TV Article 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' turns 40 By Margaret Lyons Published on October 5, 2009 11:07PM EDT Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, so we’re celebrating both the specific troupe but also modern sketch comedy as we know it. Before comedy geeks swapped Simpsons esoterica or Mr. Show references, before a Kids in the Hall line served as the password to the sketch-dork club house, there was Monty Python. Here’s 10 ways they changed comedy, and here’s my favorite Python bit of all time, which isn’t from the TV show but I think still counts: Is it the best? Perhaps not — that might be no one expecting the Spanish Inquisition, or the Ministry of Silly Walks, or the dead parrot sketch — but Monty Python and the Holy Grail was my first Python, and thus holds a special place in my heart. It launched my whole Monty Python phase, which basically everyone has at one point or another. PopWatchers, that parrot is just resting. What’s your favorite Python bit ever?