Mad TV


Mad TV is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by Mad magazine.

Antecedents

The series was based on MAD, a property owned by Time Warner Entertainment through its DC Comics subsidiary. From the magazine, the show featured animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin shorts, as well as recurring images of longtime MAD mascot Alfred E. Neuman in earlier seasons, though the live-action sketches had no relation to the magazine's content.

Launch

The first broadcast was October 14, 1995. The one-hour show first-ran on Saturday nights on Fox.
MADtv was created by Fax Bahr and Adam Small. The series was originally produced by Bahr/Small Productions and Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment. After Bahr and Small left the series at the end of the third season, the series was handled by QDE and distributed by WB Television Distribution. The series was directed by Bruce Leddy, as well as David Grossman, and former Married...With Children cast member Amanda Bearse.

Finale and revivals

On November 12, 2008, Fox announced that the 15th season of MADtv would be its last on Fox. David Salzman said that he would be exploring the continuation of the show on another channel, possibly cable. In early 2009, the show was moved to air after Talkshow with Spike Feresten, the show that normally followed MADtv, as a test, before being moved back. The series finale aired on May 16, 2009. The show was nominated for 35 Emmy awards, winning five.
On December 11, 2015, it was reported that MADtv would be returning for a one-hour special on The CW to celebrate the series' 20th anniversary; the special aired on January 12, 2016. A large portion of the original cast returned.
On April 11, 2016, The CW announced that it was reviving the show for an eight-episode season to air in primetime. The season premiered on July 26 and concluded on September 27, 2016.

Format

MADtv was taped in front of a live audience and consisted of sketches, cartoon shorts, and musical performances. Much of its comedy parodied popular television shows, movies and music, as well as topical, political, and pop culture humor.

Cast members

Note:

Episodes

Home media

released The Complete First Season of Mad TV in 2004. However, due to poor sales, the release of the second season was cancelled. Mad TV: The Best of Seasons 8, 9, and 10 was released in 2005, featuring the most popular sketches from those seasons.
On November 5, 2012, it was announced that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to the series. They subsequently announced that they would release the second season on DVD on March 22, 2013. The third season was released on June 25, 2013 and the fourth season was released on November 12, 2013. As of 2020, the first four seasons of MADtv are the only seasons released on DVD, along with MADtv: The Best of Seasons 8, 9, and 10.
As of 2020, the FOX episodes of MADtv are now available on HBO Max. However, due to copyright issues involving some celebrity cameos and musical guests, some episodes have been skipped over. Season 15 is also missing from the HBO Max release.

Syndication

Originally, reruns of Mad TV aired as 30-minute reruns on local TV stations, often under the banner "The Best of Mad TV". The cable channel TNN aired the first six seasons of Mad TV from 1999 to 2003. Comedy Central soon picked up the show after its syndication package of Saturday Night Live reruns was acquired by the E! Entertainment Network, and aired 30-minute and full-hour reruns of episodes from seasons 1 through 11 until 2015. Canada's The Comedy Network also airs Mad TV reruns of seasons 8 through 13. In 2005, Canadian channel BiteTV began airing re-runs every weekday at 4pm.

Revival

On December 11, 2015, it was reported that the series would be returning for a one-hour special on The CW to celebrate the series' 20th anniversary; the special aired on January 12, 2016. A large portion of the original cast returned.
The CW announced that it was reviving the show for an eight-episode season to air in primetime on April 11, 2016, featuring a new cast. Some original cast members including Nicole Sullivan, Will Sasso, Bobby Lee, Aries Spears, Debra Wilson, Ike Barinholtz, and Anjelah Johnson returned as hosts, some of whom appeared as their signature characters or most memorable celebrity impressions.

