The Monty Python Catalog Has a New Streaming Home You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Contrary to John Cleese’s baffling suggestion that Monty Python’s Flying Circus was somehow banned, the show has been widely available on Netflix since 2018. The popular streamer has also been the home of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and various other Python specials and documentaries. Oh, and Eric Idle’s bizarre faux radio play What About Dick?
But all that is about to change.
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The entire Python catalog will disappear from Netflix on November 1st, meaning that a lot of folks may be spending Halloween night binging 50-year-old comedy sketches. This marks the end of the much-publicized association between Netflix and the Pythons, which not every member of the group has been super-happy about.
Since Netflix has failed to renew its deal with Monty Python, the iconic comedy troupe’s back catalog was free to find a new digital home. As reported by Variety, Shout! Studios just struck a deal to “license exclusive U.S. and Canadian distribution rights including AVOD, SVOD, broadcast, theatrical and non-theatrical distribution rights for a catalog of Monty Python films, specials and performances.” This includes all the Flying Circus episodes, as well as Holy Grail and Life of Brian.
The Meaning of Life isn’t part of the deal, and wasn’t on Netflix, owing to the fact that it was the Pythons’ lone film produced for a major studio, Universal Pictures, which, incidentally, greenlit it with only a budget and a poem to go by.
Shout! is known for their high quality physical media releases, but they also apparently have a streaming service called Shout! TV. So if you want to stream the Pythons after November 1st, you’ll have to subscribe to yet another service. At least this one seems affordable and doesn’t have a stupid “+” in the name. Plus, it's also the home of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and old episodes of Candid Camera.
And while Netflix may have fumbled the Pythons, Shout! is seemingly going to appreciate them far more. Judging from past home video releases Shout! has a genuine respect and admiration for the history of comedy. And their Senior VP of Acquisitions and Originals Jordan Fields issued a statement highlighting how thrilled the company is to have landed this deal.
“It’s difficult to describe the place that Monty Python holds in the hearts of generations of comedy lovers without using a word the Pythons would mock: sacred,” Fields proclaimed. “Their body of work is still the standard by which silly, sophisticated, cinematic satire is measured. Shout! scored its own holy grail, and it is Monty Python.”
Of course, it remains to be seen how Eric Idle will react to this news given his vocal displeasure with the current state of the Python business.
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