| When Things Were Rotten |
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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 cast were Dick Van Patten as Friar Tuck , Bernie Kopell (another ''Get Smart'' veteran) as Alan-a-Dale , Ron Rifkin as Prince John, and Misty Rowe as Maid Marian . 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. HUMOR One-liners and sight gags were rampant (complaining villagers, commanded to "Hold your tongues!," obediently reach into their mouths). Much of the humor was anachronistic, such as the occasion where Marian's ladies-in-waiting burst into the will have to come to me!" 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 tuns his head and looks off-cameras, and says: "Mel! I Didn't do it!" CANCELLATION 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 '''', 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 ''. 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 . TITLE SONG The show's opening credits began with a song with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams . SEE ALSO
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