HBO premieres two-part documentary on Mel Brooks

HBO premiered Part 1 of a two-part, nearly four-hour documentary about Mel Brooks, the comedian and filmmaker who will turn 100 in June. The film, titled “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!,” was co-directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio and is presented as a loving portrait of Brooks.

The documentary traces Brooks’s life from his Williamsburg, Brooklyn origins to his career as the filmmaker behind The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and Spaceballs. Judd Apatow said Brooks initially resisted the project — recalling Brooks’s question, “Why is there any need to do this?

Is this what I want to be doing with my time?” — and that he persuaded him by saying, “But Mel, this allows me and you to hang out a lot!” Apatow and Bonfiglio filmed about 10 hours of interviews with Brooks in 2024 and 2025 with the stated aim of asking questions he might not have answered before.

The film includes archival material and interviews with friends and admirers, from Carl Reiner (in archival footage) to Rob Reiner, who appears in one of the final conversations recorded before his death last month, as well as praise from figures such as Conan O’Brien, Dave Chappelle, Tracey Ullman and David Lynch.

Key Topics

Culture, Mel Brooks, Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio, Hbo, Williamsburg