John Cleese and lemurs on PBS
LtJr Rich
some lemur expert in the rain forest. There are some very funny bits in it.
What's the deal, though? Why is John doing this, and when will it be on again?
LtJr Rich MSTie# 84691<BR>
"We want no muffins, no toast, no teacakes, no buns, baps, baguettes or bagels,
no croissants, no crumpets, no pancakes, no potato cakes and no hot-cross buns
and DEFINITELY no smegging flapjacks!" --- Dave Lister
Analda Anglin
>some lemur expert in the rain forest. There are some very funny bits in it.
>What's the deal, though? Why is John doing this, and when will it be on again?
>
filming Fierce Creatures (which had lemurs in it). Seems like he went
on a talk show and brought some lemurs along with him around the time
the movie came out...
Analda aka Oh, to be a lemur!
ana...@hiwaay.net
kk<<FLOMP!>>
Analda Anglin <ana...@hiwaay.net> wrote in message
news:3801388c...@news.hiwaay.net...
(Id rathur bee n ID10t)
On the PBS presentation (which I taped), Cleese says that got involved with
the lemurs about 1967 ( He says about 30 years ago, the documentary was
filmed in 1997) at the Jersey Zoo in the Channel Islands while filming for
Monty Python. He went on to say that he had other affairs with other
lemurs, sadly all in zoos.
Yes it had *some* funny bits, like when he called the lemurs 'bastards'.
He remarked, after having been bitten (and bleeding) by one lemur that he
was feeding, that he would still rather be in a tree with a lemur than with
a leopard.
They showed an old clip (about two seconds) of Cleese doing a bouncy walk,
kind of imitating a lemur.
He was also on a floating raft, faintly reminiscent of the 'submerged desk'
scene of MP. I kept expecting him to spout out, 'And now for something
completely different!'
To me, that was a great visual joke.
I do not know when (or if) it will be on again.
kk<<FLOMP!>>
Analda Anglin <ana...@hiwaay.net> wrote in message
news:3801388c...@news.hiwaay.net...
> >On PBS right now, there's this documentary on lemurs starring John Cleese
and
> >some lemur expert in the rain forest. There are some very funny bits in
it.
> >What's the deal, though? Why is John doing this, and when will it be on
again?
> >
> I believe he developed an interest in the plight of the lemurs while
> filming Fierce Creatures (which had lemurs in it). Seems like he went
> on a talk show and brought some lemurs along with him around the time
> the movie came out...
>
> Analda aka Oh, to be a lemur!
> ana...@hiwaay.net
I just checked with PBS. On the site it states that 'Cleese had a lifelong
obsession with the lemurs of Madagascar -- he first fell in love with a
ringtail lemur at the tender age of 12. '
FROM www.pbs.org
Lemurs with John Cleese
John Cleese -- the man who brought the dead parrot sketch to television and
who played Basil Fawlty to irascible perfection -- loves lemurs! Cleese has
had a lifelong obsession with the lemurs of Madagascar. Last year, he raised
money to release five black-and-white ruffed lemurs, born in captivity, back
into the rainforests. This program follows Cleese on a three-week expedition
to find the Carolina Five, as they are affectionately known. Plagued by a
bad knee but cloaked in the full armor of his inimitable wit, Cleese fights
his way through the jungle against all the odds to try to catch a glimpse of
these pioneer lemurs. If this project is a success, the process could be
repeated to help save many of the other 32 species of lemur teetering on the
brink of extinction.
TV Listings -- Check Local Listings
10/10/1999 -- 8:00pm
Satellite
10/10/1999 -- 8:00pm, 3:00am
10/13/1999 -- 2:00am
10/16/1999 -- 3:00am
HTH
Analda Anglin
>> filming Fierce Creatures (which had lemurs in it).
>
>obsession with the lemurs of Madagascar -- he first fell in love with a
>ringtail lemur at the tender age of 12. '
>
someone who has a "lifelong obsession" with the little mammals, but
then this IS John Cleese.
Analda aka Checking my tail for rings
ana...@hiwaay.net
kat
> Thanks for the clarification. Myself, I would be concerned about
> someone who has a "lifelong obsession" with the little mammals, but
> then this IS John Cleese.
It makes sense; he's an avid cat-lover (as is yours truly) and my first
impression on seeing the lemurs was that they acted and moved a little
like cats do (though they look more like dogs and jump in trees more
like monkeys.) kat
Shimpwoo
it) it was breif, John took some girls on trip in the jungle they were watching
lemurs and the lead girl said that John was a lemur
DMarr56833
>some lemur expert in the rain forest. There are some very funny bits in it.
>What's the deal, though? Why is John doing this, and when will it be on
>again?
The best part of this documentary was at the very beginning Cleese says he is
going to Madagascar - which if nothing else is the only place in the world
Michael Palin has never been!
kk<<FLOMP!>>
DMarr56833 <dmarr...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19991011173415...@ng-bj1.aol.com...
That was one of the highlights of the doc.
Analda Anglin
I did not know that John Cleese is a cat lover! I always thought that
all the Pythons did not like felines, since there are all those cat
abuse scenes in Holy Grail.
Analda aka Learning from kat each day :)
ana...@Hiwaay.net
kat
but someone posed to him the eons-old question "What one thing would you
save if your house was on fire and your loved ones were safe?" And he
replied, (severely paraphrased) "Are we assuming all my cats are safe,
as well? Well, then...." And I have no recollection of what he would
save. I was too endeared my the cats reference. If anybody has a
better idea where I might have heard/read this, lemme know! thx, kat
PS I think I've also read that they were all fond of animals, in
general (but it takes a special kind of person to love cats! ;=)
YuhMinL
Palin bio too), it's mentioned that John has many cats and that he adores them
(not a direct quote, just rephrasing :o). And in the video documentary "Life
of Python", he's seen petting one of his Siamese cats.
kat
> And in the video documentary "Life
> of Python", he's seen petting one of his Siamese cats.
LOL! That's always a slightly anxious scene for me. It looks less like
he's petting the cat and more like he's trying to pull the ears off it.
It's possible he's particularly fond of Siamese; in an interview
concerning how the "pet conversions" sketch was dreamed up, Graham
laughs that not only were John's cats "fixed" and declawed, he had also
had them surgically rendered mute. Apparently his neighbors were
disturbed by the cats' meowing. Having had a few Siamese in my time, I
can vouch that the normal tone and pitch for a Siamese can grate on the
nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard, magnified by with bullhorn.
kat