# MADtv (1995)

> A long-running Fox sketch comedy show inspired by Mad magazine, packing rapid parody of celebrities and pop culture into each one-hour Saturday broadcast.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4250

## Facts

- Seasons: 15
- Episodes: 332
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: David Salzman, Fax Bahr, Adam Small
- Network: FOX, The CW
- Cast: Nicole Parker, Daniele Gaither, Aries Spears, Mo Collins, Mary Scheer, Jordan Peele, Pablo Francisco, David Herman
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112056/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: breakneck
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: irreverent, silly, satirical, breezy, loud

## What critics say

Audiences rate MADtv positively as a fast, irreverent sketch show whose ensemble impressions and recurring characters have kept it a durable Saturday-night staple.

## Synopsis

MADtv (1995-2016) is an American sketch comedy series created for Fox by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small, with later seasons airing on The CW. Inspired by Mad magazine, the hour-long show runs fifteen seasons from a rotating ensemble that includes Aries Spears, Debra Wilson, Mo Collins, Nicole Parker, and Jordan Peele. Each episode is a stack of short, escalating sketches built around celebrity impressions, talk show parodies, commercial spoofs, and recurring characters. Nothing links the installments beyond the format, so viewers can dip in anywhere. The tone is irreverent, loud, and unpretentious, mixing broad physical humor with sharp pop culture satire that feels like flipping through a glossy magazine full of jokes. Its pace is breakneck and its heightened, cartoonish realism rarely asks for emotional investment. Fans of Saturday Night Live and In Living Color will recognize the same appetite for impressions and topical ridicule, though quality varies across its long run.

## Shows like MADtv

- [In Living Color (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/4197)
- [Robot Chicken (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/672)
- [MAD (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/30762)
- [Key & Peele (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/39314)
- [Drawn Together (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/4121)
- [All That (1994)](https://ember.film/tv/3628)
- [Celebrity Deathmatch (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/2299)
- [A Black Lady Sketch Show (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/77020)
- [Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/54425)
- [The Kids in the Hall (1989)](https://ember.film/tv/1462)

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