MADtv
Format	Live action, comedy, variety
Created by	Joe Schnier, Fax Bahr and Adam Small
Starring	See the List of MADtv cast members
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	14
No. of episodes	326
Production
Running time	60 minutes (with commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox (1995–2009)
Picture format	480i SDTV, 720p HDTV
Original run	October 14, 1995 – May 16, 2009
External links
Official website

MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licenses the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise has no connection with the humor magazine outside of animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and 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 airs Saturday nights on Fox and is 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 Australia 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 Warner Bros. Television (Warner Bros.' parent company Time Warner owns Mad magazine through its DC Comics subsidiary).

On November 12, 2008, Fox announced that MADtv's 14th season would be its last.^[1] However, David Salzman said that he would be exploring the continuation of the show on another channel, possibly cable.^[2] However the show will not air in the 2009–2010 season. In early 2009, the show was moved behind Talkshow with Spike Feresten, the show that normally follows MADtv, as a test, before being moved back. The series finale aired on May 16, 2009.^[3]

[edit] Format

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

[edit] Notable tenures

[edit] Tenure by seasons

Although MADtv has a rapid turnover of supporting players, some performers have had long tenures with the show. Few have broken the seven-year barrier. The longest-serving cast members are, by number of seasons:

[edit] Tenure by episodes

There have been fourteen MADtv cast members who have appeared in over 100 episodes. Among the cast members who have appeared in the most episodes are the following:

• Nicole Parker is the only cast member to be nominated and win an Emmy for her work on the show (although she did not win in an acting category).
• Michael McDonald is the only cast member to have a "Best Of" compilation episode devoted to him.

[edit] History of MADtv

[edit] Historical synopsis

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

[edit] 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

[edit] MADtv season breakdown

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

[edit] Recurring characters and sketches

[edit] 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.

[edit] Reruns

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, as of 2009, Comedy Central is airing MADtv episodes from seasons 8 to 11).

Currently, canadian comedy channel The Comedy Network airs the show's reruns from seasons 8 to 13.

[edit] Awards/Nominations

This table is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official site
• MADtv - Official MySpace
• MADtv at the Internet Movie Database
• MADtv at TV.com
• Planet MADtv
• MADtv - Jump The Shark
• MADtv Streaming episodes on TheWB.com (Only for US viewers)
• MADtv - MySpace Fan Page
• Collection of MAD TV Videos