As he did in My Favorite Year and, to some extent, in Racing with the Moon, Richard Benjamin has settled on an evocative time period and a top-notch cast and more or less left things at that.
In Benjy's case, it's his Jewish mother (Lainie Kazan), who is married to a Filipino former bantamweight boxer, Rookie Carroca (Ramon Sison), and Benjy's embarrassing relatives, such as uncouth Uncle Morty (Lou Jacobi).
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Other writers from Your Show of Shows had also made their own use of their experiences.
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Mel Brooks, executive producer of the film, was a writer for the Sid Caesar variety program Your Show of Shows, early in his career.
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Much like Alan Brady on The Dick Van Dyke Show, King Kaiser represented Sid Caesar ("Kaiser" is the German equivalent of the Roman title Caesar).
Your Show of Shows also inspired the 1982 movie My Favorite Year, produced by Mel Brooks, and the play Laughter on the 23rd Floor written by Neil Simon.
New Year's Day | New Year's Eve | New Year | Chinese New Year | One Year Later | NASCAR Rookie of the Year | High School Musical 3: Senior Year | Four Year Strong | Song of the Year | Grammy Award for Song of the Year | Lunar New Year | International Geophysical Year | Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year | Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year | Grammy Award for Record of the Year | A Good Year | Wisden Cricketers of the Year | Grammy Award for Album of the Year | year | My Favorite Year | Lo Nuestro Award for Tropical New Artist of the Year | Horse of the Year Show | Hijri year | Fiscal year | Year 2000 problem | NBA Rookie of the Year Award | La favorite | Japanese New Year | Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets | Billboard Year-End |
He was also an original cast member of the long-running theatrical revue Oh! Calcutta! He has made more than 70 appearances on film and television, including a memorable role as the co-inventor of the 'Opti-grab' in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy The Jerk, and as the head television writer in My Favorite Year (1982).