When Mel Brooks introduced Spaceballs to his film canon in 1987, viewers and critics most likely did a double-take. A parody of Star Wars? In 1987? And yet such low-brow Yiddish wit as "I see your Schwartz is as big as mine" ran rampant through junior-high and high schools, as well as pop culture. So silly it worked. My favorite line to repeat back then was, in a deep Dark Helmet voice, "Evil will always triumph, because good…is dumb." Good thing to remember this election year, by the way. So, where was I? Oh, yes, Spaceballs. Did you know that Brooks, two decades later, helped shepherd an animated series based on his movie? I know. Sounds almost as weird as George Lucas releasing an animated Star Wars movie years after we stopped caring about it, and then making all of the characters look and sound weird and removing any sort of suspense from the plot. At least with Spaceballs, suspense is not an option. But we sure do hope it’s got some redeeming humor value. And, at least Brooks is lending his own voice to the proceedings, and so, too, are original cast members Daphne Zuniga and Joan Rivers. So there’s that. The G4 network is rebroadcasting Spaceballs at 3 p.m. Sunday, followed by the premiere of Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs: The Animated Series at 5 p.m. Sunday. Here’s a quick clip. You be the judge:
Sean L. McCarthy
Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.
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