The second season of Mad TV, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on the Fox Network between September 21, 1996, and May 17, 1997. The season had 22 episodes, and featured many of the same cast members as Season 1 had.
Season summary The second season of Mad TV was not a radical departure from season one (largely the same cast, the same humor, and the same format), though there were some minor cast changes. Tim Conlon (the show's first Canadian cast member) and Pablo Francisco (the show's first Chilean-American cast member) joined as featured players while Artie Lange was fired midway through the season for his erratic behind-the-scenes behavior due to cocaine abuse.
The addition of a weekly guest host was the most notable difference of season two, this season and the next are the only seasons of Mad TV to feature one. Although every season has had several guest stars, season two's guest stars were referred to as "hosts" and appeared in nearly every sketch. Every episode had a new host, where as in other seasons, not every episode had a guest star and the guest star usually only appeared in a few sketches. The guest host format was similar to their main rival Saturday Night Live'''s, but Mad TV ended this format after season three (though later seasons would have special guest stars who appeared in sketches or did monologues).
This is the second and last season to air new Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin animation before they added reruns to make up for not creating any new episodes.
Opening montage The title sequence for season two is exactly the same as the previous season, except the theme song features more bass. The sequence starts with several fingers pointing at a bomb. The bomb explodes and several different pictures of Alfred E. Neuman appear, followed by the Mad TV logo. The theme song, which is performed by the hip-hop group Heavy D & the Boyz, begins. Cast members are introduced alphabetically with their names appearing in caption over live-action clips of them. More pictures of Alfred E. Neuman appear between the introduction of each cast member. When the last cast member is introduced, the music stops and the title sequence ends with the phrase "You are now watching Mad TV."
Cast
Repertory cast members Bryan Callen (22/22 episodes) David Herman (22/22 episodes) Orlando Jones (22/22 episodes) Phil LaMarr (22/22 episodes) Artie Lange (10/22 episodes; last episode: January 4, 1997) Mary Scheer (22/22 episodes) Nicole Sullivan (22/22 episodes) Debra Wilson (21/22 episodes)
Featured cast members Craig Anton (1/19 episodes) Tim Conlon (3/19 episodes; first episode: February 15, 1997) Pablo Francisco (4/19 episodes; February 15, 1997)
Writers
Fax Bahr (eps. 1-22) Stuart Blumberg (eps. 1-14) Garry Campbell (eps. 1-22) Blaine Capatch (eps. 1-22) Leonard Dick (eps. 3, 6) Lauren Dombrowski (eps. 1-22) Chris Finn (eps. 1-22) Spencer Green (eps. 1-22) Brian Hartt (writing supervisor) (eps. 1-22) Steve Hibbert (ep. 15) Tim Hightower (eps. 1-22) Brad Kaaya (eps. 1-22) Patton Oswalt (eps. 1-22) Mary Scheer (ep. 5) Michael Short (creative consultant) (eps. 1-22) Adam Small (eps. 1-22) Mary Elizabeth Williams (eps. 1-22)
Episodes
Home releases Despite a preview on the special features disc of the Mad TV: the Complete First Season DVD box set, season two of Mad TV'' was not initially released on DVD due to poor sales of season one. Shout Factory finally released the complete second season on March 26, 2013.
The HBO Max and Howdy versions omitted episodes 2, 3, 9, 14, 21 and 22, with episodes 21 and 22 redone as "best-of" episodes. In contrast, Tubi initially didn't have season 2 when the entire series was uploaded. In August 2026, season two was uploaded. Much like the HBO Max and Howdy versions, Tubi's version also omitted episodes 2, 3, 9, 14, 21, and 22, with episodes 21 and 22 redone as clip show episodes (though episode 21 is erroneously marked as "Episode 23" while the second clip show episode is called "The Best of MADtv Season 2").
External links Mad TV - Official Website
Jump The Shark - Mad TV