Posted in: FX, TV | Tagged: Young Frankenstein

Very Young Frankenstein: Mel Brooks, WWDITS Team Developing FX Pilot

Mel Brooks and the folks behind FX's What We Do in the Shadows are developing "Very Young Frankenstein" as a pilot for an FX series.

Published Thu, 26 Jun 2025 09:37:03 -0500

by Tom Chang

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Article Summary

Mel Brooks is teaming up with some of the folks from What We Do in the Shadows for a series pilot for Very Young Frankenstein at FX.
Very Young Frankenstein could expand on the 1974 Young Frankenstein movie’s comedic legacy.
Stefani Robinson is set as writer/showrunner, with Taika Waititi directing the pilot episode.
The project follows Brooks’ return to classic comedies, including a Spaceballs sequel and History of the World Part II.

Just when you think Mel Brooks is done revisiting his old projects with the upcoming Spaceballs sequel, the comedy legend is back trying to follow up his 1974 classic Young Frankenstein teaming with a trio of creatives from the FX vampire comedy series What We Do in the Shadows to try to develop a pilot for FX, which is nearing an order, according to Deadline Hollywood. Titled Very Young Frankenstein, plot details are being kept under wraps from FX and 20th Television, which are looking to produce should it be official.

Very Young Frankenstein: Brooks w/ 'Shadows' Creatives for FX Pilot — Image: FX Networks; Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in "Young Frankenstein" (1974). Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Very Young Frankenstein: Will It Build on the Mel Brooks' 1974 Original?

Should Very Young Frankenstein pilot get greenlit, executive producing the series will be Shadows writer Stefani Robinson, who would act as writer and showrunner; Taika Waititi, who was EP and co-creator on the FX series and star/co-director of the original 2014 film, would direct the pilot; and Garrett Basch, who was EP on Shadows. The plot of Young Frankenstein, a parody of Mary Shelley's classic of a mad scientist looking to resurrect a human containing parts from others that would become the monster. The story's been adapted several times on the screen, originally in 1910 as a short, and most famously in the 1931 James Whale Universal classic that starred Boris Karloff as The Monster. In Shadows' final season, Lazlo Cravenworth (Matt Berry) as vampire and scientist, created his own Frankenstein-type of monster, played by Andy Assaf calling him, Cravenworth's Monster.

The Brooks film, which was filmed in black and white to reflect the original, starred Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, who decides to carry on his work. Joining Wilder was Peter Boyle as the Monster, Marty Feldman is Igor (pronounced Eye-gore), Frederick's faithful hunchback servant and grandson of the original Igor who helped Victor, and Teri Garr as Inga, a young woman who becomes Federick's assistant. The film also starred Brooks' favorites in Cloris Leachman, Kenneth Mars, and Madeline Kahn. Atypical of his films, Brooks played multiple roles, including Werewolf, a cat hit by a dart, and the voice of Victor Frankenstein. One of the most memorable moments in the film was the appearance of Gene Hackman as a blind man looking to make a friend with Boyle's character. But after a few classic slapstick moments where the poor monster suffers some injuries involving boiling soup and fire, he runs off.

On top of revisiting Young Frankenstein and the upcoming Spaceballs sequel for Amazon MGM Studios, Brooks also returned to History of the World Part I for Part II as a Hulu limited series in 2023, which was only teased when the 1981 film had a mid-credits scene. Similar to the original film, the series also featured a new generation ensemble of comedians navigating through various moments in history. The Spaceballs sequel, which Josh Gad co-wrote, will feature the return of original cast members Bill Pullman (Lonestar) and Rick Moranis (Dark Helmet).

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