BOOB AND CARNAL AND TAD AND ALAS

BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969)
dir: Paul Mazursky

BOOB AND CARNAL AND TAD AND ALAS
MAD #137, September 1970
w: Stan Hart
a: Mort Drucker

Jack Rickard, like some of the other MAD artists, was a prominent movie poster artist and did the teaser poster for the actual movie, which was the top half of this cover with the only difference being Alfred E. Neuman in the bed below.

The other names continue all through the margins of the parody. Some of the names were of MAD staffers and their spouses.

Bob (Robert Culp) and Carol (Natalie Wood) go to a group therapy session somewhere in Southern California so Boob can make a documentary film about it.

Later, they tell another married couple, Ted (Elliott Gould) and Alice (Dyan Cannon) about how it changed their lives and taught them to be more open and honest with their feelings.

Bob admits that he had an affair once while at a business conference, and because of their new open relationship it brings them closer together. While smoking pot one night Carol mentions his affairs. (The names mentioned here are the real-life spouses of the actors).

After Ted and Alice go home, Ted does his exercises while Alice is offended by the news.

Bob comes home back from out of town again and finds Carol is having an affair as well with their tennis teacher, who seems confused that he is okay with it.

Both couples are on a vacation in Las Vegas now and after mentioning they are both having affairs, Ted confesses that he too had one. Alice is upset with all of them and decides that everyone needs to get it all out of their system and sleep together. The four of them go to bed together and can't go through with it.

Sick often had movie stills with captions in their letters pages. Here was one in #84.