The series was a landmark in television history and broke a number of taboos and boundaries. And there are scenes which have been and continue to be laugh-inducing, such as "Ypres 1914", "The Ministry Of Silly Walks", and "The Spanish Inquisition".
But what really made Monty Python work was mainly not the jokes but the performances. If the actors hadn't been able to play everything straight, the whole thing would have fallen apart. The series depended not just on wit but on silliness and absurdity, which in itself isn't automatically funny. And many of the scenes are dated or funny only to Britons...and some of them are genuinely not funny. But not everything Charlie Chaplin was good either (and I'm talking about his early silent films as well as his late talkies.)
But what really made Monty Python work was mainly not the jokes but the performances. If the actors hadn't been able to play everything straight, the whole thing would have fallen apart. The series depended not just on wit but on silliness and absurdity, which in itself isn't automatically funny. And many of the scenes are dated or funny only to Britons...and some of them are genuinely not funny. But not everything Charlie Chaplin was good either (and I'm talking about his early silent films as well as his late talkies.)