Is Mel Brooks Torching His Legacy in Real Time?

Quick, what was your favorite scene from “History of the World, Part II?“

Don’t have one? Never saw it? Wasn’t even aware such a project existed?

You’re not alone. Hulu’s ill-fated attempt to revive Mel Brooks’ 1981 comedy didn’t rock the culture. Reviewers were mostly kind, but the streaming series came and went without much fuss.

Blame a crowded marketplace or the fact that it’s hard to duplicate Brooks’ brand of silliness even when he served as an executive producer on the miniseries.

Looking back, it was funnier to leave a film like “History of the World, Part I” as is. The title is part of the joke, no?

Now, Brooks is back. Twice. Is it wise to dust off his comedy classics to appease an industry desperate for IPs?

Will new, inferior Brooks titles diminish his canon?

He just announced a belated sequel to “Spaceballs,” his intermittently funny “Star Wars” spoof from 1987. The original isn’t a classic like “The Producers,” “Young Frankenstein” or “Blazing Saddles,” but it gently skewered George Lucas’ franchise in memorable ways.

It deserved a sequel … but why wait nearly 40 years? Brooks could have made a follow-up film at any point. Why now, especially as the “Star Wars” brand sits at an embarrassingly low?

Brooks also just approved another extension of his comedy canon. “Very Young Frankenstein” will revisit the classic characters from his 1974 satire.

Worried yet?

Yes, Brooks’ name is technically attached to all of the above, but it feels more like an honorific than anything substantial. He’s not writing the scripts but lending his imprimatur to the extensions.

At 98, he doesn’t need the work, nor should he be dragged back to the nine-to-five realm. Still, he’s handing his legacy over to a Hollywood system that routinely fumbles core comedy principles.

Woke infected “History of the World, Part II,” for example. It’s also why we haven’t seen many big, bawdy R-rated comedies of late. The era of “Step Brothers,” “Bridesmaids,” “Old School” and “The Hangover” is no more. 

That’s no accident.

Do we really trust the director of “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” to make “Spaceballs” great again?

“Very Young Frankenstein” comes from the team behind the quirky FX series “What We Do in the Shadows.” That’s reassuring, but how can their cast compare to the likes of Gene Wilder, Teri Garr, Marty Feldman and Cloris Leachman?

Brooks wouldn’t be the first artist to diminish his own legacy.

Howard Stern’s woke makeover has soured many on the shock jock’s remarkable career. Stern changed the face of radio, opening the format up in ways that still reverberate today.

He helped solidify satellite radio, too, another media milestone on his resume.

Today? He’s a parody of his former self, lobbing softballs at powerful people and refusing to stand up for free speech.

Neil Young also can’t stop meddling with his legacy. The ’60s icon disgraced his free speech bona fides by demanding Joe Rogan be booted from Spotify in 2021. 

More recently, he complained that President Donald Trump might curb his free speech rights. No one wants that, but Young stood silently by as Cancel Culture ravaged speech across the board.

Even The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, stands as a diminished figure. He’s become a partisan scold, hammering President Trump overseas while charging fans exorbitant ticket prices back at home.

Springsteen can’t even see why the latter is wrong. The blue collar troubadour has lost touch with his base.

Sad.

Brooks’ legacy isn’t necessarily in peril.

That “Spaceballs” sequel may defy expectations. Perhaps “Very Young Frankenstein” will honor the source material while bringing fresh laughs to the world.

Perhaps.

The projects also could flop with fans expecting Brooks’ brand of humor. If so, he would have been far better off leaving his legacy alone.

It’s pretty darn good as is.