Benjy Stone, the narrator, tells of the summer he met his idol, swashbuckling actor Alan Swann. In the early days of television, Benjy works as a junior comedy writer for a variety show called Comedy Cavalcade starring Stan "King" Kaiser broadcast live from the NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. As a special upcoming guest, they get the still-famous Swann, who is largely washed up. However, when he shows up, he turns out to be a roaring drunk and Kaiser is ready to "dump him" until Benjy intervenes, promising to keep the "washed-up jaboni" sober during the week leading up to his scheduled appearance. As Benjy watches out for Alan, or at least tries to keep up with him, they learn much about each other, including the fact that they each have family they prefer to hide from the rest of the world. In Benjy's case, it's his Jewish mother, who is married to a Filipino former bantamweightboxer, Rookie Carroca, and Benjy's embarrassing relatives, such as uncouth Uncle Morty. For Swann, it is his young daughter, Tess, who has been raised entirely by her mother, one of his many ex-wives. He stays away, but continues to keep tabs on her secretly, frustrated that he cannot muster the courage to reconnect with her. During the week of rehearsals, Kaiser is threatened by corrupt union boss Karl Rojeck and objects to being parodied on the show. Disruptive events, ambiguous between sabotage and random accidents, are noted after Kaiser belligerently refuses to stop performing the "Boss Hijack" sketches. In a subplot, Benjy tries, clumsily and over-enthusiastically, to win the affections of co-worker K. C. Downing. Swann advises him on the right approach, which includes crashing a party at the home of K.C.'s affluent parents. The night of the show finally arrives, but minutes away from going on-air, Swann suffers a panic attack when Benjy informs him that the show is broadcast live. Swann gets drunk, and rushes out from the studio, but is confronted by Benjy, who angrily tells him that he always thought of Swann as the swashbuckling hero he saw on the big screen, and that deep down, Swann possesses those qualities as a person. As Benjy puts it, "Nobody's that good an actor!" As the "Boss Hijack" sketch gets underway, Rojeck's men show up backstage and begin beating up Kaiser. The fight spills onto the stage during the live broadcast. Swann and Benjy observe the melee from a balcony, when the audience suddenly notices Swann and breaks into enthusiastic applause. Swann grabs a rope and swings into action, saving Kaiser in front of an appreciative if still clueless audience. Benjy narrates the epilogue, relating that Swann, his confidence bolstered, finally gets up the nerve to visit his daughter the next day and the two apparently have a heartfelt reunion.
, executive producer of the film, was a writer for the Sid Caesar variety program Your Show of Shows early in his career. Movie swashbuckler Errol Flynn was a guest on one episode, and this real-life occurrence inspired Dennis Palumbo's largely fictional screenplay. Swann was obviously based on Flynn, while Benjy Stone is loosely based on both Brooks and Woody Allen, who also wrote for Caesar. According to Brooks, the character of Rookie Carroca also was based on a real person, a Filipino sailor in the U. S. Navy who was his neighbor in Brooklyn. Much like Alan Brady on The Dick Van Dyke Show, King Kaiser represented Sid Caesar. Selma Diamond, another former Your Show of Shows writer, appears in the film as a wardrobe mistress. The character of Herb, a comedy writer who whispers almost everything he has to say, is loosely based on Neil Simon, another of Caesar's staff writers, who, according to co-worker Carl Reiner, whispered ideas to colleagues rather than try to shout to be heard above the din of the noisy writers' room. Simon and Reiner made their own use of their Your Show of Shows experiences. Laughter on the 23rd Floor, written by Simon for the stage and later a television film, included thinly disguised versions of Sid Caesar and his staff. So did The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was created by Brooks' friend and colleague, Reiner. Brooks acknowledges that most of the movie's plot was fiction. He said that Flynn's appearance on Your Show of Shows was uneventful, that none of the writers had much interaction with Flynn, let alone became his friend or took him home to dinner.
Production
The film was based on an original script by Norman Steinberg. My Favorite Year was the first directing effort for actor Richard Benjamin who was an NBC page at 30 Rock in 1956. Cameron Mitchell recalled that he met Mel Brooks when both were having lunch at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Commissary. Brooks told him that Gorilla at Large was his favourite film and asked him if he wanted to play a Jimmy Hoffa-type union boss in a movie for him. Mitchell accepted and was cast in the film as "Boss" Rojeck.
Release
My Favorite Year opened in 714 North American theaters on October 1, 1982 to $2,400,696. The film holds a 96% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews.
Musical
was the only member of the cast who reprised her film role for 1992's Broadwaymusical version of My Favorite Year, in which the character Alan Swann was portrayed by Tim Curry. Both were nominated for Tony Awards for their performances.
