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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WARPED GAMES
MAD #244, January 1984
w: Larry Siegel
a: Mort Drucker
At top secret government site NORAD, Dr. McKittrick (Dabney Coleman) is trying to sell the general (Barry Corbin) on the WOPR an artificial intelligence system that will figure out various strike possibilities to defeat the enemy. In Seattle, David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) is showing his classmate Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) how he can hack into the school's computer system and change his grade in science, and he can change hers if she wants. He hacks into what he thinks are advance copies of the new video games but the WOPR system developed by Stephen Falker (John Wood), who originally named the system after his son Joshua.
At NORAD, the system has been hacked, and it appears they are on the brink of a nuclear invasion. They figure out that it was David Lightman who hacked into their system, track him down, and arrest him. He's brought to NORAD and locked in a room, but escapes on a bus touring NORAD.
Not just a Kramden cameo but Norton there in the manhole.
Having found out Steven Falker is still alive, David has found he's on a remote island off Oregon and the only one to save everyone from the brink of armageddon before the WOPR can figure out all the digits to the nuclear code. David and Steven direct the machine to play tic-tac-toe and throught that it realizes there are no possible winning outcomes.
In Germany, as well as other countries, everyone's always known who U.S. Leaders are but it doesn't seem to work the other way around.
MAD only had 3½ pages to work with but even with twice that Cracked didn't adapt much more.
WAR GAINS
Cracked #200, December 1983
a: John Severin
The movie began with NORAD taking workers through war games to show what went on there before the WOPR was fully developed.
David found out he was the one who hacked in the system by watching the news. He disposed of everything hoping he wouldn't be caught he was arrested before it was too late.
Hawkner faked his own death and isn't interested in helping anymore since he feels death is inevitable. They covince him as the earth verges on Defcon 1. It's a scale of how safe we are with Russia with 5 being the safest.
THE VERDICCH
MAD #239, June 1983
w: Stan Hart
a: Angelo Torres
Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) is an alcoholic lawyer who hasn't won a case or been to trial for years, and turns it down in a malpractice settlement in favor of taking the suit to court out of pride and proving he can win.
The parody opens with references to other movies that were around at the time. Tootsie, which was also spoofed in MAD, starred Dustin Hoffman as an actor who appeared in drag to get a part in a soap, 48 Hrs was a good cop/bad cop comedy/action movie with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, Six Weeks had Dudley Moore and Mary Tyler-Moore as the parents of a girl with cancer, Clint Eastwood had been in dozens of movies at that point, and Ben Kingsley did a biopic of Gandhi.
Frank Galvin goes to funeral homes to try and get clients, but gets kicked out. His former partner Mickey (Jack Warden) tries to help him with a settlement from a hospital he would get a percentage of. A young woman was given anaesthesia during childbirth at a Catholic hospital and choked on her own vomit which has rendered her comatose.
Her family has been given the settlement by the hospital, which Frank refuses despite the protests of her sister and brother-in-law (Roxanne Hart, James Handy) because he thinks the case should be tried. He's at great odds with the church. He meets Laura (Charlotte Rampling) at a bar and gets involved with her.
The hospital's attorney Ed Conannon (James Mason) is better prepared and has a bigger team behind him. The bishop (Edward Binns) wants to stop Frank.
The bishop's office has pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini, Menachem Begin, and Jerry Falwell.
While Mr. Concannon tries to butter up the judge (Milo O'Shea), Frank is confronted by the woman's family who would have taken the settlement and don't think he can win. Frank unsuccessfully tries to get witnesses and confides to Laura that he thinks he'll lose. He finally gets a doctor (Joe Seneca) to testify.
Frank tries to get more witnesses and finds out Laura has been giving inside information to Ed Concannon.
Jack Warden was also in another courtroom drama, And Justice for All, with Al Pacino.
Frank slaps Laura after finding out he's been betrayed. In the courtroom, he gets Kaitlin Costello (Lindsay Crouse), a nurse in the case, to testify that she had the patient eat an hour in advance and falsify the record. This wins the case.
TOOTSIE ROLE
MAD #240, July 1983
w: Larry Siegel
a: Mort Drucker
An actor can't get any work so he dresses as a woman and gets a part in a soap opera.
Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) keeps going on auditions for plays but can't get any parts. He comes home with his roommate, an aspiring writer Jeff (Bill Murray) to his Lower East Side loft to find a surprise party has been thrown for him by all his students at all acting course he teaches.
The Graduate, Midnight, Cowboy, Little Big Man, and Kramer vs. Kramer, all of which were also featured here, are referenced in the splash panel.
Michael helps his friend Sandy (Teri Garr) rehearse for a role in the soap opera Southwest General. He later meets with his agent George (Sydney Pollack) begging for work but there's nothing for him.
If I remember correctly, George doesn't find the soap opera gig for Michael, he auditions on his own, trying out for the role Sandy was up for, and getting it because they admire him for his feistiness, The director, Ron Carlisle (Dabney Coleman) is skeptical at first, but everyone else convinces him. As Dorothy Michaels, Michael gets the part and interrupts his agent at lunch to give the good news.
