Title: Michael Ellis
Original Airdate: 7/11/1974
It's a new title sequence, just saying Monty Python, followed by the end credits.
First off: a customer looking to buy an ant gets frustrated by the silliness of the salesmen. After complaining to the manager, the customer peruses a few ants, and the manager sells him several accessories. As the customer leaves though, the manager calls him Michael Ellis, but then corrects himself and says he said "I'm jealous". On the way out the customer hears the PA system call for Michael Ellis.
The customer brings the ant home to his mum, who isn't happy he brought home another pet. The mum says she's been on the phone with Michael Ellis, but apparently he wasn't calling about anything important.
The customer sits down to watch TV with his pet ant, which he names Marcus. Several ant themed programs are on, including a skit where two people act like ants and a documentary on the anatomy of the ant. Thanks to the documentary the customer (whom the documentary directly calls Michael Ellis) realizes his ant is fake.
The customer returns to the department store to complain. Along the way he passes through a poetry reading. Then he goes into a toupee shop to ask where the manager's office is. Once he reaches the complaint department the customer finds out it was Michael Ellis week. The customer complains it's a rotten ending, and the End of Show manager offers several other endings, including a sudden Smash to Black, which they use.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Lots of this in the "Poetry Reading" sketch.
- Cassandra Truth: Eric's character ends up in the Toupee department and none of the salesmen believe that his hair is real, nor that he's looking to complain about his ant.
- Chase Scene: One of the suggested endings.
- Dodgy Toupee: The three men who work in the toupee department of the store are all convinced that their toupees are amazing. In reality, they don't even match their real hair in colour, and look just plain awful.
- Fake-Hair Drama: The toupee sketch.
- Groin Attack: A security guard at the department store opens a car door for a middle-aged woman who's getting out. She responds by kneeing him in the crotch.
- Royal "We": Queen Victoria talks like this in the "Poetry Reading" sketch, but with a German accent for some strange reason.
- Smash to Black: At the end the characters are discussing how to end the episode. They reject a happy ending, walking into the sunset, a Fade to Black, then finally:Assistant: Well, how about a sudden ending?
Smash to Black - Weirdness Magnet: The starring character.
