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Emmy Contender Judd Apatow On “Piss-Your-Pants” Funny Mel Brooks, His Nikki Glazer Collab, And That Seth Rogen-Anne Hathaway ‘Knocked Up’ Story
Judd Apatow has discussed his Emmy-nominated documentary, Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, praising Brooks as a formative influence on generations of comedians. He said Brooks’s work combined broad, uncompromising comedy with attacks on Nazis, fascism, racism and government mistreatment, which Apatow and co-director Michael Bonfiglio believe explains its enduring appeal.
The two-part HBO documentary premiered in January, when Brooks was 99, although he turned 100 on 28 June; Apatow said the team chose not to delay its release for the centenary. It received six Primetime Emmy nominations, tying it as the year’s most-nominated nonfiction project, including nominations for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and directing for Apatow and Bonfiglio. Their previous comedy documentaries about George Carlin and Garry Shandling also won Emmys in the same documentary category.
In short
- Apatow’s Mel Brooks documentary earned six Emmy nominations.
- Brooks turned 100 after the film’s January premiere.
- Apatow praises Brooks’s comedy and moral focus.
Explained simply
Mel Brooks is a comedian and filmmaker whose career spans stand-up, television and films such as The Producers and Blazing Saddles. Judd Apatow is a writer and director known for comedy films and documentaries about fellow performers; Michael Bonfiglio is his co-director on a documentary about Brooks.
Brooks’s comedy often used broad jokes and satire to address subjects including Nazism, racism and government abuse. The documentary looks at how that mix influenced later comedians and helped keep his work in the public eye.
The Emmys are annual US awards recognising work in television and related fields. Apatow and Bonfiglio’s earlier documentaries about comedians George Carlin and Garry Shandling also received Emmy recognition, placing the Brooks film within a continuing series of projects about comedy’s history.
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