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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YOUNG SURESCHLOCK HOMELY
MAD #263, June 1986
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Mort Drucker
The origin of Sherlock Holmes (Nicholas Rowe), how he met Watson (Alan Cox), and their first major case.
The prologue to the movie has someone shot with a blowdart and being injected with a poison that makes them hallucinate, part of the case they end up breaking. John Watson enrolls in Brompton boarding school where he meets Sherlock Holmes, who guesses his name and identity based on his clothing and belongings, a foreshadowing of the deductions we know him for. At the beginning of the film, Sherlock is challenged by a classmate to find a hidden trophy, which he concludes is inside an antique vase based on clues he discovers while looking for it. He's expelled from the school for cheating by schoolmaster Rathe (Anthony Higgins) who is also his friend and fencing instructor. Rupert Waxflatter (Nigel Stock), a former professor of Sherlock's and eccentric inventor, kills himself while the victim of the same mysterious blowdart perpetrator. Dr. Waxflatter's niece is Elizabeth (Sophie Ward) is Sherlock's girlfriend, and with Watson they decide to solve the case and find what happened.
Sherlock seeks the aid of Lt. LeStrade of Scotland Yard (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) who refuses to help. In their search for what's been happening in town, Sherlock and Watson come across an Egyptianh sacrificial cult, who has just kidnapped Elizabeth.
They find Rathe has been the leader of the cult all along and create a distraction to destroy the temple while saving Elizabeth. Sherlock challenges Rathe to a duel and wins. Elizabeth is shot in all this. The case is solved and Sherlock Holmes goes home for the year, promising Watson that some day they'll meet again.
A CRACKED LOOK AT YOUNG SCHLOCK HOLMES
Cracked #220, July 1986
w: Joe Catalano
a: Walter Brogan
It would be better to see more of this style from Walter Brogan than the Mort Drucker swipes they usually printed but I guess it's what they wanted. It would also be nice if I got some of these gags. But if “ifs and buts” were candy and nuts...
MAD #266, October 1966
w: Dennis Snee
a: Mort Drucker
“Will they or won't they?” sitcom about Tony Micelli (Tony Danza), en ex-ball player, who leaves Brooklyn with his daughter Samantha (Alyssa Milano) and moves to Connecticut to be a live-in maid for Angela Bower (Judith Light) and her son Jonathan (Danny Pintauro). Rounding the cast is Angela's mother Mona Robinson (Katherine Helmond. An older horny woman named Robinson. You get it?)
1Benchley was a newspaper strip Drucker was doing in the late eighties that he'd plug in every MAD piece. He's pictured later.
WHAT'S THE BEEF?
Cracked #220, July 1986
w: Joe Catalano
a: John Reiner
“Where's the beef?” was a slogan for Wendy's that became the “Whassup?”/”Yeah, Baby!”/”My wife” of the mid-eighties. Even those references are just as dated. What's the equivalent now?
Richie's brother Chuck was in the first three or four episodes of Happy Days, then disappeared and was never mentioned again.
WE'LL MAKE A FORTUNE
MAD #266, October 1986
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Will Elder & Harvey Kurtzman
This was a daytime and nighttime game show where guests had to figure out letters in the blank spaces that spelled out a quotation or a title of something. It was hosted by Pat Sajak but its presenter Vanna White was just as big a celebrity in the eighties.
From what I've been told by friend who've been on game shows is it's a scam, in that the IRS collects on the value of a prize, including a consolation prize, at what it's valued even though the show that awarded it to you paid nothing themselves.
From TV Spin-Offs Yet to Come in MAD #269, March 1987, by Tom Koch and Angelo Torres
SQUEEEAL OF FORTUNE
Cracked #222, September 1986
w: Joe Catalano
a: John Reiner
Guests here are Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, and producer Merv Griffin.
CRACKED INTERVIEWS DICK CLOG, THE BLOOPER & PRACTICAL JOKE KING
Cracked #220, July 1986
w: Mort Todd
a: John Severin
Dick Clark co-hosted a show called TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, which was basically that, the practical jokes were kind of like Punk'd or Candid Camera, but played on celebrities. It also featured commercials, old and foreign, man in the street interviews, and home videos. Clark hosted a bunch of other shows throughout the seventies and eighties and American Bandstand around the same time. If you notice in the video above, the credits and interstitials were by MAD's Sergio Aragones.
