Joining Jim on the latest trip aboard the TV Time Machine is entertainment legend Mel Brooks. The man who brought you the award-winning The Producers on stage and screen, as well as comedy classics Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs, got his start in the golden age of television and went on to create the co-create the character of the 2000-Year-Old Man and hit series Get Smart. Listen as the king of “it’s so-silly-it’s-genius” comedy goes back to his roots.
On this voyage of the TV Time Machine, host Jim Benson interviews a true show business legend- producer, actor and director, Mel Brooks. As writer on Your Show of Shows, and co-creator of Get Smart with Buck Henry, Mr. Brooks’ television resume’ is no less impressive than his silver screen career.
In this audio interview, Jim Benson and Mel Brooks explore all of Mel’s classic TV work–from Caesar’s Hour to the Celebrity Game, from When Things Were Rotten to Mad About You. For those of you intrepid enough to go Inside Danny Baker, feel free to Get Smart, as we slip from the restraints of the present, and into a 2000 year-old past!
Listen to the Interview Below
Mel Brooks audio interview Segment One
In this segment, host Jim Benson talks to comedy legend Mel Brooks about his early years growing up in Brooklyn, New York, his days fighting the Germans during World War II, and working with comedy legends Sid Caesar, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Woody Allen, Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca on the 1950’s comedy classic, Your Show of Shows. Jim Benson also surprises Mel Brooks by playing a rare audio clip of Mr. Brooks performing for the troops in the middle of combat during World War II!
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Mel Brooks audio interview Segment Two
For the second segment, host Jim Benson discusses with Mel Brooks how he met his wife, legendary actress Anne Bancroft, his creation of the brilliant, but never-picked-up-by-the-network TV pilot Inside Danny Baker (based on cartoonist William Steig’s Dreams of Glory), and the genesis of the classic spy spoof (which Mel co-created with Buck Henry) Get Smart, starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon. Mel Brooks also talks about his long and abiding friendship with comedy legend Carl Reiner (Your Show of Shows, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Hot in Cleveland), and the creation of their eternally funny comedy routine, the 2000 Year-Old Man.
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Mel Brooks audio interview Segment Three
For the final segment, host Jim Benson not only discusses with Mel Brooks his appearance in 1972 as the 2000 Year-Old Man on the 2000th episode of Jeopardy!, but Mel and Jim decide to play Jeopardy on the air! Jim and Mel decide to stop playing games and get back to talking about When Things Were Rotten (Mel’s 1975 TV Show!) Mel Brooks also talks about his Emmy Award-winning role as Uncle Phil on Mad About You, and whether or not the medium of television has fulfilled its promise over the past sixty years. Finally, Jim Benson honors Mel Brooks at the climax of the program–in a way only a gentile can!
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