Mel Brooks was on top of the world in 1975. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein hadn't just made money; they’d basically rewritten the rules of what people were allowed to laugh at. So, when ABC gave him the keys to a half-hour sitcom slot, everyone expected a revolution. They got one, kind of. It was called When Things Were Rotten, a frantic, gag-a-minute send-up of the Robin Hood legend.
It bombed.
Well, "bombed" is a harsh word for something that actually has a massive cult following now, but at the time, it didn't even survive a full season. Only 13 episodes aired. But if you look closely at the When Things Were Rotten cast, you realize this wasn't just some throwaway TV project. This was a massive gathering of talent that would go on to shape comedy for the next three decades. It’s a weirdly stacked roster. Honestly, looking back at it feels like looking at a sports "super team" that somehow missed the playoffs.
The Men in Tights Before the Movie
Most people today know Mel Brooks’ take on Sherwood Forest through the 1993 film Robin Hood: Men in Tights. If you watch that movie and then go back to the 1975 series, the DNA is everywhere. The show was the rough draft. It was the experimental lab.
Richard Gautier played Robin Hood. Now, Gautier was an interesting choice because he wasn't a slapstick guy by trade; he had this suave, leading-man energy that made the absurdity of his lines land better. He played Robin as a bit of a vain egomaniac. He was less "hero of the people" and more "guy who really likes how he looks in a cape." Gautier had already made a name for himself as Conrad Birdie on Broadway, and he brought that stage presence to the forest.
Then you had Dick Van Patten as Friar Tuck. This was before Eight Is Enough turned him into America’s favorite dad. In When Things Were Rotten, he was essentially playing against type, or at least a much sweatier, more stressed-out version of the classic monk.
Breaking Down the Merry Men
The chemistry of the group was chaotic. That was the point.
Bernie Kopell played Alan-a-Dale. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Kopell became a household fixture shortly after this as Doc on The Love Boat. In the Brooks version of Nottingham, he was the narrator who couldn't stop playing the lute, even when people wanted him to shut up.
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Henry Polic II took on the Sheriff of Nottingham. He played the Sheriff not as a terrifying villain, but as a bumbling, status-obsessed bureaucrat. It was a template that many future sitcom villains would follow.
Misty Rowe as Maid Marian. She came straight from Hee Haw, bringing a very specific type of "dumb blonde" trope that was popular in 70s variety TV, though Brooks gave her sharper material than she usually had.
David Sabin played Little John, and Richard Libertini played Bertram, the Sheriff’s right-hand man. Libertini is one of those "character actor" legends. You’ve seen him in everything from Fletch to The Bad News Bears. He had this incredible face that seemed made of rubber.
Why the Show Didn't Stick
You’d think with Mel Brooks’ name attached, the show would be a slam dunk. It wasn't. Part of the problem was the pacing. TV audiences in 1975 weren't quite ready for the "joke every four seconds" style that Brooks pioneered. It was exhausting. You’d blink and miss three puns and a fourth-wall break.
Also, the competition was brutal. The mid-70s was the era of the "Prestige Sitcom" like MASH* or All in the Family. Those shows had "messages." They had "heart." When Things Were Rotten had a guy accidentally hitting himself in the face with a bow and arrow. It was pure, unadulterated silly.
The critics weren't always kind, either. Some felt it was a pale imitation of the films Brooks was making at the time. But the When Things Were Rotten cast didn't let the show's failure slow them down. In fact, for many of them, it was a springboard.
The Direct Link to 1993
You can't talk about this cast without talking about the 1993 movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights. When Brooks finally returned to Sherwood Forest nearly 20 years later, he didn't just recycle the jokes; he recycled the spirit.
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Bernie Kopell actually showed up in the '93 movie as a doctor (a nod to his Love Boat fame), which felt like a cosmic full-circle moment for the fans who remembered the '75 show. The character archetypes remained virtually identical. Cary Elwes' Robin Hood in the movie is basically a more polished version of what Richard Gautier was doing on the small screen.
