About this episode
The episode explores the art of movie spoofs, celebrating Mel Brooks' legacy and discussing the genre's evolution and challenges.
The anarchic comedian, writer and filmmaker Mel Brooks turns 100 years old this June. Across a career spanning more than seven decades, Brooks has turned cinematic satire into an art form, through razor-sharp spoofs like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs. But while these films are now acclaimed as all-time comedy classics, the broader genre of the spoof has often struggled for respectability. Not least Scary Movie - one of the most commercially successful film franchises of recent years, despite widespread critical panning. With Scary Movie 6 on the horizon, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode ask - what makes for a truly great movie spoof? Critic and Screenshot regular Anne Billson talks Ellen through a selection of spoofs, from classic Hollywood-era films from the Marx Brothers and Bob Hope, to the parody boom of the 2000s, including films like Date Movie and Epic Movie. Mark talks to David Zucker - one third of the filmmaking trio Zucker Abrahams Zucker -about the landmark disaster spoof Airplane!, and why he believes the recent attempt to revive the team’s hit The Naked Gun series missed the mark. And Ellen speaks to Keenen Ivory Wayans, the creative force behind…
People in this episode
Hosts: Ellen E Jones, Mark Kermode
Guests: Anne Billson, David Zucker, Keenen Ivory Wayans
Topics covered
- comedy
- film spoof
- satire
- Mel Brooks
- cinematic history
- parody
Keywords
- Mel Brooks
- spoof films
- comedy classics
- Scary Movie
- Airplane!
- parody
- cinema
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: BBC Radio 4
Books & works: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, Scary Movie, Airplane!, The Naked Gun, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Date Movie, Epic Movie
More episodes of Screenshot
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Screenshot podcast page.