 years to get to me lol

[@Tommyr]

LONG LIVE MONTY PYTHON!

[@galgosuelto]

Legends

[@Ellierua]

I genuinely get scared now when i see a clip of an oldie.. Thankfully all ok with the wonderful John Cleese.

[@lynncanada1915]

Shrubbery ❤️

[@jamespayne5570]

Would love to see John Cleese and Chevy Chase hating each other in something.

[@netrioter]

PBS has an educated viewership...thats why it worked. If it was on a primetime station back then, they wouldnt have got it and it would have failed miserably

[@johnking5174]

I believe the main reason why PBS became the home of so many British programs is that PBS doesn't have to bow down to advertisers and sponsors, and so they are not scared to air unique British shows, as they don't have to rely on ad revenue for funds.

[@alfx5432]

I'm 62 years old I watched Monty Python on a old Motorola TV black and white on Sunday nights , you can't understand if you didn't grow up in the 70s Monty Python was on PBS on Sunday's Night. I was in 7th or 8th grade it was all the talk Monday morning at school. Monty Python was a gift.

[@dennis_brok900]

This guy is perfect as adolf hitler in a comedy movie

[@paulbryant8403]

Except hes 6'5

[@alexanderarthurgordon]

And British

[@johnricercato740]

He played Hitler in one of the Python sketches.

[@Benzy670]

Scared me that John Cleese had died. 😅

[@Cancun771]

OMG has he died or why are you re-running this?!

[@johnking5174]

Conan's team are putting out a lot of archive material just in the same way they have always done. Letterman is finally doing it now with his own KZbin channel. Remember Conan owns all of his archive at NBC and TBS, so this makes money, whilst he prepares for his new HBO Max entertainment show to start later in 2022.

[@Cancun771]

@@johnking5174 Well duh but whenever some former guest dies, the first I usually learn of it is when his old Conan interview pops up in my YT.

[@johnking5174]

@@Cancun771 What age are you? Stop acting like a kid and grow up.

[@Cancun771]

@@johnking5174 Yup, overblown rants over nothing in the YT comment section = sure sign of mature and undiseased mind

[@johnking5174]

@@Cancun771 I am glad you have self awareness, well done.

[@xploration1437]

Meow

[@richardkovacs2006]

... and american televison went back to be safe and boring...

[@coachtomas]

Oh goodness look out, waiting for the cancel brigade to appear in comments.