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.
V-V-VENOM!
Crazy #90, September 1982
w: Stu Schwartzberg
a: Kent Gamble
Not to be mistaken for the Spider-Man movie. British horror film involving snakes and a kidnapping. Philip (Lance Holcomb) is a boy whose hobby is snakes, his mother is going away and has asked the grandfather, Howard Anderson (Sterling Hayden), to watch after him. While she is gone, the maid Louise (Susan George) and her boyfriend Jacmel (Klaus Kinski) have decided to take the boy hostage and Louise has seduced the chauffer Dave (Oliver Reed) so he can help them with their plot.
Philip goes to the pet store to get a snake for his collection against the protests and the maid, because Philip has to be at home when Jacmel arrives. Philip goes anyway, but we find out his snake was mixed up with the deadly black mamba, which was to be delivered to the local institute, and the mix-up is discovered by Dr. Stowe (Sarah Miles).
The kidnapping plot goes awry when the black mamba snake bites Louise, taking her life before Dr. Stowe can arrive with the antidote. Dave accidentally shoots a cop. Howard used to be a hunter and can find the mamba snake and hunt it down, but the kidnappers don't want it to interfere with their plot.
The police and everyone outside assume Louise is still alive, and Jacmel uses these false pretenses to lure Dr. Stowe in and hold her hostage as well, and cuts off Louise's fingers to give to the police making them think they;re Dr. Stowe's fingers and that he means business.
The black mamba snake gets Jacmel just as the police shoot him so it's assumed they got both him and the snakes, but while the snake was in the house, it reproduced. So the film ends with a “The End?”-type ending.
VAGUE-$
MAD #210, October 1979
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Angelo Torres
This was a detective series set in Las Vegas about Dan Tanna (Robert Urich), mostly working for celebrities and solving casino and entertainment cases. He drove around town in a Ford Thunderbird.
One of his secretaries was Angie (Judy Landers) who also worked as a showgirl.
Tony Curtis also appeared occasionally as client Phillip Roth.
A contact at the police office was sergeant Bella Archer (Naomi Stevens). Dan's assistant was Binzer (Bart Braverman), who was also a pool cleaner.
Dave Nelson (Greg Morris) was another comtact at the police office.
Beatrice Travis (Phyllis Davis) was Dan's main secretary, and also a showgirl.
VAGUE$T
Crazy #53, August 1979
w: Murad Gumen
a: Kent Gamble
Some of the pictures of Dan Tanner look like they're swiped from caricatures of other actors. In one panel he kind of looks like Warren Beatty even though Urich and Beatty don't look alike.
David Brenner is the comedian Dan bumps into. The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast a/k/a Man of the Hour was a series of TV specials on the 70s where Jimmy Stewart, Liz Taylor, and Red Buttons were frequent roasters
“He never got a dinner” was Red Buttons' catchphrase during the roasts. Ruth Buzzi was another frequent roaster. Usually as her character Gladys Ormphby.
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.
HE'S COMPANY
MAD #196, January 1978
w: Arnie Kogen
a: Angelo Torres
The plot (and shows) were fairly simple. Jack Tripper (John Ritter) lived in an apartment complex in Santa Monica with Janet (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy (Suzanne Somers), and so the landlord would know it was purely platonic and there was no hanky-panky going on, they convinced him Jack was gay. The humor was mostly innuendos based on misunderstandings, pretty innocuous by todays standards. What offended prudes was not the humor but that it was part of what was considered “jiggle TV” with Suzanne Somers usually walking around without a bra.
They had to keep up the charade whenever the landlord, Stanley Roper (Norman Fell) and his wife Helen (Audra Lindley) came by. Helen didn't care and made cracks and Stanley never putting out.
Yet another joke about 70s homophobe Anita Bryant.
THREE'S CRUMMIER
Cracked #156, December 1978
a: John Severin
Mr. Roper would always overhear something that sounded dirty but just when he thought he caught them in the act it was always something innocent. The detective here is James Garner, Jim Rockford of The Rockford Files.
I can't confirm it, but I think the Jerry Beck mentioned here is an inside joke, and maybe the same one I know.
A reference to Hugh Hefner, Duh.
In case this article wasn't seventies enough, Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett had to make an appearance.
THREE'S COMEDY
Crazy #40, July 1978
w: Rico Tallar (Paul Laikin)
a: Kent Gamble
The speech balloons have been messed up in the second panel due to sloppy editing. Renee Richards was one of the first trans people when it was still called a “sex change”.
THREE'S CRUMMY
Sick #120, February 1978
a: Jack Sparling
From a much larger article introduced by Archie Bunker.
THREE'S A CROWD
Bananas #41, circa 1981
w: Megan & H. William Stine
a: Samuel B. Whitehead
There actually was a series called that, a sort of sequel to Three's Company where Jack moved out and was married with a job. But it was only on for a few episodes before they realized such a thing wouldn't work without the women and innuendos.
The Ropers left to do their own show and were replaced by Mr. Furley (Don Knotts).
Suzanne Somers was fired from the show after demanding equal pay and replaced by a different blonde. Larry, another character, was added and even more parodies will be posted tomorrow.