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationAward CategoryRecipientsResult
1999Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music ProgramWendy Benbrook for episode "402"
1999Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Hairstyling for a SeriesMatthew Kasten for episode "402"
2000Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsOutstanding Make-up for a series – Television Jennifer Aspinall, Felicia Linsky, and Ed French
2000Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Innovative Hair Styling – Television Dugg Kirkpatrick
2000Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Character Hair Styling – Television Judith Tiedemann, Dugg Kirkpatrick, and Chriss Curry
2000Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Character Hair Styling – Television Judith Tiedemann, Dugg Kirkpatrick, and Chriss Curry
2000Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Character Makeup – Television Jennifer Aspinall, Felicia Linsky, and Ed French
2001Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music ProgramWendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "615"
2001Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Hairstyling for a Variety or Music ProgramMatthew Kasten, Mishell Chandler, Desmond Miller, Rod Ortega, Mimi Jafari, and Fabrizio Sanges for episode "601"
2001Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music ProgramJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, Cece Destefano, and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "610"
2001Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Main Title DesignSteve Kirklys and Adam Byrd
2001Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a SeriesJennifer Aspinall, Felicia Linsky, Stephanie L. Massie, Darrell McIntyre, Randy Westgate, Julie Purcell, Ed French, Susan A. Cabral, and Myke Michaels for episode "Mad TV's 2nd Annual Salute to the Movies"
2001Canadian Comedy AwardsTelevision – Pretty Funny Male PerformanceWill Sasso
2001Art Directors Guild AwardsExcellence in Production Design AwardJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Cece Destefano
2001Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Special Makeup Effects – Television Jennifer Aspinall and Randy Westgate
2001Image AwardsOutstanding Variety Series/Speciality jumpsuit
2001Canadian Comedy AwardsTelevision – Pretty Funny Male PerformanceRon Pederson
2002Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music ProgramJohn Sabat, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "Mad TV's 3rd Annual Salute to the Movies"
2002Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding ChoreographyMonie Adamson for episode "701"
2002Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music ProgramWendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "Mad TV's Holiday Spectacular"
2002Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Series Jennifer Aspinall, Randy Westgate, Julie Purcell, Scott Wheeler, Stephanie L. Massie, Felicia Linsky, and Darrell McIntyre for episode "701"
2002Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a TV Comedy Series – Guest Starring Young ActressMichelle Trachtenberg
2002Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Special Makeup Effects – Television
2003Art Directors Guild AwardsTelevision – Variety or Awards Show, Music Special, or Documentary
2003Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Series Jennifer Aspinall, Scott Wheeler, Randy Westgate, Nathalie Fratti, David Williams for episode "806"
2003Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Series Jennifer Aspinall, Scott Wheeler, Randy Westgate, James Rohland, and Julie Purcell for episode "801"
2003Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Hairstyling for a SeriesMatthew Kaste, Mishell Chandler, K. Troy Zestos, and Stacey Bergman for episode "806"
2003Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music ProgramWendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "809"
2003Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music ProgramJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "806"
2003Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Character Makeup – Television Series
2003Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Character Hair Styling – Television Series
2003Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild AwardsBest Special Makeup Effects – Television Series
2003Teen Choice AwardsChoice TV Show – Late Night
2003Writers Guild of America AwardsComedy/Variety – Series
2004Teen Choice AwardsChoice TV Show – Late Night
2004Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music ProgramJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "200th Episode"
2004Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding ChoreographyMonie Adamson For episode "925"
2004Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Hairstyling for a SeriesMatthew Kasten, Mishell Chandler, Desmond Miller, and Anthea Grutsis for episode "200th Episode"
2004BET Comedy AwardOutstanding Comedy Variety Series
2005Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music ProgramWendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "1017"
2005Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music Program, or SpecialJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "1006"
2005Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding ChoreographyMonie Adamson for episode "1023"
2005Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Hairstyling for a SeriesMatthew Kasten, Anthea Grutsis, Desmond Miller, and Raissa Patton for episode "1017"
2005Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Series Jennifer Aspinall, Scott Wheeler, Randy Westgate, and Nathalie Fratti for episode "1004"
2005Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie, or SpecialJennifer Aspinall, Scott Wheeler, Randy Westgate, and James Rohland for episode "1013"
2006Primetime Emmy AwardsExcellence in Production Design Award
2006Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Series Jennifer Aspinall, Nathalie Fratti, Heather Mages, and David Williams for episode "1109"
2006Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music Program, or SpecialJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "1115"
2006Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Original Music and LyricsGreg O'Connor and Jim Wise for the song "A Wonderfully Normal Day" for episode "1111"
2006Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music ProgramWendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "1109"
2007Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie, or SpecialJennifer Aspinall, Heather Mages, Wade Daily, Douglas Noe, James Rohland, and David Williams for episode "1117"
2007Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Original Music and LyricsGreg O'Connor, Bruce McCoy, and Jim Wise for the song "Merry Ex-Mas". for episode "1209"
2007Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Series Jennifer Aspinall, Heather Mages, James Rohland, David Williams for episode "1210"
2007Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music, or Nonfiction ProgrammingJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "1209"
2007Art Directors Guild AwardsExcellence in Production Design AwardJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Nicole Elespuru
2008Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Art Direction for Variety, Music, or Nonfiction ProgrammingNicole Elespuru, James Yarnell, and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "1315"
2008Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special Jennifer Aspinall, Heather Mages, Chris Burgoyne, and Ned Neidhardt for episode "1308"
2008Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Original Music and LyricsGreg O'Connor, Jordan Peele, and Jim Wise for the song "Sad Fitty Cent" for episode "1305"
2008Art Directors Guild AwardsExcellence in Production Design AwardJohn Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter, and Nicole Elespuru
2008ALMA AwardsOutstanding Female Performance in a Comedy Television SeriesAnjelah Johnson
2008ALMA AwardsOutstanding Male Performance in a Comedy Television SeriesJohnny A. Sanchez
2009Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special Jennifer Aspinall, Alexei O'Brien, David Williams, and Heather Mages for episode "1405"
2009Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Hairstyling for a Multi-Camera Series or SpecialMatthew Kasten, Wendy Southard, Desiree Dizard, and Desmond Miller for episode "1412"