back to TV, because between Get Smart and Show of Shows , I was fine. I didn't need this movie business. I thought I've had enough because they don't get me." In the end, Brooks persevered and continued to make movies -- from send-ups such as Spaceballs and the fart-filled Blazing Saddles , to more serious fare that doesn't even bear his name for fear of alienating the audience. "I am an artist!" says Brooks in answer to a query about his comfort level with the term. "I was always an artist. I am a great artist, a profoundly talented artist," he says, chuckling with a sweet dollop of self-effacement. "But I did have to jump back from my own name when I was producing movies such as Frances , the movie about Frances Farmer (starring Jessica Lange) and The Elephant Man , or The Fly with Jeff Goldblum, or My Favorite Year with Peter O'Toole. I produced all of those movies, but my name is not on them because the Pavlovian response would have been: 'Oh, The Elephant Man -- that sounds funny!'" Brooks doesn't mind hidden chapters of his creative output. He says it keeps things Kosher -- comedy and drama served on separate plates. "I had a long talk with John Hurt about it and he said they should all go to hell, and that I should write and direct the picture ( Elephant Man ). But I found a director, a pretty talented guy named David