It is the greatest pile of steaming unfunny rubbish I’ve ever had the misfortune to look at. It seems to be on tv constantly in the US. WTF etc?
I’ve only ever seen episodes from the first season. My impression has been that the show is competently done, and there is actual talent involved, but it’s never made me laugh out loud. I wonder what the show would have been like if they had patterned it more directly after MAD Magazine, rather than making it a generic sketch comedy show or a poor man’s SNL.
It has its moments but I’ve rarely ever caught a “live” episode.
Is it live? Anyway, I’ve only ever seen it in re-runs and am always a bit startled to see it’s still on the air the times I do catch a first-run episode.
I could never get past the musical noises they use as a theme song. I mean, it’s not really a tune (oh yeah, then hum it!), but a rhythm track and some voices and sound effects. Whatever that’s called, it’s horrible. Or was. I wouldn’t know. I haven’t tuned to the show since the first season.
Early Mad TV was awesome. Nicole Sullivan, Debra Wilson, Alex Borstein, Will Sasso, Mo Collins…they were all excellent. The Ms. Swan sketches were hysterical, Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson was a great character, The Vancome Lady was always good for laughs.
The show has gone downhill since at least 03 when Debra Wilson left.
I’ve only seen it on reruns, and I’ve never watched a whole episode, but from what I’ve seen, it seemed funnier than the last SNL I saw, for whatever that’s worth.
I’ve only seen a few episodes. Alex Borstein and Phil Lemar were the highlights for me since I’m a huge Futurama fan. I know a couple girls that can do a spot on impression of “Stewart’s Mother” which is pretty creepy. No SNL for sure.
I feel the same way, but have also felt that way for most of SNL’s run. I always figured it was because I often don’t get mainstream humor and I’m getting old.
- Steven Hawking, when his wheelchair battery is dead and the TV remote is across the room
- Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, when waterboarding proves ineffective at getting them to talk
- Hannibal Lecter, when Dr. Chilton is punishing him and there are no televangelists on the air
I’ve consistently enjoyed MadTV since it began. Most of the actors are improv-troupe based, which I think adds to the like-it-hate-it quality. Some people get mighty uncomfortable when a scene isn’t completely scripted / rehearsed / etc.
But yeah, usually funnier than SNL for me, too.
I think Michael McDonald’s old Jew characters (Marvin Tikvah and Isadore Kruskal) are hilarious, Ike Barinholtz does a great Dane Cook, but for the current cast, that’s about it- agree the original cast was much better, especially the super hot Nicole Sullivan.
For the most part, the actors are reasonably talented and the writing doesn’t suck.
The recurring characters, however, do suck. and that’s what the show is based around. A lot of them, like the Vancome Lady and Stuart, were and are overused, and that’s why they’re so unfunny. They’re obnoxious to start with, but when they’re in every episode, sometimes more than once, they get old fast. (Wiki says Stuart is down to once per season since Mo Collins left. Thank God.)
It also doesn’t help that Comedy Central shows Mad TV reruns several times a day, wearing them out that much faster. (They’ve got the rights to the first 10 seasons.)
There are few shows I loathe more than Mad TV.
Robin
I’ve said it before: at its best, Mad TV’s ensemble rivaled that of any American sketch show, SNL included. Having Debra Wilson, Michael McDonald, Will Sasso, Nicole Sullivan, Stephnie Weir, Mo Collins and Alex Borstein in one ensemble … wow. They did some great, great stuff that is often unfairly maligned by the admittedly mediocre stuff that followed the breaking of that great cast.
I watch the reruns on the Comedy Channel and I usually enjoy the show. Guess I have a less developed sense of humor than some. (I was Ms. Swan for Halloween this year).
I must apologize for America regarding this one. Please do everyone a favor and lose all recollection of this program when you return to Ireland. A good two and a half day bender at a pub may actually be enough, since this show *is *so forgettable.
Also, Comedy Central is guilty of playing this show to death during the day. To be honest, daytime TV isn’t very good at all. What else are you going to watch? Soaps? You’ve already fallen into the trap of having to watch a few episodes of Mad TV obviously for that very reason.
I find it hit-or-miss–either laugh out loud funny, or dreadful. One of my favorites was the “literally” couple at a parade: “She’s such a whore that her two main food groups are sperm and penicillin. Literally.”
To me it seems that the actors don’t like the recurring characters they portray. Also, most of them are so one note punch line that they get boring and repetitive.
“He look-a like a man.” Repeat ad nauseum.
Oh yeah, that’s funny.
I can see that. Which is a shame, because the MADtv actors I’ve seen in guest roles on other shows have been quite good.
Robin
Used to watch it, don’t watch it any longer, my reason for giving it up can be summed up in one word: Stewart. I found that character so overwhelmingly and nauseatingly repulsive that it soured me to the entire series.
“Kenny Rogers’ Jackass” was, at least the first time, freakin’ genius. Will Sasso dressed up as a fat drunk Kenny Rogers doing Jackass-style stunts while getting whaled on randomly by guys with baseball bats.
Wow, gotta say I agree 100% completely. I really liked the show from the beginning till the point that Sasso and Borstein quit. I managed to squeeze out another season or two, but once it became the Mike MacDonald and Mo Collins show, I checked out. I could barely stand them to begin with, their recurring characters were painful, and the only thing they ever did together that was funny was Gary Condit on a blind date.
-Joe