The Rule of Thumb is that Python was never as good in the P.C. (post-Cleese) era. John Cleese himself has intimated as much in an interview (curiously, to justify his leaving--but Cleese, brilliant as he was, also was always a self-righteous, know-it-all blowhard).
But this Rule is only accurate in the shows with the longer sketches ("Mr. Neutron" and "Michael Ellis" and, to a far lesser extent, "The Golden Age of Ballooning.") In fact, "The Light Entertainment War" is one of the best Python episodes, though Americans won't get some of its subtleties.
The show starts with a spoof of the popular British show "Steptoe and Son" (basis of the American "Sanford and Son"), which segues successfully into a wickedly funny sketch of an RAF flier in the war (it's not clear which) who has lost his knack for banter.
Apparently Palin and Jones always wanted longer sketches and with Cleese's absence (and perhaps with Chapman's drinking and lackadaisical approach to work) they may have dominated the group. Fortunately, in "The Light Entertainment War" only one sketch, the trial sequence, tends to run on too long; but this may be more of the Pythons deliberately aggravating their audience.
Apart from the trial, which could be cut in half, every sketch in the show works. And "The Light Entertainment War" ends with the credits over a wonderful, original Neil Innes song, "When Does a Dream Begin?" The song is sung, on grainy film footage making it look like a legitimate World War II piece, by an RAF airman (Innes) to a less than interested female (a real female this time).
Overall, one of the top shows of the series, right up there with "Face the Press" and "The Spanish Inquisition." Well, a bit below.
But this Rule is only accurate in the shows with the longer sketches ("Mr. Neutron" and "Michael Ellis" and, to a far lesser extent, "The Golden Age of Ballooning.") In fact, "The Light Entertainment War" is one of the best Python episodes, though Americans won't get some of its subtleties.
The show starts with a spoof of the popular British show "Steptoe and Son" (basis of the American "Sanford and Son"), which segues successfully into a wickedly funny sketch of an RAF flier in the war (it's not clear which) who has lost his knack for banter.
Apparently Palin and Jones always wanted longer sketches and with Cleese's absence (and perhaps with Chapman's drinking and lackadaisical approach to work) they may have dominated the group. Fortunately, in "The Light Entertainment War" only one sketch, the trial sequence, tends to run on too long; but this may be more of the Pythons deliberately aggravating their audience.
Apart from the trial, which could be cut in half, every sketch in the show works. And "The Light Entertainment War" ends with the credits over a wonderful, original Neil Innes song, "When Does a Dream Begin?" The song is sung, on grainy film footage making it look like a legitimate World War II piece, by an RAF airman (Innes) to a less than interested female (a real female this time).
Overall, one of the top shows of the series, right up there with "Face the Press" and "The Spanish Inquisition." Well, a bit below.