# A Blazing Saddles question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996 "2008-08-06T03:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/1 "2008-08-06T03:22:20Z")
In the first conversation between Hedley Lamarr and Boris the executioner, Boris says that he’s currently working on “a doozy” and indicates the grey-bearded man in a wheelchair he’s about to hang. Hedley says “Oh yes, the Doctor Gillespie killings.” Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/2 "2008-08-06T03:26:23Z")
> **[Dr. Kildare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kildare)** > > Dr. James Kildare is a fictional American medical doctor, originally created in the 1930s by the author Frederick Schiller Faust under the pen name Max Brand. Shortly after the character's first appearance in a magazine story, Paramount Pictures used the story and character as the basis for the 1937 film Internes Can't Take Money, starring Joel McCrea as Jimmie Kildare. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsequently acquired the rights and featured Kildare as the primary character in a series of American... Look for the reference under Satires. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/3 "2008-08-06T03:34:20Z")
Dr. Killpatient! That makes so much more sense now! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/4 "2008-08-06T04:02:17Z")
> [@](#): > > [Dr. Kildare - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kildare) > > Look for the reference under Satires. Okay, so Dr Gillespie was a character on the Dr Kildare TV show and movies. How is that a punchline to a joke about a guy in a wheelchair getting hung? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/5 "2008-08-06T04:06:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Boris the hangman is about to hang a dignified-looking older gentleman in a wheelchair and Hedley Lamarr says: “Yes, the Dr. Gillespie killings.” > > The dignified-looking older gent is supposed to be Lionel Barrymore who played Dr. Gillespie in a series of films in the early to mid forties. > Mr. Barrymore was stricken with a very serious condition of arthritis which had him confined to a wheelchair. He was only supposed to live a year or so but that year lasted long enough to become several years’ worth of books and movies that went on and on and on. > He continued acting in his wheelchair playing crotchety Dr. Gillespie, mentor of Dr. Kildare as played by Lew Ayres. > The films are: > Dr. Gillespie’s New Assistant > Calling Dr. Gillespie > Dr. Gillespie’s Criminal Case > So “The Dr. Gillespie Killings” is Mel Brooks’ twisted take on what he considers should have been the last Dr. Gillepsie film. > **[Blazing Saddles - the movie - phrase meaning and origin](https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/11/messages/717.html)** > > Blazing Saddles - the movie - the meaning and origin of this phrase The two links I posted were the first two hits from Google for “doctor gillespie killings”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/6 "2008-08-06T04:15:19Z")
I couldn’t _pothibly_ anther this quethtion before Monday! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/7 "2008-08-07T00:41:13Z")
Okay, now I get it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![PharmBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@PharmBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PharmBoy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/8 "2008-08-07T12:34:05Z")
I have another question: How can anyone sit through this movie. It was on the other night and I tried (really I did) to watch it and like it, but I gave up after about 30 minutes. Aren’t comedy movies supposed to be funny? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/9 "2008-08-07T13:01:16Z")
You watched it on TV, so they edited out all the offensive words and sounds, and snipped out bits to make it shorter. Believe me, it’s really funny until they do that. Damn them to hell! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/10 "2008-08-07T14:00:58Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] You watched it on TV, so they edited out all the offensive words and sounds, and snipped out bits to make it shorter. Believe me, it’s really funny until they do that. Damn them to hell! [/QUOTE] It never ceases to amaze me that anyone tries to show Mel Brooks movies on TV. Half the jokes are vulgar or profanity-laden, and when you cut them out all you get is a mildly boring film. Or worst case, a confusing one, especially when they leave in the entire run-up to a joke and then chop the punchline. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/11 "2008-08-07T14:08:48Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] You watched it on TV, so they edited out all the offensive words and sounds, and snipped out bits to make it shorter. Believe me, it’s really funny until they do that. Damn them to hell! [/QUOTE] If they censor all the occurrences of the N word in Blazing Saddles, the movie would be incomprehensible: a central plot point is, as several characters say, “The sheriff is a n—.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/12 "2008-08-07T14:16:25Z")
