Table of Contents

Introduction A New Perspective on Mel Brooks Mel Brooks: 'Multimedia Survivor' in the Cultural Industries Materials and Methods Rethinking Adaptation Studies: Survival Strategies in the Cultural Industries Adaptations in the Modern Cultural Industries Adaptation Terminology Remediation Hybridisation Intermediality Synergy Prolonged Adaptation Conclusion From Sitcoms to 'Parody-coms': Writing for American TV, 1949-1989 The Intermedial Origins of the American Sitcom, 1949-1957 Get Smart: Reviving the American Sitcom, 1965-1970 The Modern Transformation of the American Sitcom, 1975-1989 When Things Were Rotten (ABC, 1975) The Nutt House (NBC, 1989) Prolonged Stardom: Audio Records, TV, and Film, 1961-2004 Adapting the 2000 Year Old Man, 1961-1983 Hollywood Film Actor, 1974-1987 A Transitional Performance: Life Stinks (1991) Comedy Legend and Sitcom Actor, 1995-2004 Recycled Hollywood for the TV Generation: The Rise of Parody and the Fall of Mel Brooks the Director, 1974-1995 Rethinking New Hollywood: Intermedial Blockbusters in 1974 Blazing Saddles (1974) Young Frankenstein (1974) A New Film-Focused Strategy: The Fall of Mel Brooks, 1987-1995 Spaceballs (1987) Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) The Integration of the Film and Theatre Industries: The Producers, 1968-2007 The Producers (1968) The Modern Revival of The Producers (1968) The Broadway Adaptation: The Producers (2001) Remade in Hollywood: The Producers (2005) Conclusion Bibliography Index

About the Author

Dr Alex Symons was awarded his PhD by the Department of Culture, Film and Media at the University of Nottingham. Articles of his research have been published in the Journal of Popular Film and Television, the Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance, and in Celebrity Studies.