Michael/Dorothy meets John Van Horn (George Gaynes), who plays an actor on the show, and during the shoot goes off script to avoid being kissed. He meets Judy Nichols (Jessica Lange), and develops a deep friendship with her but doesn't divulge his true identity, and she invites him to come to her parents' home with her for the weekend.
There's a suplot where Michael meet's Julie's widowed father, who develops a crush on him and later proposes marriage, which isn't used here, but like a few other elements, are in the Cracked parody in a few pages.
Jessica Lange had been in King Kong, thus the giant gorilla hand in the last panel.
Michael/Dorothy's character of Emily Kimberly becomes the most popular character of Southwest General, and he ends up signing another contract he wants to get out of so he can do other work as himself, but can't. One day, they have to shoot the show live, Michael decides he's had enough. Goes off book again, and reveals himself on live TV, as having really been Edward Kimberly all along.
Michael is fired for the stunt he pulled and shunned by the entire cast and crew, of course. The movie ends with him trying to reconcile with Julie outside the studio. Here she reveals she was Jeff the whole time.
TOOTSIE ROLL
Cracked #196, August 1983
a: John Severin
Sandy is initially just Michael's friend but becomes his girlfriend later.
Julie asks Dorothy/Michael to come over to run lines with her, which is when he starts to develop feeling for her.
Julie is seeing Ron, who Michael doesn't like because Ron's patronizing to Dorothy and he knows Ron's cheating on the side. Julie's father is Les (Charles Durning).
Klinger was never trying to fool anyone, he was just trying to get out of the army, John Lithgow's character was trans. Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, and Tom Selleck were just hypothetical.
T. S. SHNOOKER
MAD #243, December 1983
w: Lou Silverstone
a: Angelo Torres
Cop show that took place in Los Angeles starring Sgt. Hooker (William Shatner). He shared his beat with Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed). His captain in the officer was Dennis Sheridan (Richard Heard), whose daughter Stacy (Heather Locklear) was a rookie cop.
Plenty of jokes about Shatner being a bit overweight for the role and having a belly.
T. J.'s daughter Chrissie (Nicole Eggert) occasionally appeared.
William Shatner is, of course, best known for Star Trek. There are lots of sight gags throughout about his past.
The Charmin toilet paper commercials had a campaigh for many years with store manager Mr. Whipple telling customers “Don't squeeze the Charmin.”
PHAR OUT
Australian MAD #246, April 1984
w & a: Darren Pracy
The movie begins with Phar Lap dead and his story told in flashbacks. He's brought in to New Zealand as his trainer Harry Telford (Martin Vaughn) and wife Vi (Celia Van DerBurgh) look on.
David Davis (Ron Leibman), the horse's owner, has no faith in him and demands Harry sell him, but Harry convinces him to give Phar Lap, initially called Bobby, a chance for a percentage of the winnings as long as Harry doesn't associate him with the horse. Phar Lap's stable boy Tommy Woodcock (Tom Burlinson) thinks he's being worked to death and gets fired for saying that, but is rehired when it's found he formed a bond with Phar Lap who wasn't eating without him. Phar Lap was originally renamed Far Lap because he went long distances but it had to be changed because seven letters was required to enter races.
Phar Lap loses the first few races but Tommy and his assistant Cashy (Richard Morgan) realizes he likes to come up from behind, which helps him win, bringing in prizes and saving everyone from bankruptcy. He becomes a contender for the Melbourne cup,and Dave Davis attempts to capitalize on Phar Lap's success with gambler Eric Connolly (John Stanton).
Harry is getting threats because Phar Lap's now a valuable commodity, and asks Dave for security, something Dave eventually agrees to. While Tommy Is talking Phar Lap out to practice, they are followed by a car and shot at. Jim (James Steele), the jockey, and the horse, stay in hiding until the day of the race, and almost show up late with all the police escorts.
The N.R.M.A. Isbasically Australia's equivalent to the A.A.A.
Tommy gets married. Phar Lap has seemingly run his course and Dave wants to sell him. Harry tricks Dave into thinking Phar Lap is lame so he can buy him for less money but he ends up winning the next race. Phar Lap is asked to race at Agua Caliente, the biggest race in Mexico, and Tommy and the crew go with them.
MINDLESS
MAD UK #257, August 1983
w: Robin Seaville
a: Dave Stoten
Series about two detectives in London, Terry McCann (Dennis Waterman) and Arthur Daley (George Cole). Like most duos, one is the prim and proper by-the book one, and the other is the sleazy ne'er-do-well. Dennis Waterman also sang the theme, being a professional singer as well. He had been in a series called The Sweeney, and his co-stars make an appearance in this splash panel.
There are also appearances by John Steed and Emma Peel of The Avengers, Starsky and Hutch, Kojak, Columbo, and Cannon, Eddie Shoestring, and Bergerac.
One of Terry's girlfriends was a stripper (Diana Malin).
Dave Harris (Glynn Edwards) was a bar owner. They knew a lot of shady characters with various nicknames.
Inspector Rycott (Peter Childs) was one of their rivals from the police.
