MADtv

MADtv Information

MADtv was an American sketch comedy television series based on Mad, and contained animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts as well as images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first TV broadcast was on October 14, 1995. The one-hour show aired Saturday nights on Fox, and was in syndication on Comedy Central. In Australia the show screens on satellite and cable TV channel The Comedy Channel and in late-night timeslots on free-to-air broadcaster the Nine Network and its affiliates.

It was created by Fax Bahr and Adam Small. The series was originally produced by Bahr/Small Productions and Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment (QDE). Since Bahr and Small left the series at the end of the third season (they are currently credited as "executive consultants"), the series has been handled by QDE and WB Television Distribution (its parent company Time Warner Entertainment owns Mad magazine through its DC Comics subsidiary). The series was directed by Bruce Leddy (196 episodes), as well as David Grossman, and Amanda Bearse (known as the actress who played Marcy Rhoades-D'Arcy on Married...With Children).

On November 12, 2008, Fox announced that MADtv's 14th season would be its last. Despite this, David Salzman said that he would be exploring the continuation of the show on another channel, possibly cable; as of 2012, continuations exist as the Cartoon Network series MAD and Comedy Central's Key & Peele. In early 2009, the show was moved behind Talkshow with Spike Feresten, the show that normally followed MADtv, as a test, before being moved back. The show was nominated for 35 Emmy awards and won 5. The series finale aired on May 16, 2009.

Format

MADtv was taped in front of a live audience and consists of skits and musical performances. Much of its comedy parodies popular television shows, movies, and music, and covers topical, political, and pop cultural humor.

Notable tenures

Although MADtv had a rapid turnover of supporting players, some performers have had long tenures with the show. Some cast members did not appear in every episode of a season, and thus appeared in fewer episodes than other cast members who were on the show for fewer seasons. The following is a list of all cast members who started as or were promoted to repertory players during their run on the show:

Cast Member	First Cast Appearance	Last Cast Appearance	Seasons	Episodes	Guest Appearances
Michael McDonald	September 12, 1998	May 17, 2008	4"13 (10 total)	239	1 (Season 14)
Aries Spears	September 20, 1997	May 21, 2005	3"10 (8 total)	198
Debra Wilson	October 14, 1995	May 17, 2003	1"8 (8 total)	196	4 (Seasons 10, 13, and 14)
Mo Collins	September 12, 1998	May 22, 2004	4"9 (6 total)	150	3 (Seasons 10, 13, and 14)
Bobby Lee	October 6, 2001	May 16, 2009	7"14 (8 total)	147
Nicole Sullivan	October 14, 1995	May 12, 2001	1"6 (6 total)	141	6 (Seasons 8, 9, and 10)
Will Sasso	September 20, 1997	May 18, 2002	3"7 (5 total)	124	3 (Seasons 9, 10, and 14)
Alex Borstein	September 20, 1997	May 18, 2002	3"7 (5 total)	124	4 (Seasons 9, 10, and 14)
Stephnie Weir	November 18, 2000	May 6, 2006	6"11 (6 total)	121
Frank Caliendo	September 22, 2001	May 20, 2006	7"11 (5 total)	117
Nicole Parker	November 1, 2003	March 28, 2009	9"14 (6 total)	113
Phil LaMarr	October 14, 1995	May 20, 2000	1"5 (5 total)	112	1 (Season 9)
Ike Barinholtz	September 14, 2002	May 19, 2007	8"12 (5 total)	112
Keegan-Michael Key	February 7, 2004	May 16, 2009	9"14 (6 total)	106
Jordan Peele	November 15, 2003	May 17, 2008	9-13 (5 total)	94
Crista Flanagan	February 5, 2005	May 16, 2009	10-14 (5 total)	81
Arden Myrin	September 17, 2005	May 16, 2009	11-14 (4 total)	76
Pat Kilbane	September 20, 1997	May 20, 2000	3-5 (3 total)	71
Ron Pederson	November 2, 2002	May 21, 2005	8-10 (3 total)	65
Daniele Gaither	September 13, 2003	May 20, 2006	9-11 (3 total)	64	1 (Season 2)
Mary Scheer	October 14, 1995	May 16, 1998	1-3 (3 total)	63
Paul Vogt	December 21, 2002	May 21, 2005	8-10 (3 total)	63
David Herman	October 14, 1995	November 1, 1997	1-3 (3 total)	54
Artie Lange	October 14, 1995	January 4, 1997	1-2 (2 total)	48	5 (Seasons 5, 9, 10, and 14)
Josh Meyers	September 14, 2002	May 22, 2004	8-9 (2 total)	47
Bryan Callen	October 14, 1995	May 17, 1997	1-2 (2 total)	42
Orlando Jones	October 14, 1995	May 17, 1997	1-2 (2 total)	42	1 (Season 9)
Andrew Daly	November 4, 2000	May 18, 2002	6-7 (2 total)	38
Frank Caeti	September 17, 2005	May 19, 2007	11-12 (2 total)	38
Nicole Randall Johnson	September 17, 2005	May 19, 2007	11-12 (2 total)	37
Nelson Ascencio	November 27, 1999	May 12, 2001	5-6 (2 total)	31
Johnny Sanchez	November 3, 2007	May 16, 2009	13-14 (2 total)	28

