In 1973, John Cleese was a guest on the B.B.C. children's programme 'Ask Aspel'. 'Monty Python' was a popular programme with kids despite going-out post-watershed; carefully-chosen clips were shown, and he stunned fans by confirming he would not be back for Season 4. His departure also coincided with a format change - linear narratives akin to 'The Cycling Tour' from Season 3 ( at one point, the programme was to have been retitled 'Python Playhouse' ) became more frequent. Season 4 landed a 'Radio Times' cover and an article. Despite no Cleese, all seemed well. But 'The Golden Age Of Ballooning' was definitely not a good start to the new run. At times it strongly resembles an episode of A.T.V.'s 'Carry On Laughing'. Eric Idle played 'Jacques' and Terry Jones was 'Joseph' - the Montgolfier brothers. It has its share of funny moments, such as Joseph admitting he has not washed properly for the past fifteen years, Michael Palin playing 'Louis X1V' as a head-butting Glaswegian, and Graham Chapman's 'Ferdinand Von Zeppelin' throwing out of his airship anyone making the mistake of calling it an airship, but overall it is a disappointment ( as is Season 4 as a whole, with very little Terry Gilliam animation and a reduction in Eric Idle-penned material ). One gets the impression the Pythons knew this was going to be the final series, and did not care too much if most of the gags fell on stony ground ( as they duly did ).
Funniest moment - the spoof ad for the 'Golden Age Of Ballooning' tie-in book ( all B.B.C. shows in those days seemed to have tie-in books ), warning that failure to purchase the said book could result in a steep prison sentence.
Funniest moment - the spoof ad for the 'Golden Age Of Ballooning' tie-in book ( all B.B.C. shows in those days seemed to have tie-in books ), warning that failure to purchase the said book could result in a steep prison sentence.
