One of the world' most quotable and iconic comedy shows made its television debut 40 years ago today.

Monty Python's Flying Circus first appeared on British television on Oct. 5, 1969, a show that branched into four feature length films, launched the careers of six very funny dudes and inspired millions of countless nerds to quote their most famous lines to death (myself included).

I'm sure everyone with a working set of eyes and a television set remembers the first time they saw Monty Python. What's your earliest memory of the show and more importantly, did it include any images of nude ladies?

BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts) will be honoring Monty Python on the group's 40th anniversary. The surviving members of Monty Python will receive a special award for outstanding contribution to film and television in October. The event will be co-hosted by the Independent Film Channel and take place in New York.

Excuse me. What? An awards event hosted by a British organization for a British group is taking place in New York? Isn't that somewhat counter-intuitive? Unless IFC is picking up the whole check (which is a distinct possibility), this should be moved to London.

I was going to save this extra-classic show, Monty Python's Flying Circus, for the later part of the Sketch Comedy Saturday series, but I just had to do this in light of recent, super-exciting news. As I hope most of you know, Monty Python will be having a reunion. Sure, John Cleese and Graham Chapman won't be there (for two, completely different reasons) but it will still be nice to see Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam get back together, right? Magic always happens when there's more than one Python guy around. Except that time John Cleese and Michael Palin tried to do "The Parrot Sketch" on Saturday Night Live a few years ago. That was just weird.

Hey, want to know something super-sad? For most of seventh grade, I came home every day from school and, before doing anything else, watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail from beginning to end. I also spent a great deal of middle school reading everything I could about the troupe, filling my brain with pointless trivia about Sam Peckinpah's "Salad Days" and Spam.

This not only caused me to develop a type of hardcore social awkwardness that was extremely rare outside of the 70s and 80s, but forever instilled in me a deep love for Monty Python. Since the boys are very busy with their individual projects these days, it's a thrill to see any new Python stuff to come around, even when it's in the form of an extra-short YouTube clip and they're never actually shown to be in the same room together.

ABC has cast some familiar television faces in an ambitious family-oriented pilot called Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas. The West Wing's Janel Moloney (yes, she's done other stuff, too, but to me she's still Donna) and Patrick Breen (who's been on lots of shows like Eli Stone and The West Wing, too), will play the adopted parents of Gwen Malloy, the star of Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas. Jodelle Ferland, a 13-year-old veteran has landed the Gwen role, and the show will revolve around her. Ferland is a vet, having appeared in features like Tideland, a Terry Gilliam film, Dark Angel and The Collector. On TV, she was in Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital.

Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas is being talked up as a Harry Potter meets Pan's Labyrinth, although the plot also has elements of Nim's Island in there, if you ask me. Gwen is an adventurous kid who discovers a magic atlas. The atlas is the key to a secret world beneath our own reality.

May as well starting laughing now! On May 26, BBC America will air a 10-hour marathon of Monty Python's Flying Circus. The network has just snagged all four seasons of the legendary comedy series, including a couple of specials they did for German TV.

As every fan of great comedy knows, the Monty Python troupe consisted of Michael Palin, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones. Monty Python's Flying Circus debuted on BBC on October 5, 1969, and over the years the shows have been shown over and over again, becoming classic. Now that they are coming to BBC America, it's a chance for fans -- new and old -- to watch them one more time -- and DVR them if you're smart. Unless you already have the DVDs.

Terry Jones, one-sixth of the Monty Python troupe, has recently been diagnosed with bowel cancer. However, his doctors believe that they caught it at an early enough stage to treat it. Jones will be having an operation soon but he's in high spirits, according to his agent.

I'm not gonna lie, I definitely got chills when I initially read the headline. I don't think I'm ready to lose my first Python (Graham Chapman died from cancer back in the late 80s, but I was too young to know what was going on). Here's to hoping Mr. Jones has a speedy recovery.

Terry Gilliam, one of my favorite movie makers of all time and the visionary behind such films as Brazil and 12 Monkeys, recently paid a visit to a group of ticket holders waiting outside in New York City for a taping of The Daily Show. Gilliam was there to drum up support for his new movie Tideland, based on Mitch Cullin's novel. Gilliam carried a sign that read, "Studio-less filmmaker / family to support / will direct for food." He also carried a paper cup that some of the fans stuffed with dollar bills. Gilliam hung out with the fans and signed autographs, and was even visited by some of the writers from the show and correspondent Dan Bakkedahl. CC Insider has a report of the event, complete with photos.

Oh yeah, the movie opens October 13th.

... So I did. Yeah. Because I do everything the television tells me to. The search quickly led me to a YouTube video of a short cartoon that inspired Terry Gilliam's animations for Monty Python. Created by Bob Godfrey in 1961, "Do It Yourself Cartoon Kit" is extremely amusing. The sense of humor and animation is remarkably similar to Python's, so I really enjoyed it. Check it out after the jump!

In 1975, four of the cast members of Monty Python, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman, sat down for a live interview on Dallas' KERA-TV, allegedly the first PBS station to air Monty Python's Flying Circus. This footage, according to the introduction, has not been seen since it originally aired. Unfortunately, the clip cuts off after thirteen minutes, apparently because an engineer taped over it. Nevertheless, it's fascinating to watch as these young American's ask questions about a show all of us now know forward and backward, but that at the time was completely new to them. And, since it was filmed during pledge week, you get to hear the incessant ringing of phones in the background throughout the entire interview. It would have been nice if the rest of the troop had joined them, but at least it gives us another chance to hear from the late Graham Chapman, who passed away in 1989. Watch the video after the jump:

[via The Sound of Young America]