Original Broadcast Date: Dec. 15, 1970
Attempted Synopsis: A Hungarian-to-English book has unusually racy translations; Karl Marx and other famous Communist leaders compete for prizes; great paintings are deserted by their subjects; soldiers draw straws for rations; a Gumby does a rather assertive lecture on flower arrangement; a particular cafe is definitely pushing Spam on the menu.
Review: This episode is worth it if only to mark the first appearance of the Pythons' tribute to Spam (though it's done to better effect in stereophonic sound on Another Monty Python Record). On the minus side, whether they realized it or not, the sketch about the soldiers drawing straws is a more drawn-out version of a similar and simpler gag done by The Marx Brothers in the climax of Duck Soup. To balance things out, the initial gathering of Communist leaders brilliantly segues into a bland game-show format (Karl Marx really wants that lounge suite, doesn't he?).
Priceless Gag: I'm usually not partial to fart jokes, but here, the lawyer who lets one go has one of the funnier explanations: "I didn't know of an acceptable legal phrase, m'Lord."
Our rating: 
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