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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GHOST-DUSTERS
MAD #253, March 1985
w: Arnie Kogen
a: Sam Viviano
Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) are three science professors asked by the New York Public Library to investigate paranormal activity. When they return to the university where they work, they are terminated for practicing bogus science and start business for themselves as Ghostbusters in an abandoned firehouse. Their first job is to look at a something haunting a hotel.
With their equipment they find the ghost, and after it slimes them and they trash the hotel, they catch and trap it. Meanwhile, Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), a resident in a building overlooking Central Park, notices strange goings-on in her apartment and consults the Ghostbusters. Peter Venkman investigates while also making moves on her. Later, she agrees to a date with him and when he meets her she becomes possessed by a spirit in the building and claims to be the Gatekeeper seeking the Keymaster. Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) is her neighbor across the hall who has a crush on her, and he too becomes possessed by a spirit and claims to be the Keymaster.
The main plot point, is not used in this parody, in which an agent from the EPA shuts their business down, also shutting down the machine where they trap all the ghosts they've caught throughout the movie, letting them all loose throughout the city. The Ghostbusters are arrested for having a fraudulent business, and while in jail study a map of the Central Park building. They discover it was designed as a conduit for Gozer, master of the Gatekeeper and Keymaster that were possessing Dana and Louis, and the one wreaking havoc on the city with ghosts. The Ghostbusters are eventually sprung by the city as the only hope of retrapping the ghosts. Gozer has now taken the form of corporate mascot the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man which is 200 feet tall and attacking the city ala Godzilla.
Also not used are Annie Potts as their secretary and Ernie Hudson, who gets hired later as the fourth Ghostbuster.
This was not used on the cover in the U.S. but was for the German edition.
THE GUEST-DUSTERS
Cracked #249, November 1989
w & a: Pat Boyette
The logo was just as popular as the movie. Newsweek parodied it on their cover, for one example.
Harvey Comics tried to sue, claiming their logo was appropriating their character Fatso.
You don't think the porn industry would ignore a successful movie, do you?
"THE GHOST AND THE MRS." MISSES
MAD #134, April 1970
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Mort Drucker
Sitcom based on the 1947 movie of the same name.
Carolyn Muir (Hope Lange) is occupant of a house with her two children (Kellie Flanagan, Harlen Carter) and housemaid Martha (Reta Shaw). The house is haunted by Capt. Gregg (Edward Mulhare) who died in the previous century. Carolyn can see him but Martha can't.
Capt. Gregg appears and disappears at will.
Claymore Gregg (Charles Nelson Reilly) is the nephew of Capt. Gregg, owns the building, is hated by everyone including the captain. He is aware of the Captain's presence.
There's also a dog on the show, making the cast complete.
THE GHOST AND MRS. MIRE
Cracked #83, March 1970
a: John Severin
"Look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls" was one of the catchphrases they used on Laugh-In.
-You see, because Flip Wilson and Moms Mabley were black.
-You see, because Alice Ghostley was homely
-You see, because Yul Brynner was bald.
These are all jokes they wouldn't do now.
The two children were named Jonathan and Candy. The dog was named Scruffy.
UPDATE:
THE GHOST AND MRS. BORE
Sick #74, March 1970
artist and writer unknown
“You bet your bippie” was a catchphrase perpetuated by Laugh-In.
GAUCHE
MAD #301, March 1991
w: Stan Hart
a: Angelo Torres
Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) works at a Wall Street banking firm, sees errors in records at his job and fixes them, and the only way they can be changed are through passwords he has created. That night he is killed on the way back to the loft he shares with his girlfriend Molly (Demi Moore). He turns into a ghost who can see everything but nobody can see him.
-In the upper left of the splash panel are movie critics Leonard Maltin and Gene Shalit.
-The other ghost talking to Patrick Swayze's ghost is Warren Beatty's character in Heaven Can Wait, on of the many references to other movie ghosts throughout this parody.
-The man commenting on black stereotypes is talk show host Arsenio Hall, whose show happens to be in the background in the movie.
-Outside the window in the office in the first panel on the bottom is Michael Douglas as Gordon Gecko in Wall Street.
-The man reading the newspaper in the alley is former New York mayor David Dinkins.
Sam is at his old apartment watching Molly and when she's gone the apartment is robbed by Willy Lopez, the man who killed him (Rick Avilez). Anything Sam touches goes through him, so he can't do anything to scare Willy but he does manage to scare his cat, which chases Willy away. He then follows Willy on the subway to his home in Brooklyn, where Willy tells someone on the phone he knows who lives there and he's coming back for Molly. Sam doesn't know what to do but he spots a medium (Whoopi Goldberg)'s storefront in the neighborhood. He suspects Oda Mae, the medium, is a fraud, but talks to her as a last resort, and it works. He convinces Oda Mae to warn Molly she's in danger, Molly initially doesn't believe her, but starts to when Oda Mae reveals personal things.
