stevenehrman It is hard to imagine anyone hotter than Mel Brooks must have been in 1975. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein had both been released to wild applause only the year before. (Incredibly he brought both films to the screen in the same calendar year.)With that power he was able to bring his vision of the Robin Hood legend to television as a series, returning to that medium for the first time since the beloved Get Smart. Unfortunately When Things Were Rotten only survived a scant 13 episodes. Why was that? First the good. The casting is top notch, including guest stars such as Carl Ballentine and John Byner to name only two. My only small complaint would be the role of Little John in which I would have preferred to see a comedic actor such as Pat McCormick, but that is quibbling. The behind the scenes people were also by and large top notch. I particularly liked the Pat Proft written episode.Now to the bad. Although Mel Brooks is listed as a co creator he does not have a single writing, directing, or story editing credit and I believe that the show suffers from that. While the series has many of the Brooks trademark bits (Sentences interpreted literally and the like) it feels a bit like Brooks lite. Half the calories, but half the laughs, though the ones there are hilarious. Having said all that, I believe the main problem with the show is that it tries to be not only a comedy, but it also incorporates elements of a straight action/adventure show in many, though not all, episodes. It makes for an uneasy mix.Bottom line is that When Things Were Rotten is a classic that all Mel Brooks fans, and indeed comedy fans in general, should see. I watched this show when it was on and also very recently and I wish there were 10 seasons instead of just one. Mel Brooks obviously felt he wasn't through with the Robin Hood legend as he returned to it in the film Robin Hood Men in Tights, even repeating many of the same jokes from the series. I love the "Hey, Abbott" joke so much I could hear it every day.This one is highly recommended despite its flaws.

jimel98 I only give it an 8 because I don't recall too much, I mean, it's been a LONG time since I've seen it and I fully DO recall loving this show. I was lucky enough to catch an episode on, I believe YouTube a year or so ago and it brought back great memories. What lead me to YouTube was, after all the years that passed, I still recalled almost the entire theme song so, knowing you can find almost anything imaginable there, I went to see if it was there and if I had the lyrics right. I was about 95% right. If I recalled the theme, it had to have been a great show. Seeing that one episode confirmed it.It sadly was a classic example of idiotic TV executives who have no right being in those positions, making a decision that is just plain stupid. It should have run at LEAST a full season, if not several. It just never had time to grow and hit it's stride, and that is a damn shame.

gc123517 It was 1975 and I was 11/12 years old when I first saw this program. This show was a comedic version of Robin Hood's adventures. It immediately became my favorite program and I watched it every week. Needless to say, I was very disappointed when it left the air. What is more amazing is that I have never seen it in syndication over the last 30 years. However, thanks to A&E and the internet, I have been able to re-watch this program this past weekend and really enjoyed it.I remembered Dick Gautier as "Hymie" from "Get Smart", but I was surprised to recognize Bernie Kopell as "Seigfried" the second time seeing "WTWR". Frankly, reviewing IMDb's web page shows that many stars and guests from "WTWR" have done prominent work. 2 guests were regulars on "Barney Miller", Prince John was a regular on "Alias", and Dick van Patten appeared in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights". Dick Gautier has been doing voice work on prominent animated series. It's hard to believe he's about 74 years old now.I would encourage anyone who misses this program to check all the actor links on IMDb for this show, and you will be surprised at what the "WTWR" cast has been up to; also, contact A&E and see if they will rebroadcast this show. It would be nice if they included updates on the cast.

dtucker86 Mel Brooks is one of our true comic geniuses. He was overlooked for many years, but I am glad that he was able to make a comeback with the Broadway version of his original hit film The Producers. He started off in television with Carl Reiner and the 2,000 year old man skits and he also created Get Smart with Don Adams. When Things Were Rotten is another series that he created that I feel has been overlooked. It came along in a really bad tv season and was unjustly cancelled after only about half a season. Dick Gautier, Bernie Kopell, Dick Van Patten, Henry Polic 11 and Misty Rowe all made a great comic team. Unlike tv shows today, this one made you laugh innocently and not feel guilty about it. Mel Brooks has always been so creative and original in everything that he does. He brought that special quality to this series and I only wish that they would show it again. I was stationed in Korea and saw some episodes on videotape. Brooks made a film almost twenty years later in 1993 called Robin Hood: Men In Tights and he used a lot of the stuff that he used on this show (they pointed that out in a review they did of the film).