History of MADtv (1995-2000)

The following is a history of the FOX sketch series "MADtv" from the 1995 television season to 2000.

MADtv (1995-2000): The Alfred E. Neuman era

Name

Some fans of the show have dubbed this period the "Alfred E. Neuman Era" because the show made more frequent reference to its connections with MAD Magazine than it did later on. Today, the connection between the two seems limited to the title of the show, as most Mad Magazine related content no longer appears on the show.

Creation of "MADtv"

"In Living Color"

The genesis of "MADtv" can be traced back to the Fox Broadcasting Company executives' desire to produce a show which could successfully rival "Saturday Night Live." In 1990, FOX achieved their desired success with "In Living Color", which was created and produced by Keenen Ivory Wayans. "In Living Color" lasted for four seasons with Wayans as Executive Producer and was a cult success. However, after the fourth season, Wayans left the show and most of the cast (including all of his siblings) left with him. Despite the fact that the new cast had stars like Carol Rosenthal from FOX's other (short-lived) sketch comedy show, "The Edge", and Anne-Marie Johnson, Season 5 failed to obtain enough support from the viewers and the show was cancelled in 1994.

"House of Buggin' "

At that point, the quest to find a replacement series began. In 1994, FOX executives gave John Leguizamo a chance to fill the void which "In Living Color" left with his show, "House of Buggin'". However, many critics and viewers believed that "House of Buggin' " lacked the edginess and creativity of its predecessor. As a result, the show was not renewed at the end of the 1994-1995 season. After the failure of "House of Buggin' ", FOX decided to try once more at creating a weekend night based comedy sketch show. This time, in lieu of trying to exactly imitate the success of "In Living Color", FOX decided to create a union between its former show's creative team and a magazine widely regarded as an icon of comedy and parody.

"MADtv"

Fax Bahr and Adam Small, two of the most successful writers on "In Living Color" teamed up with producer, Quincy Jones and David Salzman and they all came up with the idea of creating an edgy sketch comedy show that was based on MAD Magazine. MAD Magazine had been around lampooning celebrities, movies, television shows and politicians since the 1950s. Thus, there was already a cult following for the show. But to make this union successful, the show would have to stay true to the fan base of MAD Magazine, while at the same time, stay true to the hip edgy and racy sketches which had come to define shows like "In Living Color", as well as the sharp political humor that had defined "Saturday Night Live". As a result, it was decided that characters from MAD Magazine, like Alfred E. Neuman and Spy vs. Spy, and the "MAD" logo would be incorporated into the show to act as a continuity link between the new show and the faithful readers of the magazine. Moreover, FOX signed a deal with Klasky-Csupo, (the animation company behind "The Simpsons" (1987-1992) and Rugrats ) to provide the animation for the Spy vs. Spy cartoons during the show.

Casting

Given the success of the racial and ethnic diversity of "In Living Color", it was decided early on that the "MADtv" cast would also be diverse. In addition, the producers wanted to have a mixture of veterans of movie and television comedy, people with sketch comedy experience, and others with stand-up comedy experience. To fill the desire to have seasoned veterans on the cast, FOX executives added David Herman to the cast. Herman was already familiar with FOX executives because he was one of the few popular cast members from John Leguizamo's "House of Buggin"'. Herman also had an extensive television career and he had appeared in films like Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July". The next television veteran to join the cast was Phil LaMarr. In addition to being a graduate of Harvard-Westlake High School in North Hollywood and Yale University, LaMarr was also an alumnus of the award-winning sketch and improv comedy group The Groundlings and he has studied improv at The Second City and at the ImprovOlympic in Chicago with Del Close. Like Herman, LaMarr also had an extensive career in television and film. He had appeared in the movies "It's Pat" and "Bio-Dome". He had also appeared in "Pulp Fiction" in the small but memorable role of Marvin, the man who John Travolta's character accidentally shoots in the face.

After securing the television veterans of the series, FOX then focused on lining up the newcomers to the television medium. FOX executives looked towards The Groundlings alumnus Mary Scheer to fill one of the cast vacancies. Scheer had limited experience in television and film, appearing in films like "It's Pat" (along with Phil LaMarr), "Not of This Earth" and "Under a Killing Moon." Her television credits included appearances in "Seinfeld", "Party of Five," and "Beverly Hills 90210". Other original cast members included Nicole Sullivan, Orlando Jones, and Artie Lange.

The Alfred E. Neuman era season breakdown

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"MADtv" sketches (1995 - 2000)

Recurring characters

The following is a list of some of the most popular sketches featuring recurring characters that premiered during this era of "MADtv". }"] at The Internet Movie Database
* [http://www.tv.com/madtv/show/725/summary.html "MADtv"] at TV.com
* [http://www.jumptheshark.com/m/madtv.htm Jump The Shark - "MADtv"]