Mad TV

''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by '' Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reunion show in 2015 to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the series, one more eight-episode season was produced and broadcast on The CW in 2016.

Development

William Gaines, who owned EC Comics and published the American humor magazine '' Mad'' from 1950 until his death in 1992, refused to sell the rights to the magazine as he despised television. In 1995, following Gaines's death three years prior, EC Comics sold the rights to ''Mad'' to Quincy Jones-David Salzman Entertainment (QDE), which was owned by record producer Quincy Jones and television producer David Salzman.

Fax Bahr and Adam Small began working as staff writers on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'' in 1992 after David Alan Grier informed Bahr that showrunner Keenen Ivory Wayans had fired the show's whole staff. Two years later, Bahr and Small co-created ''Mad TV'' alongside QDE. The series began with 12 writers, including Patton Oswalt, Blaine Capatch, and various writers from ''The Ben Stiller Show'', as well as a diverse cast of actors: Debra Wilson, Nicole Sullivan, Phil LaMarr, Artie Lange, Craig Anton, Mary Scheer, Bryan Callen, Orlando Jones, and David Herman. Its pilot episode premiered on October 14, 1995 at 11 p.m. on Fox. The network liked the pilot and soon ordered 12 episodes for its first season, which was heavily inspired by the eponymous magazine. It was pre-taped and contained a combination of short live-action sketches, movie parodies, and animated sketches, with ''Spy vs. Spy'' bumpers appearing in each episode.

As the series went on, ''Mad TV'' became focused on character- and pop culture-based sketches, which were often parodies of popular films, TV series, and music videos. According to casting director Nicole Garcia, the series "skewed a little more urban". Sketches often featured celebrity impressions, and infrequently contained political satire. After ''Mad TV''s first season, Fox rarely promoted the series and frequently made budget cuts, with cast and crew members such as Wilson and Bahr referring to the series as the "redheaded stepchild" of Fox. ''The Hollywood Reporter''s James Hibbard wrote prior to its cancellation that ''Mad TV'' had been "like a distant cousin of ox'sother programming" during its runtime; David Nevins, Fox's former executive vice president of programming, attributed the lack of promotion for the show to Fox focusing on advertising its new prime time series instead. Fox executives often shot down sketch ideas that were viewed admirably by the staff writers, who wanted the show to be "edgy".

''Mad TV'' was partially designed to compete with fellow late-night sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', which, upon ''Mad TV''s debut, was having one of its most critically-derided periods. In a review of ''Mad TV''s pilot, the ''Orlando Sentinel'' called ''SNL'' "a corpse trying to reanimate itself" while praising ''Mad TV'' as "promising". Another review of ''Mad TV''s pilot in the Hartford Courant by James Endrst read, "''Saturday Night Live'' has become so old and so pathetic that criticizing it is almost as boring as watching it... Unlike ''Saturday Night Live'', ''Mad TV'' is not live and only occasionally terrible." However, ''SNL'' quickly bounced back and ''Mad TV'' typically trailed behind the show in ratings. ''Mad TV'' was particularly popular among teenage viewers, who, according to Fox executives, watched the show more than ''SNL'' by 2001.

In November 2008, Fox confirmed that ''Mad TV''s 326th episode during its shortened 14th season would be its last, telling Salzman that the show was too expensive considering its ratings and time slot. By this point, the series was averaging 2.6 million viewers, which was a 6 percent decrease from the previous year, and was the fourth longest-running Fox series ever after ''The Simpsons'', '' Cops'', and ''America's Most Wanted''. David Salzman said that he would be exploring the continuation of the show on another channel, possibly cable. In early 2009, the show was moved to air after '' Talkshow with Spike Feresten'', the show that normally followed ''MADtv'', as a test, before being moved back. The series finale aired on May 16, 2009.

Broadcast

''Mad TV'' was broadcast every Saturday at 11 p.m. on Fox until its final episode in 2009. Comedy Central also aired reruns of the series until 2008, when its deal with the series ran up.

Revivals

''Mad TV'' had a one-hour-long 20th anniversary reunion special, titled ''MADtv 20th Anniversary Reunion'', executive produced by Salzman, directed by Bruce Leddy, and produced by Telepictures and Epicenter Ventures, which aired on The CW on January 12, 2016 and garnered 1.7 million viewers. Its plot involved 19 returning cast members going to an awards show where things go awry. A reboot of the series, which was executive produced by Salzman, John R. Montgomery, and Mark Teitelbaum, premiered on The CW on July 26, 2016. The show's 15th season, it ran for eight hour-long episodes and starred eight new cast members: Carlie Craig, Chelsea Davison, Jeremy D. Howard, Amir K, Lyric Lewis, Piotr Michael, Michelle Ortiz and Adam Ray. Various original cast members, including Sullivan, Sasso, Lee, Barinholtz, and Wilson, made cameos. The reboot placed a greater emphasis on political comedy than its predecessor and included parodies of politicians such as Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.

The reboot received mostly negative reviews from critics. Ray Rahman of ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote that it was "inconsistent and lack dany urgency" while "fail ngto justify its existence", calling its humor "not just lame, but also stale". Aisha Harris of ''Slate'' similarly wrote, "In its new, blander incarnation, it’s hard to imagine why ''MadTV'' needs to exist at all." '' IGN''s Jesse Schedeen gave the revival a score of 3.2 out of a 10, writing that it had a "simplistic, toothless brand of humor" and failed "to recapture any of the show's old spark". ''The Guardian''s Brian Moylan praised the diversity of the new cast but wrote that it was mostly not funny, while Common Sense Media's Melissa Camacho gave it three out of five stars and wrote, "Fans of the original show will find it funny, but its irreverent humor isn't for everyone."

Cast members

Episodes

Reception

''Rolling Stone'' placed ''Mad TV'' on their list of the greatest sketch comedy TV series of all time at number 32 and wrote that the series was "beholden to no one and often about as subtle as Artie Lange laughing at a fart", describing it as a "ceaseless roast".

''Mad TV'' has frequently been compared to ''Saturday Night Live''. ''Rolling Stone'' described ''Mad TV'' as a "more cultish weekend cousin to ''Saturday Night Live'' aimed squarely at teens", while '' IGN'' called ''Mad TV'' "the young, scrappy upstart to ''SNL''s elder statesman brand of sketch comedy". Luke Winkie of ''Vulture'' wrote that, despite not having the "the live kinetic energy" or "the all-star glitz" of ''SNL'', "most children of the '90s have a special place in our hearts for ''MADtv''". Various cast and crew members later stated that ''Mad TV'' lacked the "cool factor" and "hipness" that ''SNL'' had, but noted that it instead appealed more to "the average person" and to middle class people of color. Ginia Bellafante wrote in 1996 that ''Mad TV'' had a "more balanced cast" than ''SNL'' and "an edginess that Lorne Michaels' once revolutionary show has long lacked". Salzman stated that ''Mad TV''s racially diverse cast and "urban sensibility" set it apart from ''SNL''.

Awards and nominations

See also

* ''Mad'' (TV series)
* ''Key & Peele''

References

External links

*
An Oral History of ''MAD tv''
at Vulture

{{The CW programming

1990s American late-night television series
1990s American satirical television series
1990s American sketch comedy television series
1990s American surreal comedy television series
1990s American variety television series
1995 American television series debuts
2016 American television series debuts
2016 American television series endings
1990s American parody television series
American television series with live action and animation
The CW original programming
English-language television shows
Fox late-night programming
Mad (magazine)
American television series revived after cancellation
Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series
Television shows based on DC Comics
Television shows based on magazines
Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Television series by Telepictures