Dick Clark also hosted the game show Pyramid. His co-host for this one was Ed McMahon, who in addition to Bloopers also did Star Search.
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins was a movie from Dick Clark's production company. Even though he had his own production company, Bloopers was produced by Johnny Carson's.
Len Cella's Silly Cinemas was a series of short films three seconds long or so. Dick Clark also produced Puttin' on the Ritz, a short-lived lipp-sync show.
TOP GUNK
MAD #267, December 1986
w: Stan Hart
a: Mort Drucker
Top Gun is the name of an elite class of the navy's top 1 percent of fighter pilots. Despite disobeying orders, Maverick (Tom Cruise) saved a life, and he and his best friend Goose (Anthony Edwards) are promoted to Top Gun. In the class is rival fighter Ice (Val Kilmer) and his friend Slider (Rick Rossovitch), and thet're all taught by Viper (Tom Skerritt). The civilian instructor is Charlie (Kelly McGillis), who Maverick tried to hit on the previous night, not knowing who she was.
Maverick's father was also a fighter pilot missing in action and he's there because he has something to prove.
Charlie is attracted to Maverick because of his ego and how he breaks the rules. She's a few years his senior, but they begin a romantic relationship. During a maneuver, Goose is killed in an accident, which Maverick feels is his fault and he loses confidence. The court clears him, and Viper, who knew Maverick's father, tells Maverick he died a hero, and Maverick needs to get back in there.
Ice wins trophy as top pilot, and Maverick congratulates him, but they have to stop the celebrations short to fight in actual combat. Mavrick steps up and wins for the team, and he and Ice are no longer rivals.
The same issue had a Don Martin strip about the movie as well
And there were different covers for the Mexican edition
And the German one. The American MAD had a similar cover with Hulk Hogan around the same time and a Rambo parody in another issue. They must have been in this issue.
MAD never actually did a parody of The Tonight Show, but everyone caricatured here has a show that was parodied by them which has been or will be posted here. Featured are Alan Alda (M*A*S*H), Tom Selleck (Magnum, P. I.), Larry Hagman (Dallas), Dan Rather (60 Minutes), Mary Tyler-Moore, Joan Collins (Dynasty), Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd (Moonlighting), Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas (Miami Vice), Bob Denver(Gilligan's Island), Ted Danson (Cheers), Bob Newhart (Newhart), Alan Thicke (Growing Pains), Pat Sajak and Vanna White (Wheel of Fortune), Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Tony Danza (Who's the Boss?), Bill Cosby (The Cosby Show), and Joan Rivers, an occasional guest host who later had her own talk show on Fox, The Muppets are all nondescript.
THE TONAUGHT SHOW WITH JOHNNY CARESNONE
Crazy #85, April 1982
w: Murad Gumen
a: Kent Gamble
At the time this was written, this was basically the only late night talk show in existence. The ones that exist now with a monologue, a comedy sketch, celebrity interviews, and a comedian or musician, were basically patterned after this.
Ed McMahon was the announcer of the show, Doc Severinsen usually was bandleader, but Tommy Newsome ocassionally filled in as announcer and bandleader. Carson himself often had guest hosts when he took a day off, one of his more frequent hosts was comedian David Brenner.
Stump the Band was a regular routine they did, where an audience would mentiona song title and the band would play it. The bit was that they almost never knew the song and would make one up.
Ed McMahon often did commercials built into the show. Usually for Alpo dog food. Joan Embry of the San Diego Zoo was a frequent guest that would bring on a species unfamiliar to Carson that he'd usually be scared of.
4
food.
Being a comedian on a talk show used to be a bigger deal than it was when 15% of the country actually saw you on TV. Back then, several guest would sit with the host at once and getting to sit at the desk next to Carson meant you were “made”.
Loni Anderson was the 15-minute sex symbol then.
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE HAPPENING
Cracked #65, November 1967
a: John Severin
A weird time when middle-age people were trying to relate to this hippie stuff. Here's Liberace playing a beat club with Jimmy Durante in attendance.
The comedy stylings of Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, and Soupy Sales were somehow different from what Carson's sketches. Cracked must have known some subtlties that were way over everyone's heads.
COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH: JOHNNY CARSON
Sick #99, August 1974
artist and writer unknown
MAD again. From TV Theme Songs by Frank Jacobs and Sam Viviano from #266, October 1986. The article had lyrics to theme songs that didn't have them, though it did before becoming the show's theme.
