When Things Were Rotten
GenreParody
Sitcom
Adventure
CreatorMel Brooks
Norman Stiles
John Boni
StarringDick Gautier
Dick Van Patten
Bernie Kopell
Richard Dimitri
Henry Polic II
Misty Rowe
David Sabin
Ron Rifkin
ComposerArtie Butler
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Num seasons1
Num episodes13
ProducerMel Brooks
Stanley Jacob
Norman Steinberg
Runtime30 minutes
NetworkABC
CompanyCrossbow Productions
Paramount Television
First airedSeptember 10, 1975
Last airedDecember 3, 1975

When Things Were Rotten is an American sitcom television series created in 1975 by Mel Brooks and set in 1197 as a parody of the Robin Hood legend.[1] It aired for half a season on the ABC network.[2] The series starred Dick Gautier as the handsome and heroic Robin Hood.

The series received mostly critical acclaim,[3] though John Leonard wrote that watching it was "like being locked inside a package of bubblegum where the only card is Alvin Dark."[4] It failed to find an audience and was cancelled after 13 episodes. The Bionic Woman was its midseason replacement, and became a great success.[5] Eighteen years later, Brooks produced another Robin Hood parody, the feature film Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

The complete series was released on DVD in 2013 as a manufactured-on-demand item exclusively available on Amazon.com's CreateSpace.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ John Clute and John Grant (1997). ' The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)'. Orbit. ISBN 978-1-85723-368-1.
  2. ^ DeCaro, Frank (July 19, 2013). "Borscht Belt Sherwood Forest". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  3. ^ See, for example, "Review," by Cleveland Amory, "When Things Were Rotten," TV Guide, December 13, 1975, p. 18
  4. ^ Leonard, John (October 26, 1975). "The Worst Television Season Ever, Ever, Ever". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  5. ^ "The Bionic Woman (1976): Season 1". DVD Talk. Internet Brands. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  6. ^ "DVD release info". TVShowsOnDVD.com. CBS Interactive. Archived January 5, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 10, 2013.