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'Brian I By David Baker TO Gamecock Film Critic "J ei| Although it does provide more de laugns man any mm in town, m Monty Python's Life of Brian is neither as funny nor as Br blasphemous as it's cracked up to wl be. gr The film works best when you de look at it as a showcase for the th talents of the six men who make up so Monty Python: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric th Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Br Palin. Bi Each member of the comedy B< troupe had a hand in writing the wl him, Jones directed and plays tive te roles, Chapman plays the lead and ha two minor roles, Cleese wrote the do press information and plays six hi roles, Palin plays a whopping ten Pj Roman Centurion (John Cle ETV fe< By Mark Chevalier ter Entertainment Editor en< A number of truly exciting I shows have materialized on PBS, to (ETV channel 35 locally), this asj season, and in the next few weeks, sot an array of specials will hit the air- his waves. the Personal favorite of the new bit season is the BBC production pei "Connections". This ten part the series was three years in the fin making, and is hosted by an narrator/writer James Burke. In wo each show, Burke tackles a dif- 1 ferent aspect of what we, in con- tei a pote les, Idle composed the sonj bright Side of Life" and play* ?ht roles, and Gilliam did th< sign and animation, and plays re roles. The movie tells the story o ian of Nazareth, a young mai 10 is mistaken for a messiah by < oup of people who want s< sperately to worship someone at they're willing to settle foi meone less than holy. Beginning with the visit from the ree wise men (who've mistake* 'ian for Jesus) and ending wit! 'ian's crucifixion, a Busbj ?rkeley-type musical numbei lerein dead soldiers tap theii et and the condemned whistle i ippy tune. Life of Brian contain: >zens of scenes that are a: larious as anything Mont} /thon has done, but there are jus mmese) questions Brian itures c< nporary society, take for inted, things like comnuters jrgy and food. iurke's premise for the show is "de-mystify" these various sects of our technological jiety, primarily by exposing the torical links that slowly created ;m. "Innovation happens bit by ," according to Burke. "No one rson does it all. It's only when all > bits come together that the al forms come into existence, d when it does, it casuses rldwide changes to occur." The show itself is both en-taining and informative, nething the British seem much )re successful in blending than t in the states. Burke too, is a mulating host, his wit and rsonal excitement keep the ;wer intrigued. 'Connection" is aired Sundays 8, right before Masterpiece eatre's "Love for Lydia". 'Lydia" has also turned out to be 3 of the highlights of the new IC/MI unfk Mai Morfin infKAtiHn iov/i y ttiui ifivi mat mi in uic line e. She is both captivating and nerving as she plays on the heart four young men, who wish, more in anything else, to alone ?sess her. 'Lydia" is adapted from a novel that master of English "country H E. Bates. Although the ies is in pogress, it would be iy to pick it up at most any point, t be forewarned, once you start, imay be hooked. ilso of interest is the re-running the popular BBC series, "The isoner". Featuring Patrick Goohan in the title role, this has be one of strangest productions t made for television. It airs mtialfo l as many scenes where the comedy * is drawn out to such an exorbitant ? length that it no longer induces 5 laughs. The scene where the lisping f Pilate (Palin) is introduced is i humorous. His slurring of his r's is i so bad that his guards can't sup) press their laughter when he > sneaks I>ater when he and his r friend Biggus Dickus (Chapman), an equally fey Roman who slurs * his l's, are addressing the masses l (each of whom falls to the ground 1 in convulsions) the comic / possibilities of lisping have been so r thoroughly exhausted that you r wish the movie would move on to i new ground. s This incessant harping on a s single idea was also a problem in y the two previous Python efforts, t And Now for Something Com pletely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and i; while it appears the group is trying jfe to cut down on their excesses in If Brian, the problem by no means j| has been eradicated. it The scene in Brian that works best for me is the one that is totally If unexpected, totally out of place, | and totally hilarious precisely i because of its absurdity. Brian | falls off a tower and is rescued by a I passing spaceship, which proceeds to the outer cosmos for a dogfight i with another flying saucer. For H five minutes, the movie forgets 1 about poking fun at biblical epics I and concentrates on making fun of | Star Wars. The scene is like a I breath of fresh air, and it makes I Brian's slow central section go by I much faster. (finally, ra liKe 10 point out that Life of Brian, no matter what some people might have you believe, is merely a parody of biblical times, f not of the Bible itself. There's h: nothing blasphemous here, just a 0 number of good laughs and an even P greater numoer 01 laugns tnat i:( could have been better had they been treated more subtly. Dmedy, di on Saturdays at 9, which is as good a time as any to see Nov. 6 match wits with that sneaky No. 2. For those of you with ah irreverent funny bone, two BBC comedies are also in progress, "The Goodies" and "Ripping Yarns". "The Goodies" is a cross between the Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers, a kind of sophisticated slap-stick. It airs Saturdays at 8:30. "Ripping Yarns" features Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame, and looks to -- ff E? , Ws^^i ^^HH[ ^Kr "^E^ i '^HF 8K^" Jane Fonda prof I >r more S^ ^: .'iv^j^J^^^jj^Jli < twiiffii rinTOitiiii ~w?v --V ^ ^ ' j^sjj Brian (Graham Chapman) /. rama and be as good as there "Flying Cii cus". This zany comedy air Saturday at 11. In the weeks ahead, a number c specials await us. On Monday Nov. 12 at 9, a PBS special profil on actress/activist Jane Fonds The feature traces her childhood i Beverly Hills to her anti-war a< tivities in the 60's, to her recer success in such films as Julia an Coming Home. On Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 1 "Nova" speculates on "Th Case of the Ancient Astronauts. S" fed jon r laughs an cis safely on Michael Pa I'm I Fonda > Based on Swiss author Erich von s Daniken's Chariots of the Gods% the show examines both ex>f traterrestrial and earthly exr, planations of such oddities as the e pyramids and the Nazza desert i. lines in Peru. n "Manimals" takes a delightful look at the life of "urbanized" pets it in New York City. Winner of the d Silver Award at the San Francisco Film Festival and the Grand Prix B, at the Melbourne International e Film Festival, the show will air " Wednesday Nov. 14 at 8. Wf$W> ;:;>>-v:-- >>>v-> -rv^; gTjt7^" / 'V 7 :BBEra%. : '* ' ,.V. / p*\::^.; " ? 1 \ Y vj Bfe-1| / / / "^Wlf JK H. ,-'<X;; / \A A 9 / / -^8l''A r \ ^Hb sbbbBBb^^^nIF :# - > grgg'^A-r^-^^fc.%: I A ?5L aBHB^Wf jy^"'>/^' ift MEk/'::-. jjf- or Iib^BK ws Burke's 'Connections'