My god. The Producers is hilarious.

[cyberswede]

I haven't seen it in a while. It's on TCM right now - "Springtime for Hitler" just finished up.

"I lieb ya, baby!"

[hrmjustin]

1. I am watching it as well.

[graham4anything]

2. It's a classic but don't think he could have gotten away with this in 2013

The funny thing was, this was not a major hit back when it was released.
Only in the 70s was it rediscovered.

And to think he made it a hit on Broadway years later (though the movie was better).

Mel forsaw what Bernie Madoff would do.

In the same way Mel & Buck Henry's Get Smart seems to always be relevant today.

But there is a reason Mel's last big success was now decades ago, being so politically incorrect you can't away with that anymore. But it did help that he was going for a niche audience so he did not need large success, then when it happened, it was extra satisfying for him.

[Auggie]

3. Fortuitous timing for Brooks ...

The war had been over for only 23 years when The Producers debuted, just long enough after Hitler's regime that a parody of this kind could/would seem appropriate IMO. That happily coincided with the cultural revolution of the mid to late 1960s which allowed Mel (along with Mike Nichols and Woody Allen, to name a few) to really exploit "issues" of the day others before them could not. Of course, Mel's real masterpiece would came a few years later with Blazing Saddles, perhaps the most bodacious comedy ever produced.

I caught about 3/4 of it last night. It's still as funny as the first time I saw it.

[graham4anything]

4. the bean scene

There are persistent rumours that Blazing Saddles is also coming to broadway.

Now, how are they going to do the Bean Scene?

[Auggie]

5. I'm not sure ...

but as long as they don't revert to "Odorama," I'm certain it'll be funny.