When Things Were Rotten

This show ran in the fall of '75 (When Things Were Funnier). I remember laughing a bunch at Mel Brooks' latest attempt at TV humor, sitting with my dear old dad (who was roaring on the couch). Alas, it didn't even last until Mel's beloved Hannakuh that fall before ABC gave it the yank.

He revisited some of the material with his similarly themed movie which came out in '93, but it wasn't quite as biting at this show. The comic cast was way better here.

I'd sure pony up if it ever showed again on DVD. Mel, if you're out there, give it some thought.

I don't know if the proper question is "Why do I remember this short-lived series so well, when nobody else has even HEARD of it?" or "With the writing & acting talent behind it, why didn't When Things Were Rotten make it big?"

With Mel Brooks creating & writing the series and some of the top comedic directors of the 1970s behind the camera, it was a hilarious spoof of the Robin Hood legend. All I have seen of the show as an adult are three episodes on video, with guests Sid Ceasar, Dudley Moore and John Byner. These episodes, though, are as funny as I remember them being as a 12 & 13-year old.

Start with the theme song. This is one of the classic 1960s-70s TV themes... "They laughed, they loved, they fought, they drank, they JUMPED a lot of FENCES... stole from the rich, gave to the poor -- except what they kept for EXPENSES!" :o)

What about the cast? Well, Dick Van Patten (Friar Tuck) and Bernie Kopell need no introduction. Dick Gautier, who played Robin Hood, never quite made the big time. He did turn in good work as the robot Hymie on "Get Smart," though, and is solid as the straight man for countless bafoons in Sherwood Forest. Misty Rowe is an absolute sexkitten and quite funny at the same time, as the airheaded Maid Marian. Richard Dimitri, Hnry Polic, II and David Sabin are also great -- as are the guest stars.

If you ever get a chance to rent or buy the video (or if Nick-at-Nite or one of the other cable channels comes to its senses & begins running these for the first time since 1975), be sure & give it a view! It's Mel Brooks humor at its best!

"When Things Were Rotten" was the brainchild of comic genius Mel Brooks. He dared to ask, what if the Legend of Robin Hood was overblown hype, and that all of the people involved were nothing more than buffoons? The result was a uproariously funny and engaging program, in which the great legend of Sherwood Forest went slapstick.

The show was brilliantly cast, with each player an expert in comedy. Dick Gautier, who worked with Mel on NBC's "Get Smart" as Hymie The Robot, knew a great deal about timing and was perfect as the leader of this merry band. He was matched in nit-wit by Henry Polic II, who portrayed the equally dunderheaded Sheriff of Nottingham, and a young Ron Rifkin (eventually of "Alias") played the likewise dubious Prince John. Add in Dick Van Patten, Bernie Kopell (another "Smart" vet), and the former Hee-Haw Honey turned Maid Marian, Misty Rowe with her buxom talents and you had a well-rounded group.

The production values for the program were very high, with costumes and sets that looked lavish and the show was shot on film, making it appear as exquisite as any Errol Flynn feature. And the sight gags were hilarious, and should not be described here... they are "sight gags," after all! Years later, Brooks returned to the Robin Hood legend with his film "Men In Tights," but he avoided a lot of the stuff that was used in this production, and that was a disappointment. All he needed to do was to take all of the elements of the series and distill the various episodes into one great movie! What we got was a watered down version that couldn't come close to the laughs this program offered.

Perhaps the reason for the show's demise was either in the subject matter or the competition... Robin Hood might have sounded dull and uninteresting to some viewers and those that would have been willing to look possibly wanted an adventure series, not a schlocky comedy. Also, the program aired opposite NBC's powerhouse drama "Little House On The Prairie," and CBS's variety series "Tony Orlando & Dawn," so perhaps people didn't tune away from these programs to try it. They don't know what they missed.

I live in hope that some day the complete series will arrive on DVD.

Mel Brooks is one of our true comic geniuses. He was overlooked for many years, but I am glad that he was able to make a comeback with the Broadway version of his original hit film The Producers. He started off in television with Carl Reiner and the 2,000 year old man skits and he also created Get Smart with Don Adams. When Things Were Rotten is another series that he created that I feel has been overlooked. It came along in a really bad tv season and was unjustly cancelled after only about half a season. Dick Gautier, Bernie Kopell, Dick Van Patten, Henry Polic 11 and Misty Rowe all made a great comic team. Unlike tv shows today, this one made you laugh innocently and not feel guilty about it. Mel Brooks has always been so creative and original in everything that he does. He brought that special quality to this series and I only wish that they would show it again. I was stationed in Korea and saw some episodes on videotape. Brooks made a film almost twenty years later in 1993 called Robin Hood: Men In Tights and he used a lot of the stuff that he used on this show (they pointed that out in a review they did of the film).

Created by Mel Brooks, this comedy was actually a spoof on Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest. Instead of the brave and heroic Robin of legend, he was portrayed as a complete moron, and his band were nothing but a bunch of boobs who only succeed because of the utter incompetence of Prince John and his henchman - the Sheriff of Nottingham. Maid Marian was Robin's cute but brainless love interest. Critics loved this show but Mel Brooks probably doesn't have enough mass appeal to sustain a weekly run and it was cancelled after a few months. I, for one, loved this show. I was about 12 during its' run, and even then I recognized a good farce when I saw it and was very disappointed when it ended. Thirty years later, I still remember it and am so glad to find out other people do too! Let's hope for a TV land run in the future! Hooray for cable!