The third season of ''

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 twentie ...

'', an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on the

Fox Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

between September 20, 1997, and May 16, 1998.

Season summary

At the start of season three, one fourth of the original cast (

Bryan Callen Bryan Callen (born January 26, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and podcaster. He studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Callen initiated his career as one of the original cast members on the sketch comedy serie ...

Orlando Jones Orlando Jones (born April 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series ''MADtv'', for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002, and for his role a ...

and

Artie Lange Artie is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Arthur. Notable people with the given name include: People * Artie Bettles (1891–1971), Australian rules footballer * Artie Butler (born 1942), American popular music arranger, songwriter ...

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

due to his cocaine addiction] and featured player Pablo Francisco) was replaced by newcomers Alex Borstein (who would later do voicework and writing work on FOX's ''Family Guy'' and have a supporting role on ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''), Chris Hogan (actor), Chris Hogan,

Pat Kilbane Patrick F. Kilbane (born November 5, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter best known for his three seasons as a cast member on ''MADtv'' (1997–2000), as well his memorable appearance in the 1996 ''"The Bizarro Jerry"'' epis ...

Lisa Kushell Lisa Arch ( Kushell; born November 23, 1971) is an American actress and comedian, known for her recurring role on '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'' as Cassie with wife of Larry's cousin, Andy, her roles in the 1997–98 season of the FOX Network comedy ...

Will Sasso Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wil ...

, and Aries Spears. This was the last season to feature original cast members David Herman (who went on to do voice acting work and appear in such Mike Judge projects as ''King of the Hill'' and ''Idiocracy'') and

Mary Scheer Mary Scheer (born March 19, 1963) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer, who is best known for her work throughout television. She had recurring roles as Marissa Benson on the Nickelodeon-sitcom ''iCarly,'' and as Gladys o ...

(who quit show business temporarily to be a full-time mother). This was the last season Fax Bahr and Adam Small would produce ''Mad TV'' with

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

and David Salzman, although Barr and Small are still credited as "executive consultants". They went on to create '' Blue Collar TV'', a similar sketch show that ran from 2004 to 2006 on the WB. This was the last season

Alfred E. Neuman Alfred E. Neuman is the fictitious mascot and cover boy of the American humor magazine '' Mad''. The character's distinct smiling face, parted red hair, gap-tooth smile, freckles, protruding nose, and scrawny body, first emerged in U.S. iconog ...

and the bomb sequence was seen in the opening credits. However, Neuman's image still appeared on the ''Mad TV'' stage in the fourth season. There were reruns of

Spy vs. Spy ''Spy vs. Spy'' is a wordless comic strip published in '' Mad'' magazine. It features two agents involved in stereotypical and comical espionage activities. One is dressed in white, and the other in black, but they are otherwise identical, and ...

and Don Martin cartoon shorts in this season as well as the fourth and fifth seasons since the last episodes starring them were in the second season. Spy vs Spy pictures were appeared on cameo idle on this season. This was the first season in which ''Mad TV'' showed "classics", i.e. reruns of sketches from previous seasons.

Opening montage

The title sequence begins with several fingers pointing at a bomb. Then the bomb explodes and a picture of Alfred E. Neuman and a brain appears on a purple screen followed by the ''Mad TV'' logo. The theme song, which is performed by the hip-hop group

Heavy D & the Boyz Dwight Arrington MyersCuda, Heidi Sigmund Keeping it reel. ''Vibe'' ("born Dwight Arrington Myers")Samuels, Anita M. (January 12' 1996)Heavy D, the C.E.O. ''New York Times'' (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Heav ...

, begins. Cast members are introduced alphabetically with their names appearing in caption over black-and-white still photos of them. When the last cast member is introduced, the music stops and the title sequence ends with the phrase "You are now watching ''Mad TV''."

Cast

;Repertory cast members * Alex Borstein* (20/25 episodes) * David Herman (4/25 episodes; last episode: November 1, 1997) * Chris Hogan (actor), Chris Hogan * (23/25 episodes) *

* (25/25 episodes) *

Phil LaMarr Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include J ...

(25/25 episodes) *

(17/25 episodes) * Aries Spears (24/25 episodes) *

Nicole Sullivan Nicole Sullivan (born April 21, 1970) is an American actress and comedian best known for her six seasons (1995–2001) on the sketch comedy series '' MADtv''. She also played Holly Shumpert in five seasons (2001–2005, 2007) of the CBS sitcom ...

(25/25 episodes) *

Debra Wilson Debra Wilson, also known as Debra Wilson Skelton or Debra Skelton, is an American actress and comedian. She is known for being the longest-serving original cast member on the sketch comedy series '' Mad TV'', having appeared on the show's fir ...

(24/25 episodes) ;Featured cast members *

Craig Anton Craig Ward Anton (born August 28, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Mr. Pettus in ''Lizzie McGuire'' and Lloyd Diffy in '' Phil of the Future''. Early life Anton was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, ...

* Tim Conlon ''* Performer was a featured cast member at the start of the season, but was promoted to repertory status mid-season.''

Writers

* Fax Bahr (eps. 1-25) * Garry Campbell (eps. 1-25) *

Blaine Capatch Blaine Harold Capatch (born September 19, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and writer. He is best known for hosting Season 2 of the Comedy Central game show ''Beat the Geeks''. Capatch was born in York, Pennsylvania, to Jean and Harold C ...

(eps. 1-25) *

Lauren Dombrowski Lauren may be a given name or surname.The name's meaning may be "laurel tree", "sweet of honor", or "wisdom". It is derived from the French name Laurence, a feminine version of Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Roman surname Laurentius. ...

(eps. 1-25) *

Chris Finn Chris Finn is a Canadian stand-up comedian and comedy writer. Finn was raised in Ottawa, Ontario. He has written for several television shows, including MAD TV''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', ''Talking to Americans'', '' The Rick Mercer Report'' a ...

(eps. 20, 25) *

Spencer Green Spencer may refer to: People *Spencer (surname) **Spencer family, British aristocratic family ** List of people with surname Spencer * Spencer (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia *Spencer, New ...

(eps. 1-25) * Brian Hartt (writing supervisor) (eps. 1-25) * Jordan Hawley (ep. 23) (Season 01 Encore) * Torian Hughes (eps. 7, 12-25) *Scott King (eps. 1-25) * Lanier Laney (eps. 1-25) *

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

(ep. 18) (Season 02 Encore) * Aaron Michael Peters (eps. 8, 17, 22) * Wiley Roberts (eps. 1-11) * David Rotman (eps. 9, 15) *Michael Short (creative consultant) (eps. 1-25) *Adam Small (eps. 1-25) *

(ep. 13) *

Terry Sweeney Terry Sweeney is an American artist, actor, and writer. He was a writer and cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1980s, co-wrote the 1989 film '' Shag'', and has written for the television ''series MADtv'', '' Hype'', and ''Tripping the ...

(eps. 1-25) *

Mary Elizabeth Williams Mary Elizabeth Williams is an American writer and commentator. She is a staff writer for the online magazine ''Salon''. She has also written for ''The New York Times'', ''The Nation'', and other publications. As a commentator, she has made appeara ...

(eps. 1-11, 13-25)

Episodes

Home releases

Shout! Factory released the third season on DVD on June 25, 2013. On the HBO Max release, episodes 1, 4, 9, 11, and 22 are missing.

External links

''Mad TV'' - Official Website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mad TV (Season 3) 03 1997 American television seasons 1998 American television seasons