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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TOILET ZONE
Cracked #236, July 1988
w: Steve Skeates
a: Bob Fingerman
Twilight Zone is an anthology show that's been rebooted several times, each episode with a self-contained story that starts out as a realistic event that gets incresingly disturbing with a twist ending, and is often fantasy or horror based.
The parody has host Rod Serling ending up in the 80s with President Ronald Reagan and the casts of Leave it to Beaver, I Dream of Jeannie, Sgt. Bilko, I Love Lucy, and The Partridge Family, half of which came after the fifties and were already in color.
Saturday Night Live did a similar bit with Ricky Nelson repeatedly repeateadly going to the wrong home, ending up in reruns of other shows, and then finding he's in The Twilight Zone. They also had a recurring bit during one of their "lost" seasons called Limits of the Imagination.
ROCKHEAD IV
MAD #262, April 1986
w: Stan Hart
a: Mort Drucker
When we last left off, Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) won his bout with Clubber Lang (Mr.T.), and it was left to the viewer who won a private friendly match between him and Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). At home Rocky and his wife Adrian (Talia Shire) are having a party for her brother Pauly (Burt Young). The Soviets have developed their champion boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) which his wife (Brigitte Nielsen) is introducing to Americans.
In the audience in the splash panel are Benchley, Drucker's newspaper strip, and Hulk Hogan, who was in the previous Rocky movie.
Apollo comes out of retirement to fight Ivan despite protests from Rocky, the Italian Stallion. He goes through with it and gets pummeled to death by Ivan.
Rocky decides it's up to him to fight Ivan to avenge the death of Apollo, and the bout takes place in Russia, becoming a fight of “U.S. vs. U.S.S.R”. In Russia, he trains with primitive resources while Ivan has state of the art equipment. Pauly goes with him and he's later joined by Adrian. The crowd, being Russian, starts out on Ivan's side.
Rocky wins the bout. Is it even necessary to say? The Mount Rushmore here consists of Stallone as both Rocky and Rambo with Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson.
I made up words to the theme song in high school. All I remember is the middle, it went something like this: “Rocky 2...Rocky 3...Rocky 4...Rocky 5... That's a whole lot of Rockies...Why are there so many, I don't know...oh... Gonna fly now...” I don't know why Rocky was singled out as having so many sequels when there were a dozen or so other franchises. MAD picked Rocky in particular too in #264, July 1986.
Mexico's take on the parody.
And the Netherlands, with politicians only they would know about.
And Germany.
ROCKEY IV
Cracked #220, July 1986
w: Mort Todd
a: Bob Fingerman
In his match with Ivan Drago in Vegas, he came down a big stage with James Brown.
Stallone did a movie about arm wrestling called Over the Top.
ROCKEY: 2001
Cracked #219, May 1986
w: Eel O'Brien (Mort Todd)
a: John Severin
MR. ROCKEY'S NEIGHBORHOOD
Cracked #219, May 1986
w: Mark Lewis
a: John Reiner
Pee-Wee Herman was the brain-child of comedian Paul Reubens who did the character for many years, initially as a parody of kiddie-show hosts, then for a movie that continues to have cult status, and as host of an actual Saturday Morning TV show. Then a scandal killed his career in 1991, and later he was arrested for possession of child pornography.
A MAD PEEK BEHIND THE SCENES AT PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE
MAD #273, September 1987
a: Al Jaffee
One of the only times there's no writers' credit on a MAD piece. Must have been written by the staff. Some of the characters are real, some are MAD creations, as well as MAD background regulars Arthur the Plant and the apteryx.. To see which are which and the names of the characters, watch the video clip at the top.
Pee-Wee reading his MAD parody.
PEE-YOO'S PLAYHOVEL
Cracked #228, July 1987
w & a: Bob Fingerman
The show had a secret word and any time anyone said it all the characters and the audience at home were supposed to scream. A robot named Conky would present it.
Three kids that hung out there were the Playhouse Gang (Natasha Lyonne, Shawn Weiss, Diane Yang)
Dixie the Cabbie (Johann Carlo) would come in to introduce the King of Cartoons (Gilbert Lewis) who showed a minute of a public-domain 30s cartoon. Reba the Mail Lady (S. Epatha Merkerson) was always confused by the happenings of the playhouse. Jambi the Genie (John Paragon) granted a wish at the end of every program chanting “Meka-Lekka-Hi-Mekka-Hiney-Ho”
Pee-Wee always introduced a claymation cartoon character Penny had pennies for eyes and gave a lesson.
Pee-Wee showed the Cracked parody when he was a guest on The Tonight Show.
The scandal that killed the character involved Reubens being caught in his hometown masturbating in an adult theater. It was joke fodder for months. My opinion is he meant to be caught because he was tired only being known as Pee-Wee Herman and this was his only way out.
NUT COURT
MAD #259, December 1985
w: Larry Siegel
a: Angelo Torres
The main cast here is Bull Shannon (Richard Moll), Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), Mac (Charles Robinson), Billie Young (Ellen Foley), and the judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson)
FRIGHT COURT
Cracked #229, August 1987
w: Joe Catalano
a: Bob Fingerman
Billie was replaced by Christine Sullivan (Markie Post).
The woman operating the Wheel of Fortune is supposed to be Vanna White.
Harry Anderson had been a stand-up comedian and magician previously, and his love of Mel Torme was a running theme on this show.
MAD #264, July 1986
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Mort Drucker
Mystery-comedy-drama show with Maddie Hayes (Cybill Sheperd) and David Addlestein (Bruce Willis) running the Blue Moon Detective Agency and the “will they or won't they” tension between them (spoiler: they eventually did). The premise established early on is that Maddie is a former model who bought the agency as a tax write-off and ended up working there). The posters on the wall are of past film noirs and screwball comedies that influenced the series. (The buttons on in the Thin Man poster are references to William Powell and Myrna Loy) Their receptionist, Agnes DePasto (Allyce Beasley) answered the phone in rhyme.
During the time Mort Drucker also did the comic strip Benchley, he would give the character a cameo in every one of his parodies. The falling duck is a reference to You Bet Your Life.
The program would have the type of dialogue one would find in a Howard Hawks movie. David would often hint at sex, suggesting the two of them “boink”.
GOONLIGHTING
Cracked #226, March 1987
w: Stu Schwartzberg
a: Bob Fingerman
Bruce Willis did commercials for Seagram's wine coolers. (see above)
Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist had the detective show Remington Steele, she played Laura Holt.
The Cabbage Patch Kids' names are changed but not the Garbage Pail Kids.
