Anybody in here ever watched Mad TV on Fox?  Its now in its ninth season and in the last few years has just gotten horrible and quite unfunny.  But during its first two seasons from 1995-97 I thought it was the funniest show on TV and was actually better than its NBC rival SNL, which I had stopped watching in '95 after Sandler and Farley and the cast that I had liked all left the show.   I consider 1995-97 to be Mad TV's "golden age" just like 1990-95 were SNL's "golden age" in my opinion.  Back then you had original cast members like Orlando Jones, Phil Lamar, and Nicole Sullivan rather than Mo Collins and Michael McDonald, who I think are just annoying.  I also can remember when they used to have animated shorts from Mad magazine like Spy Vs. Spy and they did parodies of movies like "Gump Fiction" and "Apollo the 13th".  The funniest thing I remember from those first few seasons have gotta be the rather twisted claymated parodies of animated kids shows like Gumby and the Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer; I still laugh my ass off thinking about those.

I don't watch the show much now but when I do see it I think about how they either need to get some new writers and cast members or put it out of its misery and cancel it.  The characters they have on now like Swan the foreign lady and the kid Stuart are repeative and annoying and the cast members are untalented and hardly funny.  I can remember back in the good  ol' days of the mid '90s on Mondays at school talking with my friend about the claymated parodies and the Spy Vs. Spys that they showed that Saturday.  Anyone else agree with me that Mad TV is not what it used to be? :(

I agree. Though Comsedy Central sometimes air Mad TV epiodes, but mostly from the last 4 seasons.  :-/
And Comedy Central should are the show chronicologicly.

Some of my favorite characters/parodies: Vancom Lady, Antonia,  the Spice Girls hunt, the Gumby parody, The UPS guy, the Alanis Morrissette parody, Budweuser frogs parody, to name a few.

i used to watch it when it first came out, after a while i stopped watching, then i was checkin it out one time, and im like "what happened to phil lamar?" later i turned back again and nicole sullivan had left too. I've watched some of the old episodes on Comedy Central.

I still watch it nowadays.I think it's gone hardcore these days.trying to slip in some cuss words,vulgarity,girl stuff,etc..But overall,I like the show.My favorite is Will Sasso.


Howard

I remember this sketch on Mad TV about 8 or 9 years ago where these 3 black cast members did an updated version of the Three Stooges as modern-day urban gang-bangers. They did an outstanding job of impersonating the original Stooges, and the situation that they were in and how they dealt with it almost made me pee my pants I was laughing so hard. They went into an office where a menacing-looking gang leader recruited them to carry out a hit on a rival drug kingpin. And of course Moe was like, "Right, boss," and, "Come on, you knuckleheads..." So they went to this mansion where said kingpin (played by David Faustino--Bud Bundy from "Married With Children") was hosting an extravagant party. And whereas the original Stooges would stumble into some high-society affair and completely wreck it by getting into a free-for-all with bags of flour, these updated Stooges came upon a table full of their rival's drug supply and started hurling bags of COCAINE at the unsuspecting partygoers. That was the funniest thing I ever saw on Mad TV.  ;D ;D ;D

Did anyone see the one where Will Sasso played Steven Segal and he was telling everyone to vote? :D


Howard

I also enjoyed the first couple of years of MAD TV, as a long time fan of the magazine I really enjoyed the way they adapted alot of the magazines style into the show. but I agree that lately they have gone the way of SNL and decided to drop everything they did that was unique and rehash everything that is already being done. even going so far as to always have some kind of guest on the show.

just like 'Fridays" and "SCTV" were good when they first started. Im actually surprised that MAD TV has continued to air. LOL

as for SNL. I did enjoy the early 90s cast alot, but I dont think any cast will ever be able to top the original 'Not Ready for Prime Time Players' from the first 2 seasons.
Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner.

How about the one where Will Sasso played The Rock and the Rock's T-Shirt?  ;D


Howard