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12 Angry Facts About MADtv, SNL's Wilder, Louder, Messier Little Brother

The year was 1995. Saturday Night Live had wrapped up its 20th season with a whimper, with fans and critics alike speculating that the king of late-night sketch comedy was in the middle of a creative slump. There existed a power vacuum in that time slot, and when October came around, so did a vibrant, garish, crass menagerie of sketch comedy misfits, rejects, and hellraisers bearing the name “MAD” and donning a red-haired, grinning, gap-toothed mascot as their symbol.

Some of you may not know, but MADtv was born from MAD magazine. And some of you really might not know that Cracked.com was also born from Cracked magazine, itself a second-banana to MAD magazine. We’ve all come a long way.

Anyway, the original MADtv lasted 14 seasons before cancellation, with a 20th anniversary special and a rebooted 15th season coming years later. Here are some entries from MADtv’s tumultuous history in the shadow of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

12

The Kardashians hosted one of the final episodes of MADtv CRACKED.COM All of them. At once. With only six episodes to go before the show's initial cancellation, season 14 featured Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kris, and Caitlin competing against Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers in Family Feud. MADtv really did bookend their 14 year run with guest appearances from people made famous by O.J. Simpson.

Source: IMDB

11

Only two actors appeared in both MADtv and SNL Feedpo ORK MIC CRACKED.COM ACULA The only two comedians to become cast members on both MADtv and SNL were Jeff Richards and Taran Killam. Despite the success of MADtv's illustrious alumni, Richards and Killam were the only ones who managed to jump ship and join MAD's arch nemesis, not counting Keegan-Michael Key, who hosted an episode of SNL in May 2021.

Source: Vulture

10

Family Guy was supposed to be a series of shorts on MADtv CRACKED.COM Similar to how The Simpsons began on The Tracy Ullman Show, Family Guy was originally pitched to Fox as a series of animated shorts for MADtv. Ultimately, MAD didn't have the budget for the animation, so the network decided to give Seth MacFarlane his own time slot. Fitting that the wild little brother of SNL almost launched the wild little brother of The Simpsons.

Source: IGN

9

Ms. Swan was a BE Skywalker CRACKED.COM Not really, but Mark Hamill did guest star as the tough-talking father of Ms. Swan, Alex Borstein's popular character who has since aged like fine milk. Though overally racial charicatures have deservedly fallen out of style, Ms. Swan appeared in a whopping 41 sketches during Borstein's twelve year run on the show. Hamill's appearance included this exchange between Ms. Swan and Luke Skywalker: Remember, I am your father! Oh come on, get over it.

Source: IMDB

8

SNL tried to poach Jordan Peele, but MADtv refused CRACKED COM Jordan Peele was an undeniable talent-- which is why MADtv denied his request to be released from his contract when Lorne Michaels came calling. Peele remained resentful over the incident, later saying that he was upset with MAD producers for using my fate as chess pieces. While his comedy partner Keegan-Michael Key returned for the 20th anniversary reunion special, Peele was a notable no-show.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

7

MADtv invented the iPad... sort of CRACKED.COM Five years before Apple would launch their tablet, MADtv aimed its sights at the tech giant with their indentically titled sketch iPad, a sketch about a sanitary pad that lets users hook up your Apple to your peach!

Source: MADtv

6

Patton Oswalt was the first member of the BE writing staff CRACKED.COM Emmy-winning comic Patton Oswalt had this to say about his time at MADtv: I was at the height of my self-righteousness, as far as comedy and pushing the edge goes. A perfect fit for the show branding itself as the boundary pushing, iconoclastic wild child of sketch comedy, Patton brought his sharpness to the writer's room int eh first season with his sketch Gump Fiction, a violently heartwarming mash-up of Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction with cast member Phil Lamarr reprising his role as Marvin.

Source: KPCC

5

Darrell from Can / Have Your Number? B was a woman CRACKED.COM One of the most incessantly quoted sketches of MADtv's 15 season run, Can I have your number? starred Nicole Randall Johnson as the equally incessant and believably male Darrell, a moviegoing ladies' man and back-of-your-head enthusiast. Johnson would last just two seasons on MADtv, but she later reunited with co-stars Key and Peele on their eponymous TV show, appearing as Michelle Obama's anger translator.

Source: Fusion

4

Key and Peele were pitted against each BE other in their audition GY Av Awards CRACKED.COM As ludicrous as it sounds, MADtv producers were originally only interested in Key or Peele. The Chicago-based comedians were brought in to audition for a single spot, and it was only once producers saw the duo's synchronicity that they decided to make room for both of the show's decorated alumni. Said Keegan-Michael Key, I think that what happened is that they saw that we worked really hard and that we wouldn't stop working until something is perfect.

Source: Onward State

3

Kato Kaelin guest starred in the first BE season-- twice CRACKED.COM Just 11 days after the verdict of the O.J. Simpson murder trial, star witness Kato Kaelin starred as himself in MADtv's series premiere. It was a joke so nice they told it twice, as Kaelin would return for the second episode before departing to do a cameo on Mr. Show. This would not be the last time MADtv invited a guest star of O.J. fame.

Source: Vanity Fair

2

Record mogul Quincy Jones created BE and produced MADtv CRACKED.COM Following Gaines' death in 1992, the music monolith and father to Rashida purchased the television rights through his production company QDE which, at the time, was enjoying the success of Jones' first venture into comedy programming, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Source: IMDB

1

MAD founder William Gaines hated TV GRACKED.COM MAD creator and amateur Alan Moore impersonator Bill Gaines despised television, and he staunchly refused to develop his brainchild into a TV show. But, like print media itself, Bill Gaines eventually passed away, allowing publisher ЕС Comics to sell the TV rights before poor Bill was even cold.

Source: Vulture

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