I’ll catch MAD TV on Comedy Central now and again. There’s quite a few sketches featuring their interpretation of Kenny Rogers as a fat, stupid slob.
What’s up with that?
Off to Cafe Society.
Cajun Man
for the SDMB
He slimmed down substantially lately on a low-carb diet and had a bit of cosmetic surgery as well (recent photo), but he was (and also recently fathered twins at the age of 65), but he was pretty chubby for a while. He was never anywhere near as fat as Will Sasso, the actor who played him on MAD TV, but then Sasso isn’t nearly as big as he used to be either (recent photo ). The character was basically a way Over the Top impersonation that took on a life of its own (and I have to admit the Kenny Rogers Jackass! sketch damned near killed me) sort of like Billy Crystal’s Fernando Lamas imitation or Dana Carvey’s George Michael on SNL.
I don’t think Kenny’s ever been a slob or obnoxious- that was all Sasso. Since Kenny guested on the show he apparently didn’t mind it too much and saw it as what it was- funny and free publicity (really good for a guy who’s had major career ups and downs and financial troubles in recent years).
Congrats to Kenny, incidentally- he and (the fifth? sixth?) Mrs. Rogers had identical twin boys last week. (He’s 66, she’s not… though she is an identical twin herself.)
IIRC, Kenny’s had some drug abuse problems in the recent past.