I require British assistance

[Oeditpus Rex]

There's a Monty Python reference I've never gotten; it's apparently to something from a British game show or something like that. It's in the courtroom scene in episode 25, right after the "Hungarian Phrasebook" bit, in which a Hungarian man is trying to buy cigarettes using a rather flawed translation guide. ("My hovercraft is full of eels.")

This is the bit I don't get:


Bailiff: You are hereby charged that on the 28th day of May, 1970, you did willfully, unlawfully, and with malice aforethought, publish an alleged English-Hungarian phrase book with intent to cause a breach of the peace. How do you plead?

Publisher: Not guilty.

Bailiff: You live at 46 Horton Terrace?

Publisher: I do live at 46 Horton Terrace.

Bailiff: You are the director of a publishing company?

Publisher: I am the director of a publishing company.

Bailiff: Your company publishes phrase books?

Publisher: My company does publish phrase books.

Bailiff: You did say 46 Horton Terrace, did you?

Publisher: Yes.

Bailiff: (strikes a gong) Ah! Got him!


I dungeddit. What's with repeating the address question and the gong? :shrug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Thanks for asking that - I've always wondered as well if it's a game show reference,

or just Pythonesque oddness, such as the coffee marketing sketch's "S. Frog, sir" "Shutup!"

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. I don't think that's it

I should've noted that, judging by the audience's laughter, it's apparently something that was well-known in early-'70s Britain.









Oh, by the way: Your film's won a prize.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Correct - a game show:

'Take Your Pick' (1955-68)

Quiz inquisitor Michael Miles put contestants through a series of minor obstacles, including a sixty-second spot where the player had to answer questions without the use of words 'yes' or 'no' ("The Yes/No Interlude") with Alec Dane who would immediately gong out the contestant if they uttered one of the fateful words, and finally three straight questions which led up to the prizes (announced by the voice of Bob Danvers-Walker).
...

http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/tv/adults/quiz/quiz.htm

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Ah, excellent research

Python riffed on "Take Your Pick" as well, in episode 20 — a bit which was actually taken from John Cleese's pre-Python film, "How to Irritate People."



"And now, your second question for the blow on the head is: What is the main food that penguins eat?"

"Pork luncheon meat!"

"No."

"Spam?

"No, no, no. What do penguins eat? Penguins."

"Penguins?"

"Yes."

"I hate penguins!"

"No, no, no."

"They eat themselves!"

"No, no, what do penguins eat?"

"Horses! Armchairs!"

"No, no, no! What do penguins eat?"

"Oh, penguins!"

"Penguins."

"Cannelloni."

"No."

"Lasagna. Moussaka. Lobster Thermidor. Escalopes de veau a l'estragon avec endives gratinéed with cheese."

"No, no, no, no! I'll give you a clue." (mimes a fish swimming)

"Ah! Brian Close!"

"No, no!"

"Brian Inglis! Brian Johnson! Bryan Forbes!"

"No, no!"

"Nanette Newman!"

"No! What swims in the sea and gets caught in nets?"

"Henri Bergson."

"No."

"Goats! Underwater goats with snorkels and flippers!"

"No, no!"

"A buffalo with an aqualung!"

"No, no!"

"Reginald Maudling!"

"Yes, that's near enough; I'll give you that."

[flvegan]

4. Quiz show from the time called "Take Your Pick"

They're playing the 'yes-no' game, where the idea is to answer questions without using the words yes or no. At the time there was a quiz show called Take Your Pick, the first round of which was the 'yes-no' game - contestants had to answer questions for 60 seconds to pass through to the next round.

No, I didn't really know that. Google Fu is strong here.