"The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine" (1971) TV series

Writers:

Chris Allen (writer)
Rudy De Luca (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

12 April 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Awards:

1 win

Cast

 (Series Cast Summary - 1 of 11)

Marty Feldman

...

Various Characters (14 episodes, 1971-1972)

Runtime:

60 min (14 episodes) | USA:30 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

BBC Elstree Centre/ATV Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Associated Television (ATV)

Trivia:

Terry Gilliam's animation contributions for this series were the opening and closing credits. The opening was a production line making identical looking mannequins/men, one eventually gets Marty's head, and is ejected into a rubbish bin. (This sequence appears in Gilliam's "Animations of Mortality" book.). The closing credits were various people saying "Good Bye!" and having horrible things happen to them. (i.e. A train conductor pulls a level and gets run over by a train, Mickey Mouse-type thingy gets smashed in a rat trap, etc... )

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Directors: The Films of Barry Levinson (#2.11)" (????)

Great Television - Classic and timeless slapstick comedy

I remember Marty Feldman being on the summer replacement show for "The Dean Martin Show". It was called "The Gold Diggers" and aside from the nice looking women, they always had one sketch by Marty Feldman (this was the 1st time I saw his famous veterinarian "thing in the box" routine - a classic.) I always thought Marty Feldman was probably born about 40 years too late, he had the classic silent movie slapstick look and feel about him. He would have rivaled the best from the 20s and 30s, right up there with Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy etc. To me, he was very reminiscent of Buster Keaton. At any rate, they did put on his show "The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine" for one season and I still remember many of his skits. What I wouldn't give to have the full collection on DVD. I'd pay good money to be able to see those skits again. Unfortunately, none of his movies (with the obvious exception of "Young Frankenstein") were very good - always too much plot that always seemed to get in the way of the raw slapstick comedy - - - a similar problem with all great classic silent comedians. But this one series called "The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine" contains Marty Feldman's best work - without argument it is his best work. Pure, unadulterated, short classic comedy skits that rival the best that Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd and the other famed performers of that era produced. I don't think anyone would argue with that fact. Each one "Comedy Machine" shows contained maybe 4 skits and each skit was an equivalent to a 1 or 2 reeler, and they were clearly classics. It is truly a waste that they are not currently available for all to enjoy today.