Mel Brooks was aiming for a ''dangerous comedy'' with When Things Were Rotten
Mel Brooks lived and laughed dangerously. He was in charge of some of the most iconic movies of all time. You may remember him as Governor Lepetomane in Blazing Saddles (1974), the director of The Producers (2005), or as President Skroob in Spaceballs (1987).
There are many ways to remember Brooks, but he mostly comes to mind for being the master of satire. Whether it was poking fun at Hollywood cliches in Blazing Saddles or spoofing classic literature in Young Frankenstein; Brooks' brand was slapstick spoofs, or as he called it "dangerous comedy."
"All my life, I am after dangerous comedy," Brooks said in a 1975 interview with Green Bay Press-Gazette.
One of Brooks' more well-known projects was Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) where he spoofed Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). But before the 1993 film, Brooks had a lesser-known TV series in 1975 that spoofed the original Robin Hood story.
When Things Were Rotten was a short-lived series that gave viewers one of their first looks at the satire master. Brooks was the executive producer, script supervisor, and co-writer for the series.
"Dangerous comedy - that's the kind where you hit the ground, you want to stop laughing and you can't," Brooks said. "With Rotten I have this dangerous comedy."
According to the interview, Brooks said: "I don't really need this." With his success in both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein back-to-back, he had enough money and a reputation to last him a lifetime. However, he said, "It was the fun that roped me in."
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When Things Were Rotten was as fun as it could get. The series gave us silly costumes and props, a lot of physical comedy, its fair share of wordplay and puns, and a couple of fourth-wall breaks.
"With Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest, I thought I'd make the series kind of a blazing forest rather than Blazing Saddles - lots of people falling off horses and plenty of sets and locations. I love physical comedy."
Most of Brooks' movies and TV shows were based in physical comedy. That's what set him apart the most. Although Brooks loved the series, he was asked about how he and his team could sustain a spoof over many seasons. Brooks' hot take: He didn't really care.
"Listen, we are not Batman," Brooks said. "That was a living cartoon. All of our jokes will be concerned with real human behavior, with people's needs and wants. We don't just sit around and write the show off the top of our heads."
"I must tell you - Rotten is a family show that doesn't lend itself to filth easily," Brooks continued. "However, I don't feel restricted in that sense. If I do feel restricted, it has to do with only having 26 minutes to make a story, have characters relate to one another and still make it funny."
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