I am – Hercules!!
Had I known how engrossing IFC’s “Monty Python: Almost The Truth” is, I would have started watching it much earlier. Instead I started the first episode of the six-hour documentary at the end of a long day, and wound up not being able to turn it off until 5 a.m. My sleeping schedule is still profoundly fouled. One of the masterminds behind the project is Terry Jones’ son Bill, and one does sense an extraordinary level of access and investment. When I’d initially heard about “Almost The Truth,” I’d reasonably assumed it was just a repurposing of the (also excellent) new documentaries shot for the complete-series collector’s edition that hit DVD last November. Not so. All the interviews are new, and aside from the “Flying Circus” clips there’s surprisingly little overlap. The November set’s hour-long “Monty Python Conquers America,” especially, fills in a major gap “Almost The Truth” leaves, including the tale of how the creators came to own the original 45 episodes produced for the BBC. Because “Almost The Truth” is on IFC, no one bothers to bleep out the many bad words. Each of the six hour-long episodes features its own wonderful version of the “Life of Brian” title song, tailored with new lyrics to fit each leg of the troupe’s journey. (They even brought back Sonia Jones to sing it.) SUNDAY. “Episode One: The Not So Interesting Beginnings” looks into the team’s influences, how they became aware of each other, and how they came to team up. Learn Terry Gilliam grew up in Minnesta without indoor plumbing. Learn that the Pythons are so old they all grew up listening to radio comedy. Learn Peter Cook had written two different shows running simultaneously in the West End while he was still an undergraduate. Learn “Frost Report” star Cleese quit performing for a year and a half so he could spend time with new American wife Connie Booth. MONDAY. “The Much Funnier Second Episode” looks at how and why “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” was created. (Hint: John Cleese thought Michael Palin hilarious.) Learn Cleese was the only member of the group considered a TV star when the series began, even though everyone else had considerable on-screen experience. Learn why Dean Martin proved instrumental in bringing the show to America. Learn the record album “Matching Tie and Handkerchief” was a bizarre practical joke. TUESDAY. “And Now, The Sordid Personal Bits” looks at why the Flying Circus disbanded. (Hint: John Cleese grew bored.) Learn Terry Jones saved the original episodes from getting wiped out of existence by a pound-foolish BBC determined to recycle its videotape. WEDNESDAY. “The Ultimate Holy Grail Episode” explains how and why the group came to make the funniest movie ever. Learn why “And Now For Something Completely Different” was such a problem. Learn Bruce Dickinson, portrayed with no accuracy by Christopher Walken in SNL’s “More Cowbell” sketch, played a vital role in getting “Holy Grail” made. Learn the movie originally began with the “bring out your dead” scene and why it no longer begins that way. Learn why Graham Chapman gave up alcohol. THURSDAY. “Lust For Glory” follows the making of “Life of Brian.” Learn Cleese wanted to play the title role. Learn George Harrison was so anxious to see the movie that he mortgaged his home and office to finance it. ("It’s the most anyone has paid for a cinema ticket in history," points out Eric Idle.) FRIDAY. “Finally! The Last Episode (Ever) (For Now … )” explains why Python flew apart for good. (Hint: Palin thought it pointless to continue without Chapman.) The final hour takes us from “Live At The Hollywood Bowl” to “Meaning Of Life” to “Spamalot” and ends with the surviving Pythons all keeping busy off-camera: Jones and Palin taking a train to Bristol to voice an Aardman project, Cleese adding his voice to another “Shrek” movie, Idle writing songs, and Gilliam editing “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” Entertainment Weekly gives it an “A” and says:

Six hours of silly bliss … They say analyzing comedy kills it, but in this case, it's one revelation after another. Add rare footage of their early years, some non-Python TV appearances, tense on-set footage filmed during the making of their movies, and clips of their greatest hits, and you've got Monty nirvana. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… excellent … beats any Python documentary yet made for comprehensiveness and depth. …

The Chicago Tribune says:

… excellent … The Pythons are still in fine comedic form, and their self-deprecating anecdotes are even more fun than their still-palpable delight in goading each other …

The Washington Post says:

… Six hours is deliriously too much to look at, or look away from … Fans will bathe happily in IFC's documentary series … And as for non-fans? Well, they were always a dour lot, weren't they? …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… comedy catnip … History. Hysterics. Silly walks. All bundled into an everything-you-wanted-to-know-or-rediscover chronicle of this legendary British comedy troupe … No soaring introductory pronouncements of what Python accomplished and represents. That will be spelled out, step by step, in the fullness of six hours, as interviews, film and audio clips decipher how Monty Python became the most groundbreaking, transforming wellspring of comedy in the history of the world (OK, maybe a wee exaggeration). …

The Newark Star Ledger says:

… for every boy (and, in rarer cases, girl) who, like Fallon, ever tried to do a silly walk, or entered rooms with the taunt, "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!," or simply wanted to know how the most legendary sketch troupe of all time came up with their signature bits and rewrote the rules of comedy in the process. …

Variety says:

Exhaustively splayed across six wonderfully messy parts … There's some fat here, to be sure, but producers Bill Jones and Ben Timlett have assembled so much juicy stuff as to make this destined DVD release indispensable for Pythons fans and a more-than-just-nostalgic introduction for anyone else. …

9 p.m. Sunday-Friday. IFC.

Uncensored!! Unauthorized!! Who Really Created The Simpsons?? And Why Does It Suck Now??

$9: All Hail The King, Baby!!