A typical issue of Mad magazine will include at least one full parody of a popular movie or television show. The titles are changed to create a play on words; for instance, The Addams Family became The Adnauseum Family. The character names are generally switched in the same fashion.
These articles typically cover five pages or more and are presented as a sequential storyline with caricatures and word balloons. The opening page or two-page splash usually consists of the cast of the show introducing themselves directly to the reader; in some parodies, the writers sometimes attempt to circumvent this convention by presenting the characters without such direct exposition. Many parodies end with the abrupt deus ex machina appearance of outside characters or pop culture figures who are similar in nature to the movie or TV series being parodied, or who comment satirically on the theme. For example, Dr. Phil arrives to counsel the Desperate Housewives, or the cast of Sex and the City show up as the new goomahs on The Sopranos.
The parodies frequently make comedic use of the fourth wall, breaking character, and meta-references. Within an ostensibly self-contained storyline, the characters may refer to the technical aspects of filmmaking, the publicity, hype, or box office surrounding their project, their own past roles, any clichés being used, and so on.
Several show business stars have been quoted to the effect that the moment when they knew they'd finally "made it" was when they saw themselves thus depicted in the pages of Mad. The following list of all the TV show spoofs in Mad Magazine is ordered by the decades in which they were produced.
TV shows spoofs list
1950s Spoofed title Actual title Writer Artist Issue Date Ref Lone Stranger! The Lone Ranger (September 1949 – June 1957)(Genre: Western drama) (Broadcaster: ABC)Harvey Kurtzman Jack Davis 3 January–February 1953 Lone Stranger Rides Again! The Lone Ranger (September 1949 – June 1957)(Genre: Western drama) (Broadcaster: ABC) Harvey Kurtzman Jack Davis 8 December 1953 - January 1954 Dragged Net! Dragnet (December 1951 – August 1959) (a spoof of the radio version had previously appeared in issue #3)(Genre: Police procedural) (Broadcaster: NBC) Harvey Kurtzman Will Elder 11 May 1954 The Countynental! The Continental (January 1952 – January 1953)(Genre: Romantic rendezvous) (Broadcaster: CBS & ABC) Harvey Kurtzman Jack Davis 14 August 1954 Captain TVideo! Captain Video and His Video Rangers (June 1949 – April 1955)(Genre: Science fiction) (Broadcaster: DuMont) Harvey Kurtzman Jack Davis 15 September 1954 What's My Shine! Both What's My Line? (February 1950 – September 1967) (Genre: Panel game show) (Broadcaster: CBS)and the televised Army–McCarthy hearings Harvey Kurtzman Jack Davis 17 November 1954 Howdy Dooit! Howdy Doody (January 1948 – September 1960)(Genre: Puppetry) (Broadcaster: NBC) Harvey Kurtzman Will Elder 18 December 1954 Is This Your Life? This Is Your Life (October 1952 – June 1961)(Genre: Reality documentary) (Broadcaster: NBC) Harvey Kurtzman Will Elder 24 July 1955 The Dave Garrowunway Show Today with Dave Garroway (Since January 1952 (though Garroway left the show in 1961))(Genre: Talk show) (Broadcaster: NBC) Harvey Kurtzman Jack Davis 26 November 1955 Nightwatch Dragnet (June 1949 – July 1957)(Genre: Police radio) (Broadcaster: NBC) Arnold Hayne Will Elder 27 April 1956 The Ed Suvillan Show The Ed Sullivan Show (June 1948 – June 1971)(Genre: Sketch comedy) (Broadcaster: CBS) Harvey Kurtzman Will Elder 27 April 1956 Medical Medic (September 1954 – August 1956)(Genre: Medical drama) (Broadcaster: NBC) Harvey Kurtzman Will Elder 28 July 1956 Walt Dizzy Presents Dizzyland Walt Disney Presents Disneyland (October 1954 – September 1983)(Genre: Musical drama) (Broadcaster: ABC) ? Wally Wood 30 December 1956 Gunsmoked Gunsmoke (September 1955 – March 1975)(Genre: Western) (Broadcaster: CBS) Harvey Kurtzman Jack Davis 30 December 1956 Big Big Story The Big Story (September 1949 – 1958)(Genre: Anthology) (Broadcaster: NBC & Syndication) ? Don Martin 32 April 1957 The Night that Perry Masonmint Lost a Case Perry Mason (September 1957 – May 1966)(Genre: Legal drama) (Broadcaster: CBS) Dee Caruso Bill LevineMort Drucker 48 July 1959 The Night Peter Gone Cracked Peter Gunn (September 1958 – September 1961)(Genre: Action/Crime drama) (Broadcaster: NBC & ABC) Larry Siegel Bob Clarke 50 October 1959 The Price is All Right The Price Is Right (November 1956 – September 1965)(Genre: Game show) (Broadcaster: NBC & ABC) Larry Siegel Mort Drucker 51 December 1959
1960s