A-Z GUIDE TO MOVIES AND TV SHOWS PARODIED BY MAD, CRACKED, CRAZY, ETC. UP TO 1996. THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS. SPOILERS AND OTHER NON-SEQUITURS, TOO. SOMETIMES THESE THINGS HAVE WORDS OR SITUATIONS WE DON'T USE ANYMORE. YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE THEY'RE OLD.
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Saturday, April 13, 2024
VAGUE-$
VEGA$
1978-1981 ABC
VAGUE-$
MAD #210, October 1979
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Angelo Torres
This was a detective series set in Las Vegas about Dan Tanna (Robert Urich), mostly working for celebrities and solving casino and entertainment cases. He drove around town in a Ford Thunderbird.
One of his secretaries was Angie (Judy Landers) who also worked as a showgirl.
Tony Curtis also appeared occasionally as client Phillip Roth.
A contact at the police office was sergeant Bella Archer (Naomi Stevens). Dan's assistant was Binzer (Bart Braverman), who was also a pool cleaner.
Dave Nelson (Greg Morris) was another comtact at the police office.
Beatrice Travis (Phyllis Davis) was Dan's main secretary, and also a showgirl.
VAGUE$T
Crazy #53, August 1979
w: Murad Gumen
a: Kent Gamble
Some of the pictures of Dan Tanner look like they're swiped from caricatures of other actors. In one panel he kind of looks like Warren Beatty even though Urich and Beatty don't look alike.
David Brenner is the comedian Dan bumps into. The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast a/k/a Man of the Hour was a series of TV specials on the 70s where Jimmy Stewart, Liz Taylor, and Red Buttons were frequent roasters
“He never got a dinner” was Red Buttons' catchphrase during the roasts. Ruth Buzzi was another frequent roaster. Usually as her character Gladys Ormphby.
In the Crazy parody, I think the first client is a reference to Soap. She's called Merry Campbell, which sounds like a reference to Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon), and the husband looks more or less like Burt Campbell (Richard Mulligan). Gamble's so inconsistent, though, that it's hard to be sure. Why they'd be referencing Soap, I'm not sure - maybe because Robert Ulrich had a role on it at the beginning, the year before starring in Vega$.
Right after that, the little kid is a Drucker swipe, from Mad's parody of the Poseidon Adventure.
In the Crazy parody, I think the first client is a reference to Soap. She's called Merry Campbell, which sounds like a reference to Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon), and the husband looks more or less like Burt Campbell (Richard Mulligan). Gamble's so inconsistent, though, that it's hard to be sure. Why they'd be referencing Soap, I'm not sure - maybe because Robert Ulrich had a role on it at the beginning, the year before starring in Vega$.
ReplyDeleteRight after that, the little kid is a Drucker swipe, from Mad's parody of the Poseidon Adventure.
Kaputt, the first German edition of Cracked, did their own parody of the show in issue #72.
ReplyDelete