History of MADtv

Historical synopsis

The following are a series of links to pages which give a detailed account of the history of MADtv.

MADtv era breakdown

For a historical overview with a detail analysis of each era of MADtv (cast members, sketches, animation, etc.) please see one of the following links below:

1995"2000
2000"2005
2005"2009

MADtv season breakdown

For a detailed description of each season of MADtv, with cast members, sketches, animation, etc., see below:

Season One (1995"1996)
Season Two (1996"1997)
Season Three (1997"1998)
Season Four (1998"1999)
Season Five (1999"2000)
Season Six (2000"2001)
Season Seven (2001"2002)
Season Eight (2002"2003)
Season Nine (2003"2004)
Season Ten (2004"2005)
Season Eleven (2005"2006)
Season Twelve (2006"2007)
Season Thirteen (2007"2008)
Season Fourteen (2008"2009)

Recurring characters and sketches

Main article: MADtv recurring characters

Home media

Warner Home Video released The Complete First Season of MADtv in 2004. However, due to poor sales, the release of the second season was cancelled (despite a preview for it in the first season DVD). MADtv: 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 will release the second season on DVD on March 22, 2013.

Syndication

Originally, reruns of MADtv aired as 30-minute reruns on local TV stations. The cable channel TNN (now Spike TV) aired the first six seasons of MADtv from 1999 to 2001. Comedy Central soon picked up the show after its syndication package of Saturday Night Live reruns was acquired by the E! Entertainment Network, and has aired 30-minute and full-hour reruns of episodes from season 1 to season 11 (though, in 2008, Comedy Central limited their reruns to episodes from seasons eight to eleven). Canada's The Comedy Network also airs MADtv reruns (starting at season eight), but, unlike Comedy Central, The Comedy Network also includes episodes from seasons 12 and 13. As of 2010, MADtv no longer airs on Comedy Central. MADtv can currently be watched on thewb.com with 15 full episodes available to watch. In 2005, Canadian channel BiteTV began airing re-runs every weekday at 4pm.

