When Things Were Rotten
| When Things Were Rotten | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Parody Situation comedy Adventure |
| Created by | Mel Brooks Norman Stiles & John Boni |
| Directed by | Norman Abbott Bruce Bilson Peter Bonerz Marty Feldman Peter H. Hunt Jerry Paris Coby Ruskin Joshua Shelley |
| Starring | Richard Dimitri Richard Gautier Bernie Kopell Henry Polic II Ron Rifkin Misty Rowe David Sabin Dick Van Patten |
| Theme music composer | Artie Butler |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Mel Brooks Stanley Jacob Norman Steinberg |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | September 10, 1975 – December 3, 1975 |
When Things Were Rotten is an American situation comedy television series created in 1975 by Mel Brooks and aired for half a season by ABC.
A parody of the Robin Hood legend, the series starred Richard Gautier (who earlier had played Hymie the Robot in Brooks' Get Smart series) as Robin Hood. Also in the regular cast were Dick Van Patten as Friar Tuck, Bernie Kopell (another Get Smart veteran) as Alan-a-Dale, Henry Polic II as the Sheriff of Nottingham (whose name was Hubert), Ron Rifkin as Prince John, Misty Rowe as Maid Marian, and David Sabin as Little John. Richard Dimitri played a dual role as identical twin brothers; Renaldo was one of the Merry Men, while Bertram was the Sheriff's right-hand man.
Besides actors, the series also borrowed one other important element of Get Smart: like Maxwell Smart, this version of Robin Hood and His Merry Men were imbeciles.
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[edit] Humour
One-liners and sight gags were rampant; e.g., complaining villagers, commanded to "Hold your tongues!," obediently reach into their mouths. There was also occasional breaking of the fourth wall: in one episode, as one of Robin's men (Renaldo) was being interrogated, with an accuser (Little John) asking, "Are you ready to tell that to your maker?" Renaldo turns his head and looks off-camera, and says: "Mel! I didn't do it!"
Much of the humour was anachronistic, such as the occasion where Marian's ladies-in-waiting burst into the 1960s Supremes hit "Stop! In the Name of Love"; or when the Rock of Gibraltar had been destroyed, and a messenger brings Prince John the remaining chunk, to be told "I always wanted a piece of the Rock," a reference to Prudential's slogan.
Also notable was the show's lampooning of 1970s social concerns; e.g., in the episode "Those Wedding Bell Blues," Prince John was preparing to sign a deal with OOPEC, an OPEC-like cartel whose chief export was olive oil. Prince John: "I'll control all the olive oil! Anyone who wants to make a salad will have to come to me!"
[edit] Cancellation
The rapid-fire, Mel Brooks style of comedy was out of place on network television of the era, so despite critical acclaim, the series failed to find an audience and was canceled after 13 episodes. Eighteen years later, Brooks produced another Robin Hood parody, the feature film Robin Hood: Men in Tights, with somewhat better results. Van Patten also appeared in the later film as an abbot.
The cancellation of When Things Were Rotten allowed Van Patten and Kopell to move on to more successful and long-running series — Eight is Enough and The Love Boat, respectively. Rifkin, meanwhile, would become best known to modern-day audiences as the ambiguously villainous Arvin Sloane on Alias.
[edit] Home video and DVD
Several episodes of the series have been released on VHS in North America, but the series has yet to appear on DVD.
[edit] Episodes
| No. | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Capture of Robin Hood" | 1975 September 10 |
| 2 | "The French Dis-connection" | 1975 September 17 |
| 3 | "The House Band" | 1975 September 24 |
| 4 | "Those Wedding Bell Blues" | 1975 October 1 |
| 5 | "A Ransom for Richard" | 1975 October 8 |
| 6 | "The Ultimate Weapon" | 1975 October 15 |
| 7 | "Ding Dong, the Bell is Dead" | 1975 October 22 |
| 8 | "There Goes the Neighborhood" | 1975 October 29 |
| 9 | "Quarantine" | 1975 November 12 |
| 10 | "Birthday Blues" | 1975 November 19 |
| 11 | "The Spy (Part 1)" | 1975 November 26 |
| 12 | "The Spy (Part 2)" | 1975 November 26 |
| 13 | "This Lance for Hire" | 1975 December 3 |
[edit] See also
- Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - another comic retelling of the Robin Hood legend, for British television
[edit] External links
- When Things Were Rotten at the Internet Movie Database
- When Things Were Rotten at TV.com
- Harry S. Anchan's television sitcom & comedy site (with When Things Were Rotten theme song)
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