Subj : Re: Rampage of the Cancerous Black Spot To : EDM From : Albert Sims Date : Thu Oct 19 2006 03:31 pm From: "Albert Sims" EDM wrote: > "Albert Sims" wrote in message > news:dhJZg.21139$O65.15398@bignews5.bellsouth.net... >> EDM wrote: >>> I have some off-the-air recordings of MPFC episodes, and in one >>> of the animated bits ("Rampage of the Cancerous Black Spot"), >>> Michael Palin tells a story of an enchanted prince who finds a >>> black spot on his face. Now in my recording the line goes, >>> "Foolishly, he ignored it...and three years later he died of >>> syphilis", but in every rerun I've seen of that episode the word >>> syphilis is overdubbed (rather obviously) with either "cancer", or, >>> in one >>> case, "gangrene". >>> >>> Anyone know the history of this edit? Was the word syphilis >>> considered too risque by British censors at the time? >>> >>> >> First time I've heard "syphilis" being used. In the original >> airing, Carol Cleveland is narrating the story, and says "cancer". >> In later years, a male voice is dubbed in JUST over the word >> "cancer", that says "gangrene". Not sure why the change, unless the >> group was just being sensitive to Graham's throat cancer... > > Ah ok, I wasn't remembering it correctly. I came across this: > http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sotcaa/sotcaa_python.html?/sotcaa/pythonpages/pytho n_press_1990_99.html > > "Gilliam: The BBC censored something on repeats, the 'Black Spot' > thing. [In an animated section in the second series, a handsome young > prince discovers a spot on his face. 'Foolishly he ignored it,' says a > female narrator, 'and three years later he died of cancer.' In later > broadcasts, the word 'cancer' was replaced with 'gangrene', spoken > by a male.] It's extraordinary that the word 'cancer' was so > frightening > to them that they had to cut the word out." > > So strange, I could have sworn the word syphilis was used in > that line. I have an audiocassette of the episode in question I recorded from PBS in the late 1970's. The word "cancer" was there back then. In the DVD box set released by A & E, they use the "gangrene" edit. -- Albert Sims West Monroe,Louisiana --- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5 * Origin: FidoNet MONTE <--> alt.fan.monty-python (1:379/45) .