When Things Were Rotten

[D'Snowth]

Drtooth may or may not be familiar with this show (I wasn't), but here's Mel Brooks's forgotten precursor to ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS, a campy sitcom from the mid-70s called WHEN THINGS WERE ROTTEN, which lasted for only one season. It apparently was a successful series, but just didn't have an audience.

And look who one of the story editors is! The guy who won a better for best letter writing at Camp Echo Rock!

 

[D'Snowth]

And look who one of the story editors is! The guy who won a better for best letter writing at Camp Echo Rock!

And for some reason, I said "better" when I meant to say "medal."

 

[minor muppetz]

Sesame Street writer Norman Stiles wrote for this show, and spoke about it in his recent interviews for Tough Pigs and The Muppet Mindset.

So it was a success but didn't find an audience? How does that work? Wouldn't having big ratings be the result of finding an audience? I thought I read that it was canceled because it was too expensive.

 

[D'Snowth]

Two factors at play: critics and viewers. In this case, critics may have enjoyed it, but that doesn't mean that the viewing public took notice, and that seems to be the case here - critics responded favorably to the show, but it went all but unnoticed by viewers, who were apparently busy watching other shows at the time this was on.

Then you have situations that work conversely, in that you can have a show or a movie that viewers love, but critics don't... remember, DC and LABYRINTH may have cult followings, but both were considered box office disasters.

 

[Oscarfan]

Slightly off-topic, but it's an old comedy show: has anyone here watched F-Troop? I saw some of it playing on a campus TV (without audio) and it looked funny but I havem't seen anything of it.

 

[D'Snowth]

I haven't seen a whole lot of F-TROOP, but it's a Civil War/Western sitcom, starring Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, and Ken Berry. It too was a short-runner, only two seasons, because the second season switched to color, but Warner Bros. (who produced the show) didn't want to continue paying the extra expense of filming in color.

There's some full episodes on YT right now; here's one that utilizes that Criminal Doppelganger trope that 60s sitcoms were so fond of:

 

[Drtooth]

You know, I have indeed heard of this show, but never actually got a chance to see it. Maybe I'll take in an episode later.

Reminds me how I at one point tried to develop something (a comic book maybe) based around a really bad Robin Hood wanna be, done Jay Ward style. Sort of like what George of the Jungle was to Tarzan or what Groo the Wanderer was to Conan the Barbarian.

But I never really did anything with it. Not that it matters that much.

If you have MeTV somewhere, F Troop airs Wednesdays at 10 PM. If you put aside the obvious fair for its day-ness of the show, it's pretty good. Personally I only got into it because F Troop was part of the reason the Filmation Ghost Busters series came to be. They just had to get Tucker and Storch for that series. Storch was kind of a staple for Filmation series, anyway. After all, he was The Joker in the 1960's Batman cartoon, and would later be Dracula in Groovie Goolies.

Yet not his old character from Ghost Busters in the cartoon version. otherwise they'd have to pay a 6th voice actor.

 

[D'Snowth]

Hey, Drtooth, you're gonna love this!

Check out who it is at 6:06, everybody's favorite dress-wearing Corporal from M*A*S*H! (And this is pretty much how he ended up getting the part of Klinger too).