[QUOTE=PharmBoy] I have another question: How can anyone sit through this movie. It was on the other night and I tried (really I did) to watch it and like it, but I gave up after about 30 minutes. Aren’t comedy movies supposed to be funny? [/QUOTE] Obviously, you have a twisted sense of humor, but so do we all. Maybe yours is twisted in the opposite direction? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/13 "2008-08-07T14:25:53Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] If they censor all the occurrences of the N word in Blazing Saddles, the movie would be incomprehensible: a central plot point is, as several characters say, “The sheriff is a n—.” [/QUOTE] I believe the edit carried by ABC Family is just that. I know they censored “faggots”. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/14 "2008-08-07T14:28:15Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] I believe the edit carried by ABC Family is just that. I know they censored “faggots”. [/QUOTE] At least they’re leaving in the fart noises these days. Comedy Gold! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/15 "2008-08-07T14:34:26Z")
It really pisses me off when the Waco Kid says, “Shot me in the…youknow.” Lamest “fix” ever. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/16 "2008-08-07T15:01:43Z")
[QUOTE=PharmBoy] I have another question: How can anyone sit through this movie. It was on the other night and I tried (really I did) to watch it and like it, but I gave up after about 30 minutes. Aren’t comedy movies supposed to be funny? [/QUOTE] You know what **Pharmboy** , I think it’s people hanging on to their fond memories of it as a kid. When I saw Mel Brooks movies as a 12 year-old I thought they were the funniest, most brilliant, taboo movies I ever saw. Fart jokes, dirty words, sex jokes, etc. We would constanly quote them in grade school. Watching them now I find them unfunny and wonder how adults ever found them to be funny. They almost seem like they were written for grade school boys. Kind of like the Star Wars phenomena. People don’t like to admit to themselves that Star Wars to an adult is actually a pretty crappy movie since they loved it to death when they were seven. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/17 "2008-08-07T15:19:54Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] … “The sheriff is a n—.” [/QUOTE] What? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/18 "2008-08-07T15:25:20Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] What? [/QUOTE] He said the sheriff is near! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/19 "2008-08-07T15:33:21Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] You know what **Pharmboy** , I think it’s people hanging on to their fond memories of it as a kid. When I saw Mel Brooks movies as a 12 year-old I thought they were the funniest, most brilliant, taboo movies I ever saw. Fart jokes, dirty words, sex jokes, etc. We would constanly quote them in grade school. Watching them now I find them unfunny and wonder how adults ever found them to be funny. They almost seem like they were written for grade school boys. Kind of like the Star Wars phenomena. People don’t like to admit to themselves that Star Wars to an adult is actually a pretty crappy movie since they loved it to death when they were seven. [/QUOTE] I don’t know that I can go along with this. This movie got much funnier to me as an adult than it was when I was younger. Not that Mel Brooks is known for subtle humor, but there were things I understood better as I got older. I think this movie is comic genius. Granted, I don’t find the campfire scene nearly as funny now as I used to when I was younger. On the other hand, there are few greater joys in adult life then having my wife randomly quip to me, “They said you was hung!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996/20 "2008-08-07T15:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] You know what **Pharmboy** , I think it’s people hanging on to their fond memories of it as a kid. When I saw Mel Brooks movies as a 12 year-old I thought they were the funniest, most brilliant, taboo movies I ever saw. Fart jokes, dirty words, sex jokes, etc. We would constanly quote them in grade school. Watching them now I find them unfunny and wonder how adults ever found them to be funny. They almost seem like they were written for grade school boys. Kind of like the Star Wars phenomena. People don’t like to admit to themselves that Star Wars to an adult is actually a pretty crappy movie since they loved it to death when they were seven. [/QUOTE] Or some people have retained the ability to enjoy Mel Brooks movies. I still find Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Space Balls, History of the World and Get Smart quite funny. BS has held up pretty well when it is uncut. What movies do you consider funny now as you are passing judgment on others? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-blazing-saddles-question/458996.md?page=2)