Out of the Trees (1975), by Graham Chapman & Douglas Adams

Special surprise for Towel Day 2012: “Out of the Trees“, a show written by Graham Chapman and Douglas Adams in 1975. While Graham Chapman was still lingering in the Monty Python style of absurd comedy, Douglas Adams was already busy with themes like blowing up the world through crazy bureaucracy, ideas he would use later in the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. After a rather unsuccesful transmission in 1975, no further episodes were produced although a second part had been written. The pilot was wiped, although the filmed inserts survived (Peony Sketch and some shots of Gengis). Then a couple of years ago it turned out a copy had been made off air on a Philips N1500 VCR. As you can see it isn’t a lost masterpiece, because it’s no longer lost and it never was a masterpiece.