Do you think Monty Python did for comedy what the Beatles did for music?

Yes. They changed everything. For starters, you don’t get SNL, SCTV, and eventually In Living Color without Python. When you think of the alumni of those shows as well as Python, the landscape of comedy would be [i]completely[/i] different today had Python never happened. Their ripple effect is absolutely on par with the ripple effect of the Beatles on music.

To a degree but I think Monty Python took on the baton that had been handed them by The Goons, amongst others.

To an extent it's very similar. Both influenced their field to a massive extent, although neither were entirely original in that they both took their influences from past (and current) proponents of their respective art.

I don't think either of them specifically changed things. Just that a lot of people copied them for decades after.

I would agree to that.