The other ghost on the subway is Richard Dreyfus in Always.
Molly has now started dating Carl (Tony Goldwyn), Sam's co-worker and best friend, but is not quite ready to move on. What she doesn't know yet and what Sam is finding out is that Carl and Willy have been working together. It was Carl who arranged to have Sam killed for the wallet that contained his passwords. The discrepancies in numbers from earlier were actually numbers Carl was funneling to a fake bank account and he has been using her to get access to the passwords. To avenge his death and bring Carl to justice, Sam now must get help from Oda Mae again. Somehow word got out that the con game she was pulling is real and other ghosts are now coming to her for help.
Another part of Sam's plan requires his ability to touch things without going through them so he can haunt Carl and Willie. Earlier he was attacked by another ghost (Vincent Schiavelli) who felt Sam was invading his turf, and tracks him down to get the guy to teach him how to touch things.
The ghosts on this page are the Chicago Black Sox from Field of Dreams.
Sam convinces Oda Mae to pose as the name Carl has the fake account as close it before Carl can gain access to it (Not shown: he makes her give the money to charity to get rid of all evidence). Later Oda Mae allows Sam to possess her body so that he can touch Molly once again. Carl finds out about the whole plan and now tries to kill Molly and Oda Mae, but now that Sam has mastered the ability to touch things he can fight Carl without being seen and ends up killing him. Since Carl was evil he is dragged by spirits to Hell. Sam is good and can be seen before he ascends to heaven.
Yeah, there are lots of things that don't make sense. Why does Carl still need Willy now that he can get the passwords through other means? How did the other ghosts find out about Oda Mae's ability to see and talk to them? Why are evil ghosts dragged away immediately while it takes good ones a few days? How is Sam still good after having just killed someone? Hey, I'm just the messenger.
GASPER
MAD #340, October 1995
w: Stan Hart
a: Paul Coker, Jr. Casper started out as a children's book (co-written by early-60s MAD writer Sy Reit) then it became an animated series...
...then it was solely a comic for years. It along with other Harvey Comics characters such as Richie Rich and Hot Stuff existed as licensing properties so it was inevitable it would become a movie, which is what is being parodied here.
The parody is narrated by Elvis Presley since he was a ghost too.
Carrigan, a rich widow (Cathy Moriarty) has inherited a dilapidated mansion, discovers it is haunted by ghosts, and hires a doctor who's an expert on ghosts (Bill Pullman) who comes with his thirteen-year-old daughter Kat (Christina Ricci). Once the doctor is settled in, he finds the mansion is also haunted by three other ghosts, the Ghostly Trio of Stinky, Stretch, and Fatso, who torment him.
The teenage daughter meets Casper and realizes he isn't as scary. He just wants a friend. She admits she doesn't really have too many friends either since they're always moving around.
He watches her go to sleep. The doctor and his daughter wake up to a big breakfast which is immediately taken over by the Ghostly Trio, who are sort of like Cinderella's wicked stepsisters.
At the daughter's first day of school, she tells everybody she lives at the old mansion. The class is planning a Halloween dance, so they decide it should be held there.
That night when she's home Casper reveals that he was once a little boy.
Casper could become a real boy but needs the help of Kat to find an elixir that can change him back, but it must be done carefully because there is only one dose. Carrigan overhears this and with her lawyer (Eric Idle) plans to steal the elixir to make herself immortal.
The scientist father goes out drinking with the ghosts and while the Halloween party's going on, the Trio turns him into one of them. When he sobers up, he regrets what he's done. Casper selflessly gives up changing back so the father can be changed back.
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For this act of selflessness the wife of the scientist (Amy Brenneman) returns as an angel and gives Casper his wish, and makes him a real boy temporarily.
KASPAR THE DEAD BABY
Crazy #8, December 1974
w: Marv Wolfman
a: Marie Severin
Crazy parodied Casper back in the seventies when it was still just a comic book, showing the origin where he was killed by an alcoholic father. Probably something that needs a trigger warning to introduce. It seems everybody who read these magazines remembers this article because it was reprinted at least twice.
Rumor has it that it was originally pitched to National Lampoon and turned down. Maybe they would have taken it in the late 80s when they had less strict editorial standards.
UPDATE:
MAD's Casper wasn't on the cover for the U.S. Edition, but it was in Mexico.
UPDATE 2: CORPSER
Cracked Monster Party #29, Fall 1993
w: Andy Simmons
a: Don Orehek
