12 Angry Facts About MADtv, SNL's Wilder, Louder, Messier Little Brother

Tidbits, trivia, and fun facts about the red-headed stepchild of late-night sketch comedy
12 Angry Facts About MADtv, SNL's Wilder, Louder, Messier Little Brother

The year was 1995. Saturday Night Live had wrapped up its 20th season with a whimper, with fans and critics alike speculating that the king of late-night sketch comedy was in the middle of a creative slump. There existed a power vacuum in that time slot, and when October came around, so did a vibrant, garish, crass menagerie of sketch comedy misfits, rejects, and hellraisers bearing the name “MAD” and donning a red-haired, grinning, gap-toothed mascot as their symbol.

Some of you may not know, but MADtv was born from MAD magazine. And some of you really might not know that Cracked.com was also born from Cracked magazine, itself a second-banana to MAD magazine. We’ve all come a long way.

Anyway, the original MADtv lasted 14 seasons before cancellation, with a 20th anniversary special and a rebooted 15th season coming years later. Here are some entries from MADtv’s tumultuous history in the shadow of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

MADtv

The Kardashians hosted one of the final episodes of MADtv CRACKED.COM All of them. At once. With only six episodes to go before the show's initial cancellation, season 14 featured Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kris, and Caitlin competing against Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers in Family Feud. MADtv really did bookend their 14 year run with guest appearances from people made famous by O.J. Simpson.

Source: IMDB

The MADtv-SNL Connection

Only two actors appeared in both MADtv and SNL Feedpo ORK MIC CRACKED.COM ACULA The only two comedians to become cast members on both MADtv and SNL were Jeff Richards and Taran Killam. Despite the success of MADtv's illustrious alumni, Richards and Killam were the only ones who managed to jump ship and join MAD's arch nemesis, not counting Keegan-Michael Key, who hosted an episode of SNL in May 2021.

Source: Vulture

Family Guy

Family Guy was supposed to be a series of shorts on MADtv CRACKED.COM Similar to how The Simpsons began on The Tracy Ullman Show, Family Guy was originally pitched to Fox as a series of animated shorts for MADtv. Ultimately, MAD didn't have the budget for the animation, so the network decided to give Seth MacFarlane his own time slot. Fitting that the wild little brother of SNL almost launched the wild little brother of The Simpsons.

Source: IGN

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