Awards and nominations

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Year	Association	Award Category	Recipients
1999	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program	Wendy Benbrook for episode "402"
1999	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series	Matthew Kasten for episode "402"
2000	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award	Outstanding Make-up for a series "? Television (for a Single Episode of a Regular Series "? Sitcom, Drama or Daytime)	Jennifer Aspinall Felicia Linsky Ed French
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award	Best Innovative Hair Styling "? Television (for a Single Episode of a Regular Series "? Sitcom, Drama or Daytime)	Dugg Kirkpatrick
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award	Best Character Hair Styling "? Television (for a Single Episode of a Regular Series "? Sitcom, Drama or Daytime)	Judith Tiedemann Dugg Kirkpatrick Chriss Curry
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award	Best Character Hair Styling "? Television (for a Single Episode of a Regular Series "? Sitcom, Drama or Daytime)	Judith Tiedemann Dugg Kirkpatrick Chriss Curry
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award	Best Character Makeup "? Television (for a Single Episode of a Regular Series "? Sitcom, Drama or Daytime)	Jennifer Aspinall Felicia Linsky Ed French
2001	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program	Wendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "615".
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety or Music Program	Matthew Kasten, Mishell Chandler, Desmond Miller, Rod Ortega, Mimi Jafari and Fabrizio Sanges for episode "601"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program	John Sabato D. Martyn Bookwalter Cece Destefano Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "610"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Main Title Design	Steve Kirklys (title designer) Adam Byrd (title designer)
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Makeup for a Series	Jennifer 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"
	Canadian Comedy Awards	Television "? Pretty Funny Male Performance	Will Sasso
	Art Directors Guild Awards	Excellence in Production Design Award	John Sabato (production designer) D. Martyn Bookwalter (art director) Cece Destefano (art director)
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award	Best Special Makeup Effects "? Television (For a Single Episode of a Regular Series "? Sitcom, Drama or Daytime)	Jennifer Aspinall Randy Westgate Episode: "MADtv Goes To The Movies"
	Image Awards	Outstanding Variety Series/Speciality jumpsuit
	Canadian Comedy Awards	Television "? Pretty Funny Male Performance	Ron Pederson
2002	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program	John Sabat, D. Martyn Bookwalter and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "MADtv's 3rd Annual Salute To The Movies"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Choreography	Monie Adamson for episode "701"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program	Wendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "Madtv's Holiday Spectacular"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic)	Jennifer Aspinall, Randy Westgate, Julie Purcell, Scott Wheeler,Stephanie L. Massie, Felicia Linsky and Darrell McIntyre for episode "701"
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series "? Guest Starring Young Actress	Michelle Trachtenberg
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards	Best Special Makeup Effects "? Television (For a Single Episode of a Regular Series "? Sitcom, Drama or Daytime)
2003	Art Directors Guild Awards	Television "? Variety or Awards Show, Music Special or Documentary
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Prosthetic)	Jennifer Aspinall, Scott Wheeler, Randy Westgate, Nathalie Fratti, David Williams for episode "806"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic)	Jennifer Aspinall, Scott Wheeler, Randy Westgate, James Rohland and Julie Purcell for episode "801"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series	Matthew Kaste, Mishell Chandler, K. Troy Zestos and Stacey Bergman for episode "806"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program	Wendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "809"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program	John Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "806"
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award	Best Character Makeup "? Television Series
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards	Best Character Hair Styling "? Television Series
	Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards	Best Special Makeup Effects "? Television Series
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Show "? Late Night
	WGA Award (TV)	Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) - Series
2004	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Show "? Late Night
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program	John Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "200th Episode"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Choreography	Monie Adamson For episode "925"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series	Matthew Kasten, Mishell Chandler, Desmond Miller and Anthea Grutsis for episode "200th Episode"
	BET Comedy Award	Outstanding Comedy Variety Series
2005	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program	Wendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "1017"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music Program or Special	John Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "1006"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Choreography	Monie Adamson for episode 1023
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series	Matthew Kasten, Anthea Grutsis, Desmond Miller and Raissa Patton for episode "1017"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic)	Jennifer Aspinall, Scott Wheeler, Randy Westgate and Nathalie Fratti for episode "1004"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Jennifer Aspinall, Scott Wheeler,Randy Westgate and James Rohland for episode "1013"
2006	Emmy Awards	Excellence in Production Design Award
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic)	Jennifer Aspinall, Nathalie Fratti, Heather Mages and David Williams for episode "1109"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music Program, or Special	John Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "1115"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics	Greg O'Connor and Jim Wise for the song "A Wonderfully Normal Day" for episode "1111"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program	Wendy Benbrook and Wanda Leavey for episode "1109"
2007	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Jennifer Aspinall, Heather Mages, Wade Daily, Douglas Noe, James Rohland and David Williams for episode "1117"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics	Greg O'Connor, Bruce McCoy and Jim Wise for the song "Merry Ex-Mas". for episode "1209"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic)	Jennifer Aspinall, Heather Mages, James Rohland, David Williams for episode "1210"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety, Music or Nonfiction Programming	John Sabato, D. Martyn Bookwalter and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "1209"
	Art Directors Guild Award	Excellence in Production Design Award	John Sabato D. Martyn Bookwalter Nicole Elespuru
2008	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Art Direction for Variety, Music or Nonfiction Programming	Nicole Elespuru, James Yarnell and Daryn-Reid Goodall for episode "1315"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or a Special (Non-Prosthetic)	Jennifer Aspinall, Heather Mages, Chris Burgoyne and Ned Neidhardt for episode "1308"
	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics	Greg O'Connor, Jordan Peele and Jim Wise for the song "Sad Fitty Cent" for episode "1305"
	Art Directors Guild Award	Excellence in Production Design Award	John Sabato (production designer) D. Martyn Bookwalter (art director) Nicole Elespuru (assistant art director)
	ALMA Awards	Outstanding Female Performance in a Comedy Television Series	Anjelah Johnson
	ALMA Awards	Outstanding Male Performance in a Comedy Television Series	Johnny A. Sanchez