Monty Python: The Lawyers' Cut

The opening credits for the six-part Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyers Cut) airing this week on IFC are basically an extended joke on the cockroach-like survival powers of lawyers (e.g., even a nuclear explosion can’t kill them). It turns out that John Cleese nearly became a lawyer: in the first episode of the series, Cleese’s now-ancient Cambridge tutor wistfully recounts, “I had looked forward to seeing John at the Bar, but he never qualified. I had looked forward to his attaining high judicial office, but he never aspired.” Upon graduation, Cleese was set to join Freshfields,  but he ended up doing something completely different.

-posted by brian

FUN FACT: Cleese’s grandfather changed the family name from “Cheese.”