I know this show has been dead forever and is now irrelevant, but let's just look back on it for a second. Remember the MAD magazines? Well, you probably don't, but they were comics that were released all around the late 19th century. They were about the pop culture of the time and made humor of them in the process, mainly making them meet up in an unrealistic and comedic scenario, and that's what MAD was. A comic book brand that specialized in making pop culture references and linking them, often poking fun of the pop culture references themselves. That may sound similar to Robot Chicken, and quite a bit of these reviews are referencing that show, but the MAD magazines themselves came before Robot Chicken, bashing the idea of it being a more kid friendly version of it. I'm not one for assumptions, but according to the similarities between the two, Robot Chicken may have actually taken inspiration from the MAD comics. Again, I'm not trying to state what I think is 100% accurate, but the similarities are indistinguishable here. Anyway, on to the show itself. The show, whether you loved or hated it, you can't deny it was faithful to the original comics. The same humor, the same mascot, and obviously the same pop culture references. The references are outdated now, but at the time they were relevant and fresh. They weren't afraid to poke fun of popular things at the time. They weren't afraid of the consequences they may have ever gotten for doing that in a TV-PG show, very few child friendly shows had the courage to attempt this, and even now there aren't shows that have come out quite like MAD out there, and I respect it for that. Okay, on to the things in the show. It's... not for everyone, but it succeeds in what it tries to do, and that's something not a lot of people acknowledge. It isn't meant to be a social commentary about the modern events of society, it isn't meant to say something deep about life, it isn't meant to be an emotionally gripping show filled with characters who go through mood changes and serious character development, no! It's simply meant to be a continuation, kind of a tribute to the original magazine company. Well, let's look at the comedy of the show. It's filled with immature humor, but that's the charm to it. It's meant to be immature and does it in the right way, and that's what makes it funny. Is immaturity always funny? No. In fact, it's pretty much the complete opposite. If someone just comes up to the screen and farts, that wouldn't be funny, but MAD isn't that. MAD is self-aware of its tone, and takes advantage of it for its sake. Here's an example of its humor. A skit that mainly references the show "Supernatural" has them get a report to give an exorcism at 666 avenue. They accidentally go to 664 avenue instead where they find an overly spoiled teen in her sweet 16 dressing for her birthday party. You see how incredibly ridiculous that sounds? That's the kind of humor this show has, and it's a kind of humor that a lot of people find funny. It's not just random for the sake of being random, it's giving off a type of humor that is so ridiculous it turns hysterical. Here's another example. A puppet segment where a reference to SpongeBob is the main one. A character is giving a commercial about the product, "SpongeWow" where a talking sponge is shown. The advertizer uses him to clean up a mess, and we can see that SpongeWow is clearly is distress by his screams. This is another kind of humor this show used. Where someone is tortured in a comedic way. It doesn't come off as unsettling, cruel or annoying, it's like they're unconsciously telling you, "Hey, it's just puppets. Nothing to be disturbed about." and right after he gets done with the mess, he goes on to hot sauce. This only adds to the humor. It's like the "How can this get any worse?" trope. Where someone had just been tortured in a comedic way thinking they're secure, only to find out that things will just get worse for them. I know this may sound morbid, but when you watch the sketch, it won't be. Spy vs. Spy is another example. I have heard the biggest of haters say that they liked the Spy vs. Spy sketches. Spy vs. Spy was without a doubt the most successful part about MAD. There was even a video game based on Spy vs. Spy. What is Spy vs. Spy? It's simply just a spy with a black shirt and a spy with a white shirt fighting to the death. It was all that it needed to be. It didn't need to be longer. It didn't need to take place after the events of the previous ones. It was perfect. Everyone I've known who watched the show always picked a side. Even my big sister who hated Cartoon Network picked a side. (I picked the black spy) I don't want to get into my personal life too much, but I feel like this needs to be said. The first time I've ever seen an episode of MAD was when I was 15. I had a horrible relationship with my father. We would always argue and never spent quality time together as father and son, but when MAD premiered, my father knocked on my door and I said to him, "What do you want?" and he told me, "A new cartoon is premiering on Cartoon Network and I just wanted to know if you wanted to see it." I was a big fan of Cartoon Network so I agreed and rushed downstairs and sat myself on the couch. When it played, it was the first time in years I felt a connection with my dad. We laughed at it together and we even talked to each other about it when it ended. It may have been just us watching a show, but it was the most I've ever bonded with my father in a long time. So everytime a new episode premiered, my dad always told me about it, and I always watched it with him. It gave us something to calm down and express our true feelings about. We were both laughing together and that made me feel good. It opened our relationship more and I just wanted to apologize to him for all the times I insulted him, but I just never had the courage to. So if you still hate this show, that's okay. I'm not telling you what is right and what is wrong, I'm simply just expressing my opinion on the internet and hopefully someone out there is touched by it and sees this show in a slightly brighter light than before they read this.
Review of Mad
