John Cleese waiting to begin when Cleese's offer arrived. Palin agreed to work with Cleese and Chapman in the meantime, bringing with him Gilliam, Jones, and Idle. "Monty Python's Flying Circus" ran for four seasons from October 1969 to December 1974 on BBC Television, though Cleese quit the show after the third. Cleese's two primary characterisations were as a sophisticated and a stressed-out loony. He portrayed the former as a series of announcers, TV show hosts, and government officials (for example, "The Ministry of Silly Walks"). The latter is perhaps best represented in the "Cheese Shop" and by Cleese's Mr Praline character,
John Cleese consisted of only twelve episodes; Cleese and Booth both maintain that this was to avoid compromising the quality of the series. In December 1977, Cleese appeared as a guest star on "The Muppet Show". Cleese was a fan of the show and co-wrote much of the episode. Cleese also made a cameo appearance in their 1981 film "The Great Muppet Caper". Cleese won the "TV Times" award for Funniest Man on TV – 1978–79. In 1979, Cleese starred in a TV special, "To Norway - Home of Giants," produced by Johnny Bergh. During the 1980s and 1990s, Cleese focused on