# What was Comedy Central thinking? Mad TV sucks. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132 "2004-04-04T02:44:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/1 "2004-04-04T02:44:35Z")
I know it’s been three months now that Mad TV has been on Comedy Central, but I’ve been meaning to post something like this for a while. I admit that I haven’t watched an entire episode since it started, but from the skits that I’ve seen, and the endless promos CC runs, I have never seen anything that has made me laugh. I can only guess that CC’s contract with syndicated SNL episodes ran out; is there a reason CC didn’t renew? Does anyone know if Mad TV is getting bad ratings? When SNL was being run, it was better than nothing, and I could always have that on just as background noise. Is this a ploy to get me to use my time more productively? I can’t even tolerate having Mad on in the background. There aren’t any funny characters. The re-occuring characters that Mad does have aren’t funny. I have no idea how something like this stays on the air. I know SNL has been running on fumes for the last couple years (decades), but there is a funny skit every once in a while. Someone please tell me there is a good reason that Mad TV replaced SNL. ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/2 "2004-04-04T03:00:34Z")
I was going to start a similar thread but have been too lazy to do so. I don’t mind Mad TV so much, it has its moments. My gripe is that it is shown so much throughout the day. I burnt out on Comedy Central’s constant airing of SNL. Now they are giving us Mad TV overload. And I think I actually burnt out on that show on New Years Day or whenever they had the marathon to introduce the show on the channel. Let’s have a bit more variety besides just late at night. On a side bar, the marathon priviews are an irritation to me on TV Land too. They’ll show a “new” show all weekend long, then start it in a regular time slot. Well after the saturation of the weekend marathon, I find that when I turn on the show later, I don’t enjoy it as much as I have already just seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/3 "2004-04-04T03:04:37Z")
They also seem to be showing the same dozen shows. C’mon CC, the show’s been on for nine years and has over 200 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/4 "2004-04-04T04:09:48Z")
I find myself actively missing SNL. It’s odd and disconcerting. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/5 "2004-04-04T04:39:46Z")
And the Stargate episodes? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/6 "2004-04-04T04:41:49Z")
They need to show Reno 911, Chapelle’s Show and South Park more often. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/7 "2004-04-04T04:53:35Z")
Yeah, MAD seems to be a few rungs below SNL. As bad as SNL is with idiotic repeating characters, MAD seems to do it with almost every damn sketch. That’s just lazy writing, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/8 "2004-04-04T07:06:31Z")
Its hard to beat the Terminator sketch where he goes back in time to save Jesus. After I saw that sketch I decided to give Mad TV a second chance. Haven’t watched it much though. I don’t blame CC’s decision, SNL has, in the past few years, had a mini peak and now as everyone funny is leaving they are bottoming out. ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/9 "2004-04-04T07:56:08Z")
I rather like Mad TV. I simply prefer their repeat characters that repeat the same catchphrases to SNL’s repeat characters who repeat the same catchphrases. Reoccuring characters are just about always annoying, but I found SNLs to be unbearable at times. I’ll be damned if I have to listen to Chris Katans “gibberish speaking guy” character as background music ever again. Bleh. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/10 "2004-04-04T13:14:23Z")
I agree, but that Mad TV sucks. But so did SNL that they ran incessantly forever. I love the idea of a CC, but feel that the implementation is flawed, since they don’t seem to have enough money to run fresh material regularly. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/11 "2004-04-04T13:25:39Z")
Be grateful. You could be in Australia watching **Skithouse** (Missed by one letter) one of the least funny things I have ever seen. I recently told friends that it was so predictable that I could see every joke coming. We sat around one night and taped the show without watching it. We then played the tape and stopped each “joke” before the punchline. We were able to predict the punchline of nearly every skit. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/12 "2004-04-04T14:15:11Z")
I’ve only seen one funny Mad TV skit. Will Sasso was doing a hilarious Steven Segal impression where all he did was run around snapping necks on the movie set. Then he snapped the camera guy’s neck, and the director’s neck, and every neck on his way out the studio. But everything else on that show sucks. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/13 "2004-04-04T14:31:50Z")
New episodes of MadTV on Fox within the last year or so have been hysterical for the most part. I think that is the reason behind CC’s move. However, MadTV’s current quality is more or less a complete departure from their earlier episodes, which were ghastly. That’s what’s available for syndication, apparently, and that’s what CC ended up with. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/14 "2004-04-04T14:40:46Z")
I’m going to disagree with the majority. I like _MadTV_. One thing I noticed though, is that they sometimes slip things in that people wouldn’t catch unless they were somewhat familiar with the L.A. area. I can’t think of any right now, except for the Kappa Kappa Kappa sketches set at USC – or “University of Spoiled Children” as some call it. 😉 But they have done other things, and I’ve asked myself if anyone outside of L.A. would get it. (Incidentally, the KKK sketches are among my least favourite.) I strted watching the show when it was first broadcast. After a couple/few seasons I became distracted and was not diligent in catching the shows. Eventually I sort of forgot about it. Now that it’s on during the day, every day, I can catch up on some of the shows I’ve missed; and I can see some classics. Yesterday I saw the first “Miss Swan” sketch. It was better than most of the subsequent “Miss Swan” sketches. Yes, some of the later shows are lame. But there’s a lot of good stuff in there too. I also liked _In Living Color_. I liked it better than _MadTV_. It would be nice if they syndicated the reruns. (I also wish they’d show _Fridays_, _CCTV_, and the early seasons of _Almost Live_.) ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/15 "2004-04-04T15:24:57Z")
I’m going to agree with **scotandrsn**. Mad TV is hilarious now, especially “Shaq and the Super Lakers.” But the first seasons were awful, and that’s probably what’s in syndication right now. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/16 "2004-04-04T15:56:34Z")
I agree with \*\*Johnny L.A [/quote] . _MadTV_ has it’s moments when it is uproariously funny. I like the UPS guy and Dixie. But like all sketch comedy, it has some clunkers. That said, I also agree about the over saturation. I still miss Comedy Central’s early days when they had _Short Attention Span Theater_, _Stand Up Stand Up_ and _Kids in the Hall_. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/17 "2004-04-04T16:33:25Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I’m going to disagree with the majority. I like _MadTV_. I’m going with the minority in this one. I stopped watching SNL years ago because I thought it was beyond not funny. When I happened to catch repeats on CC it only confirmed that I was mising nothing. However, I enjoy the repeats of Mad TV when I watch them. :: shrug :: ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/18 "2004-04-04T17:00:40Z")
Mad TV has pretty much made me stop watching Comedy Central beyond the occasional re-run of Conan. The skits are rarely even approaching funny and, more often than not, the characters are just screechy and annoying. SNL may not have been funny since before I ever saw it but at least it was only Chris Kattan that got on my nerves and not the whole cast. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/19 "2004-04-04T17:22:02Z")
I liked MAD TV during its first season or so. I really miss SNL. The recent ones have been bad, and I really enjoyed the older ones. MAD TV is just annoying with their repeating characters and jokes. I loved SNL, and I wish CC would bring it back, and ditch MAD TV. ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132/20 "2004-04-04T17:56:39Z")
Y’all are nuts! You need to fire up the other hemisphere or change your meds. MadTV is sheer brilliance compared to SNL. “I want to do it!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-comedy-central-thinking-mad-tv-sucks/238132.md?page=2)