...seriously? I'll admit, I haven't watched it in a while, so maybe it's gotten better - but I've yet to see one sketch I found funny. But it's been on for freakin' 14 seasons!! ...so someone likes is.
...seriously? I'll admit, I haven't watched it in a while, so maybe it's gotten better - but I've yet to see one sketch I found funny. But it's been on for freakin' 14 seasons!! ...so someone likes is.
Honestly i used to like in a rebelious kind of way i felt like everybody liked SNL i will go the other way.
Now pretty much i like performers on the show but not the show its self
·'No, you're wrong Shmee. They're not bad people. They love me. They don't really mean it when they tell me to get kidnapped.'
'sokay.
I really dug the first and second season when I was 14 and 15, respectively. But at the time, I was 14 and 15.. Not coincidentally my favorite sketch from those years turned out to be a Patton Oswalt original..
I'll watch reruns on Comedy Central when there's nothing else to do. Most of it doesn't make me laugh too much, but it's amusing enough when you're sitting at home bored. They have some funny one-off sketches, but I gotta say 99% of the recurring characters/sketches are just plain horrible, and they seem to have the most obnoxious studio audience I've ever heard (esp in the older episodes, not sure about the newer eps), they cheer and whoop at the slightest reference to sex or drugs. And they go out of their minds when Ms Swan or Stuart enters a sketch... I seriously think that's gotta be canned laughter/applause.. can anyone really be that excited for Stuart?
I will say some of the newer episodes I've seen don't seem as bad and the recent cast is a lot less obnoxious, I particularly like Crista Flanagan and Keegan-Michael Key, who have been funny in other things as well. There's also a blonde chick on the show right now (can't remember her name) who kinda reminds me of Amy Poehler. And I'm glad to hear they're getting LA alt comics this year like Matt Braunger and Eric Price.
Last edited by mueXog; September 13, 2008 at 2:18 AM.
no.
I've tried to watch it several times and each time there was a funny sketch, it was quickly followed by a Stuart sketch, which inspired me to dig out my own eyes with my fingernails.
I'll be giving it another go this season, thanks to the addition of people like Braunger. But if they were inclined to start the season off with somebody just shooting Stuart in the face, I would be a very happy viewer. No speaking, no explanation, nothing: just Stuart looking at the camera, then somebody walks in front of him and fires away.
There's always potential there, and somebody is smart enough to look for good people to be on the thing. But for whatever reason, the model they've followed in writing and creating the show has led it down a very mediocre path.
And yeah, that studio reaction has GOT to be canned. Nobody in their right mind would be that psyched to see Ms. Swan or Stuart. Unless it was the aforementioned face shooting.
I haven't seen the show in several years, but it's funny whenever I hear it mentioned in conversation because people always begin with "I don't think MadTV is funny, but there was this one sketch..."
How sad is it that a sketch show must have that qualifier before anyone ever admits to semi-enjoyment of it?
I don't think MadTV is funny. End of sentence.
Holy shit NO!
No.Originally Posted by Phil
My momma had twin babies on one sweet summer day;
She beat one in the head, and I'm the one that got away.
I don't think MadTV is funny, but I defy you to point out an instance of a comedy audience NOT whooping and hollering at sex and drugs. Or at least at any mention of pot. Has it ever happened?
I have very rarely found the show funny but I will admit this was a very funny premise although it suffered a little from the heavy handed execution.
I've always disliked MadTV, and I'm disappointed in myself for laughing at that IRack video.
Michael McDonald is no longer on the show, so you don't have to worry about seeing Stuart anymore. Unfortunately, Bobby Lee is returning this season, but I've found if you just fast-forward through any of his sketches, the show is surprisingly watchable now.
Crista Flanagan is great. She single-handedly made "Disaster Movie" worth watching (well, almost). She really does "woman having a nervous breakdown" extremely well. Check out this character she does; it's a great piece of anti-comedy and really, almost too good for "MAD TV":
The bulk of the show is still mostly pop culture parodies of things no sane person would ever watch, like "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" or "Girlicious", but when they do stand-alone sketches that aren't a direct parody of anything, some of them can be pretty funny. I like this one a lot (and again, it features Crista):
The blonde girl who's on the show now is Arden Myrin , who has been around a while; I remember her from the sitcom "Working" with Dana Gould (Remember that show? I used to like that show).
The run of shows that aired following the strike earlier this year were probably among the least obnoxious and funniest episodes of "Mad TV" I've ever seen; hopefully they'll continue that streak with next season.
Maybe I'm an immature retard, but this made me laugh.
I liked this one too. What can I say, I'm a sucker for job interview sketches.
Here's another funny sketch with Crista Flanagan
I remember a sketch with Michael McDonald playing Bob Ross that was pretty funny.
Does the show have anything to do with MAD Magazine? Do you see the lighter side of anything? Does a spy take on another spy? I guess you can't fold in your TV set, so there goes that feature.
EDIT: To answer my own darn question, here are a bunch of Spy vs. Spy animated shorts from MAD TV. Man did I love this strip as a kid.
Last edited by Ian Brill; September 13, 2008 at 5:23 PM.
Speaking as someone from the inside looking out...
I was never the hugest fan, but in years past I've seen a bunch of things that have made me laugh on the show. Kenny Roger's Jackass is an example. At this point (the way I see it), their bread and butter (pop culture reference) oftentimes gets in the way of the original stand-alone sketches. For every "holy crap what a great weird idea" sketch there has to be a "let's parody this thing in the entertainment news" piece. Or three. That's just how it is with Mad. Can't speak for how it was, but as for now, the cast and writers are amazing. A lot of the writers come from the UCB and Second City, and the stuff they've been pitching and writing is great.
With this new, shortened season, I think they're taking some real chances. I've got two sketches in there so far and they're based on nothing but my weirdo act. Also, the commercial parodies they've made are especially good, I think.
From the horror stories I've been told, there was a crapload of tension with certain past cast members. There's really none now. We all collaborate on anything we're involved in. Just last week we taped a sketch that drew near boos with a racist character, but Keegan-Michael Key, Crista Flanagan, and I improv-ed our way out of the hole and won everybody back.
I seriously think the budget problems, if anything, have helped. There's more of a "Well, what do you think we should do here?" element to it with everybody contributing.
I mean, I really have no idea how it's all going to look come tonight. Some of the things we shot aren't my personal cup of tea, but that's why I have PFT and Patton in my ipod. I read and post on AST because I enjoy intelligent, smart comedy and bust my ass to try to make some of my own. Mad has its flaws, granted, but just the fact that I was given so much room to play has been amazing.
Jesus! What a rambling, shambling post. Anyway, all the best and congrats to Iso.
Best,
M
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