Recap / Monty Pythons Flying Circus S 2 E 4

Title: The Buzz Aldrin Show (or: An Apology)

Original Airdate: 20/10/1970

Guest starring: Sandra Richards, Stanley Mason, John Hughman

And now for something different, it's: two proposals for an apartment building construction project ("Architects Sketch"), lessons on how to spot a Mason, a sketchy insurance agent, an episode of The Bishop ("The Bishop"), a housewife trying to seduce a poet inspector, a series of decreasingly naughty chemists, what other people use for aftershave, and a policeman arresting an innocent man.

---

Tropes:

• All or Nothing: The Mason is given a chance to choose correctly, with giving up being a Mason rewarding him with the image of a nude lady. He declines, and is immediately bashed over the head with a hammer.
  Narrator: NO!? THAT'S WRONG! WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG! NO, NO, BAD DOG, BAD...
• And Starring: "The Buzz Aldrin Show" has a fake credits sequence for a detective feature called "The Bishop" that includes "AND INTRODUCING F. B. GRIMSBY URQHART-WRIGHT AS THE VOICE OF GOD".
• Badass Preacher: "The Bishop". (Well, he tries to be one, anyway.)
• Bait-and-Switch Compassion: Reverend Morrison breaks down sobbing in Mr. Devious's office. Devious softens a bit and says, "Look, rev, I hate to see a man cry...so shove off out of the office, there's a good chap."
• Beanstalk Parody: One of the animations has Jack and the Beanstalk with a Gumby at the bottom.
• Broken Record: "The BBC would like to apologise for the constant repetition in this show." This is said twice in a row.
• Call-Back: One of the people in the Vox Pops segment (about their favorite aftershave) is Cardinal Ximinez from the "Spanish Inquisition" sketch (also Ken Shabby, who appeared in a couple of first season episodes). Also, Michael Palin, as the "Not-At-All-Naughty Chemist", says at one point, "I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition."
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: The Running Gag of "The Bishop" sketch is that he always arrives too late to stop whatever church related crime he's trying to stop.
• Cheating with the Milkman: Played straight with Wombat Harness, the man who reads people's poets, and a woman who wants him to take her where "eternity knows no bounds".
• Department of Redundancy Department: "Here is a sketch about [subject] called, 'The [Subject] Sketch'!"
• Disorganized Outline Speech:
  Ximinez: I use two kinds of aftershave lotions: Frankincense, Myrrh...three kinds of aftershave lotions: Frankincense, Myrrh, Sandalwood... four kinds of aftershave lotion: Frankincense...
• Eat the Camera: The camera zooms in on the animated Gumby's mouth with each and every syllable he says.
• Either/Or Title: "The Buzz Aldrin Show (or: An Apology)".
• Fanservice Extra: The nude lady that the reverend wheels out of the insurance office, who isn't credited. Some sources have her as 1970s porn star Mary Millington.
• Gasshole: During the "Chemist Sketch", he asks which of his customer's "got wind". A man sitting off in the corner raises his hand.
• Gender Flip: Near the end the Gumbys promise "and now for something completely different." Then there's a Jump Cut to a brief shot of five female Gumbys, giggling, then a cut back to the original Gumbys.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: The Bishop sketch is introduced to close off the insurance sketch. The final scene of The Bishop is him barging into the insurance office, causing the same scene to occur again and lead right into the credits.
  The Bishop: Okay, Devious, don't move!
  Mr. Devious: The Bishop!
  cue Bishop theme
• Impossible Insurance: The "Motor Insurance Sketch" is all about this.
• Informed Obscenity: After a sketch filled with naughty words, Michael Palin appears to show us a list of words that will not be tolerated on the programme. After a list of (decidedly British) dirty words, the word "Semprini" appears. A woman then comes on screen and says, "Semprini?" prompting Michael to throw her out.
• Model Planning: In "The Architect Sketch".
• National Anthem: The closing credits roll over a photograph of astronaut Buzz Aldrin while "The Star Spangled Banner", the American national anthem, plays.
• Police Are Useless: Police Constable Pan Am at the tail end of the chemist sketch. He's called in to stop a robbery, gets mad at the man who reported it, and arrests an innocent bystander. This is aside from the fact that he's already a major Cloud Cuckoolander surpassing most of the players in the sketch already.
  Announcer: The BBC would like to apologise to the police about the character of Police Constable Pan-Am. He was not meant to represent the average police officer. Similarly, the reference to Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut, was the product of a disordered mind and should not be construed as having any other significance.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: The animated Gumby: "I! HOPE! YOU'RE! EN! JOY! ING! THIS!"
• Ripped from the Headlines: The second half of the Architect Sketch, in which the model of proposed block of flats collapses and catches fire, is a reference to the then-recent controversy around the partial collapse of Ronan Point. Of course, the show promptly lampshades this with the word "SATIRE" flashing on screen in huge green letters.
• Roger Rabbit Effect: In the "Gumby and the Beanstalk" animation, a five-frog curse turns five animated frogs into five live-action Gumbys.
• The BBC would like to apologise for this Running Gag.
• Say My Name: "The Bishop!"
• Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: PC Pan Am. "F-TANG! F-TANG!"
• Seven Dirty Words: After a failed version of the "Chemist Sketch" that attempted to get cheap laughs from dirty words, a man from the BBC (played by Palin) announces a list of words that will no longer be said on this programme:
  • B*M
  • B*TTY
  • P*X
  • KN*CKERS^note Knickers
  • KN*CKERS^note Knockers
  • W**-W**
  • SEMPRINI
    Woman: "Semprini"?
    BBC Man: OUT!
• Shout-Out: "The Bishop!" sketch is briefly accompanied by Henry Mancini's theme from Peter Gunn.
• Take That!: Semprini is the name of a famous British composer and conductor of light music. It says something of the Pythons' tastes in music that they decided to treat his name as an unspeakable obscenity.
• This Is What the Building Will Look Like: In the architect sketch, a man comes in with a model of a tall apartment building. As he talks the model tips over. Then some of the floors collapse. Then it catches fire.
• Two Men, One Dress: The shoplifter in the "Chemist Sketch" is pretty obviously two men in a trench coat, made only more so when he has no less than three arms grabbing things off the counter.
• Unusual Euphemism: "SEMPRINI!"
• Use Your Head: In "The Bishop" sketch. The villain's door is locked, so the Bishop's assistants pick up one of their number and use him as a battering ram.
• Visual Pun: One of the models in 'The Architect' sketch is a Faulty Tower. ^note  Retroactively, as Fawlty Towers had not been conceived yet.
• Walk This Way: The (Less Naughty) Chemist Sketch:
  Man: Good morning. I'd like some aftershave, please.
  Chemist: Ah, certainly. Walk this way, please.
  Man: If I could walk that way I wouldn't need aftershave.
  (policeman bursts in and arrests him)