Are you watching the same show I am? I don’t catch Mad TV every week, but every time I do I see a sketch with Stewie. Same with Ms. Swan before Alex Borstein left. And I can’t stand either of them.
That said, SNL definitely relies too heavily on recurring characters as well.
I can’t remember the last time I laughed at a sketch outside the news segments in SNL. The jokes are all pretty lame, and rarely clever. MadTV is a lot funnier–there are usually a few funny parts in every episode. I loved the Vancome lady and Ms Swan, and that shopping lady who picks up items and says “isn’t that cuute?? AUGGHHH” but never actually makes up her mind to purchase the item. I usually watch MadTV and switch to SNL every once in a while.
I don’t know how people get any satisfaction or laughs out of SNL. I hate that show. The kids in my neighbourhood could put on a better show!
On the other hand, Mad is great. I am sick of some of the recurring characters, though (like Ms Swan and Bunifa Latifa Whatever Whatever Jackson.)
Hmm…well, on one hand, Mad TV usually has funnier sketchs…on the other hand, SNL has Tina Fey…but on the other hand, it usually only has Tina for about 10 minutes an episode, but I still gotta watch to see if she’ll make a rare outside-of-WU appearance. I think that Mad TV is funnier, but SNL is better. I do what probably most of America does - watches Mad TV for the first half hour and then switch over to SNL. I should really stop doing that, when I watch reruns on TNN I find Mad TV to be very funny, even during the 2nd half hour when nobody’s watching.
I also have to keep flipping over to ABC after Weekend Update, which has started showing The Larry Sanders Show in Chicago. I can’t quite figure out the start time, though. Sometime after 11 CST.