I BLAME MONTY PYTHON for being a philosophy nerd & my metabolism for being a night owl.
twas 10-11pm, mid-1970s Puerto Rico. was ±10 and already an insomniac. so i turn on, my tiny hand-me-down B&W tv, to the local local PBS; which was the only station with programing at that hour.
this is what i saw: Monty Python's "International Philosophy" aka the philosophers' soccer match.
twas my first Monty Python episode and, to this day, my all time favorite one.
h/t
https://mastodon.social/@johnmacintosh@swiss.social/112038524105816239
OMG people have re-enacted this skit everywhere and in this version, ROSA LUXEMBOURG AND CLARA ZETKIN are subbed in for two philosophers on the Germany side and i just DIIIIIIIIIIIIED* laughing
https://iv.ggtyler.dev/watch?v=SpTECAl53ic
(yes this is my ghost typing from the never after)
whoops, i threaded these wrong, but whatevs:
i knew my version was missing Marx and sure enough, here's the whole skit as it was projected during their Hollywood Bowl special
https://iv.ggtyler.dev/watch?v=i21OJ8SkBMQ
Michael Palin's sportscasting for this skit is absolutely on point. that's why it is such a gem of a comedy skit: this is true sportscasting with actual philosophy scholarship that turns it into a parody of both pop culture and academia.
seriously, this *IS* the perfect Monty Python sketch.
OOH! OOH! OOH!
at Wikipedia, came across this article about a 2010 re-enactment by the UK's "The Philosophy Shop"
"Who's the thinker in the white? | TV comedy | The Guardian"
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/apr/28/monty-python-philosophers-football-match
and here's the video of the match! it's not as funny but totally endearing. they're an org that train philosophy majors to teach philosophy to elementary school kids
OMG Liza what a moment that must have been. I never saw this skit! I love the end where he's detailing the various German philosophers' protests. My first Monty Python was MP & the Holy Grail, on mushrooms, in some high school friend's basement. I think we watched it 3 times straight through.