I had forgotten how much Mad magazine influenced me as a kid. I had read their parody of Brian’s Song before seeing the film, and my roommates were horrified when I broke out laughing during the scene in the hospital - it was difficult to explain that all I could see was the doctors huddling behind sandbags waiting for the explosives they’d packed up James Caan’s ass to cure his terminal hemmorroids to go off.
I also never see a night scene with wet streets without flashing back to the guy hosing down the street wearing a “Official Making The Street Look Like It Just Rained Co.” jumpsuit, or hear thunder without thinking that Ka-Tack, Ka-Tack, BALOOOM!!! was the best sound effect I’d ever read. That magazine was great!