The Technical Weirdness of 1970s Sitcoms
One thing that makes the When Things Were Rotten cast so fun to watch today is how they handled the technical limitations of the time. This wasn't shot like a modern single-camera comedy. It had a laugh track. It had that warm, slightly fuzzy 70s film stock look.
There's a specific energy when you put stage-trained actors like Gautier and Libertini in front of a studio audience. They play to the back of the room. Everything is big. The double-takes are massive. The physical comedy is loud.
A Note on the Writing Room
It wasn't just the actors. The writing staff included guys like Barry Levinson. Yes, the same Barry Levinson who would go on to direct Rain Man and Good Morning, Vietnam. Imagine being in that room. You have the guy who wrote The Princess Bride (Mel Brooks, effectively) and the guy who would win an Oscar for Rain Man trying to figure out how to make a joke about a medieval suit of armor.
Where Are They Now?
Sadly, many of the core cast members have passed away. Richard Gautier died in 2017. Dick Van Patten passed in 2015. Henry Polic II left us in 2013.
But their work in this specific show remains a weird, beautiful time capsule. It represents a moment when network television was willing to take a massive, expensive risk on "stupid" humor. They weren't trying to change the world; they were just trying to make you spit out your drink.
If you ever find the old DVD sets or catch clips on YouTube, pay attention to Richard Libertini. His timing is genuinely masterclass level. He can do more with a squint than most actors can do with a three-page monologue.
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The Real Legacy of the Cast
The show’s failure actually helped the actors in a weird way. Because it was cancelled so quickly, they weren't "typecast" as medieval characters. Dick Van Patten was free to become the dad on Eight Is Enough. Bernie Kopell was free to head to the Love Boat.
But for those thirteen episodes, they were the funniest thing on television, even if the ratings didn't show it. They proved that Mel Brooks' brand of "everything-and-the-kitchen-sink" comedy could work on a budget, provided you had a cast that was willing to commit 100% to the bit.
Honestly, the When Things Were Rotten cast deserved a second season. They had the rhythm down by the final few episodes. The timing was getting tighter. The characters were becoming more than just caricatures.
How to Experience it Today
You won't find this on Netflix. It's not streaming on Max. To really see what this cast was capable of, you usually have to hunt down the 2013 DVD release from Shout! Factory. It’s worth the hunt.
When you watch it, look for these specific things:
- The way Gautier breaks the fourth wall with just his eyes.
- The sheer amount of physical labor Dick Van Patten puts into just walking in that habit.
- The background gags. Brooks loved putting jokes in the deep background that the main cast would ignore.
It’s a masterclass in ensemble comedy. Even if the scripts were sometimes hit-or-miss, the performers never phoned it in. They played it like it was Shakespeare, which is exactly why the comedy works.
Actionable Steps for TV Historians and Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into this specific era of television or the careers of these actors, here is how you should approach it:
- Watch "The 2000 Year Old Man" sketches: To understand the comedic shorthand used by the cast, you need to understand Mel Brooks' and Carl Reiner's foundational work. It’s the same "smart people playing dumb" vibe.
- Track Richard Libertini's Career: After finishing the series, watch him in The In-Laws (1979). You will see the exact same comedic DNA he brought to Bertram, but refined for the big screen.
- Compare and Contrast: Watch the pilot episode of When Things Were Rotten and then watch the first 20 minutes of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. You will see entire gags lifted almost beat-for-beat. It’s a fascinating look at how a creator iterates on an idea over twenty years.
- Check the Credits: Look for names like Rudy De Luca and Norman Steinberg in the writing credits. These guys were the backbone of the "Brooks Look" and their influence on the cast's delivery cannot be overstated.
The show might have been a "failure" by 1975 Nielsen standards, but in terms of influence, the When Things Were Rotten cast left a footprint much larger than their single season suggests. They taught a generation of writers that you didn't need a "very special episode" to be successful—you just needed a good wig and a sense of the absurd.