About
In 1975, Mel created a television show called When Things Were Rotten, and you guessed it, it was a comedy. The subject is, obviously, Robin Hood and his merry men. The comedy is very slapstick/obtuse/old-fashioned, based on characters who are all too stupid to function. Also, you can see many jokes from this show got carried over into Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The show only lasted two seasons, and unfortunately is not available on DVD (or VHS as far as I know).
Here, however is a little taste of it that I have found. If I ever get a hold of any full episodes, I will post them:
Opening/Closing Sequence - This is the opening sequence plus the sendoff at the end of the show.
Promo spot - This clip is a promotional teaser for the several shows on ABC that season, the promo for
Rotten comes in at about 1:25.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the show:
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 was being interrogated, with an accuser asking, "Are you ready to tell that to your maker?" the accused turns his head and looks off-camera, and says: "Mel! I didn't do it!"
Much of the humor 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!"
However, this 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.
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