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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WKRAP IN CINCINNATTI
MAD #218, October 1981
w: Arnie Kogen
a: Angelo Torres
Sitcom about a radio station converting to a rock & roll format in their quest to climb from their spot as the lowest rated station in Cincinatti. It was managed by Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump), who brought in Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) to be the new programming director. Their secretary Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson) was lusted after by everyone else in the office. She was the smartest and highest paid person there despite doing the least amount of work and having several conditions.
The two disc jockeys at the station were Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) and Venus Flytrap ((Tim Reid). Andy's assistant was Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers). Two holdovers from the station's earlier format were ad salesman Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner) and news reporter Les Nessman (Richard Sanders).
Les Nessman upset that he didn't have his own office was one of their recurring features.
Mary Tyler Moore, Ted Knight, Ed Asner, and Gavin MacLeod were all in the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and co-incidentally WKRP was from her production company.
WARP IN CINCINUTTY
Crazy #71, February 1981
w: Murad Gumen
a: Kent Gamble
John Travolta was in Urban Cowboy around then.
WKRAP IN SINSINNATTI
Sick #13o, December 1979
w: Arnold Drake
a: Jack Sparling
And if you're still with us, here's a TV Guide cover by Jack Davis.
Bananas did WKLOD in Cincinatti which I used to have somewhere but can't seem to find. But remember, the senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity.
THE WHITE, SHADOWED
MAD #216, July 1980
w: Lou Silverstone
a: Angelo Torres
Ken Reeves (Ken Howard) is a former professional basketball player who once worked for the Chicago Bulls but now works as a coach at Carver High School in Los Angeles.
In these days of politicians swearing left and right, it's hard to believe it was once a big scandal when Jimmy Carter once said “I'll whip his ass” about Ted Kennedy.
Some of the players were Jackson (Erik Kilpatrick), Goldstein (Ken Michelman), Gomez (Ira Augustain), and Coolidge (Byron Stewart). The vice-principal was Sybil Buchanan (Joan Pringle) and the principal was Jim Willis (Ed Bernard).
”Lookit me, I'm dee-ancin'... I'm dee-ancin” was the way any comical Brooklyn character once mocked who they saw as a high-brow adult.
Some other players were “Salami” Pettrino (Timothy Van Patten), Hayward (Thomas Carter), and Thorpe (Kevin Hooks).
The last panel is a parody of Bobby Knight.
The obligatory stars' reaction to their parody.
From The MAD TV Coroners' Report in #227, December 1981
THE NOT-SO-BRIGHT SHADOW
Cracked #170, May 1980
a: John Severin
In the later seasons, there was a player named Vitaglia (John Menghatti)
This was the era of Cracked where, if they weren't able to do a Diff'rent Strokes parody or an If Gary Coleman did [X] kind of article, they would find a way to fit him in somehow.
THE WHITE SHALLOW
Crazy #66, September 1980
w: Murad Gumen
a: Murad Gumen & Alan Kupperberg
Probably because of the success National Lampoon had with Animal House, MAD decided they should do a movie, but instead of producing it and having their writers concieve one, they put their name on a comedy that was already in production. It closed on its opening weekend, two of the actors took their names off, and MAD was ashamed and and they took their name off any video release as well. This two-page parody was their apology for it in place of their letters section.
MAD #218, October 1980
w: Stan Hart
a: Angelo Torres
MAD artist Jack Rickard had done a few dozen movie posters for comedies in the “chicken fat” style, the kind where everything that happens in the movie takes place on the poster. I don't know if they or the studio chose him.
A mafia boss has a son who misbehaves (Ralph Macchio), The son of an oil shiek that is constantly stealing (Tommy Citera), the son of a Farrakhanesque preacher who fools around with his stepmother (Wendell Brown), and the son of a mayoral candidate, Oliver, that got his girlfriend pregnant (Hutch Parker) are all sent to a military academy.
They must have thought their strict instructor at Weinberg Academy (Ron Liebman) saying “Say it again..” over and over would catch on among water coolers and high schools everywhere but the few who saw it were probably annoyed. Their head instructor (Barbara Bach) was to sexy for the students, some of whom masturbated in class. They frame the instructor by getting Oliver's girlfriend (Stacy Nelkin) to seduce him, creating a scandal that gets them all expelled. She's drawn as a different person than the one the splash page,
The imitation of foreigners and sex with underage girls could not be what turned audiences off, since those things were still acceptable then. Most likely the creepy prosthetic Alfred E. Neuman in the beginning and end credits and ads is what scared people away.
Here's another example of the humor from the movie.
THE YESTERDAY SHOW
Cracked #109, January 1973
a: John Severin
The Today Show has gone through many incarnations as NBC's morning news show. Its first version was The Dave Garroway Show and evolved from there. This incarnation from the early 70s had Frank Blair, Barbara Walters, Joe Garagiola, and Frank McGee.
Today was on opposite Captain Kangaroo.
THE TOO-DAY SHOW
Sick #132, April 1980
w: Arnold Drake
a: Jack Sparling
Later, it was hosted by Tom Brokaw and Jane Pauley, with movie critic Gene Shalit.
Phil Donahue wasn't on The Today Show, but had a syndicated morning program around the same time.
In 1969 their line up was Hugh Downs with Walters, Garagiola, and Blair. This was the cover of TV Guide by Jack Davis.
