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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This sitcom was a vehicle for stand-up comic Gabe Kaplan, who had a show based on one single routine he did a few months earlier. The premise was that Gabe Kotter (Gabe Kaplan) is now a teacher and has returned to the school where he grew up ten years earlier, and now teaches the gang of juvenile delinquents that he once belonged to known as The Sweathogs. He lived in a small apartment in Brooklyn with his wife Julie (Marcia Strassman). When he's not teaching the Sweathogs, they often come to his home at night. The show opened and closed with Gabe giving one-liners like Groucho Marx or Henny Youngman.
The Sweathogs were Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes), Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo), Freddy “Boom-Boom” Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) and Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta)
Some of the running bits was Epstein bringing in faked written excuses to get out of tests signed “Epstein's Mother”, and the Sweathogs always saying “up your nose with a rubber hose” (sanitized for TV from Kaplan's original “up your hole with a Melo-Role”. The principal of James Buchanan High School was Michael Woodman (John Sylvester-White)
Woodman slightly resembled then mayor of New York Abe Beame.
From TV Spinoffs Yet to Come by Tom Koch and Harry North, in #206, April 1979
From MAD's “Whatever Became Of...” TV Characters Edition by Mike Snider and Bob Clarke, in #266, October 1986.
WELCOME BACK, KUTTER
Cracked #133, July 1976
a: John Severin
Another example of Cracked parodying the same shows and movies over and over.
HOW THE KOTTER GANG SPENT THEIR SUMMER VACATION
Cracked #137, November 1976
a: John Severin
From If the Carter Family Became TV Regulars in Cracked #150, art by...who else?...John Severin.
From The Final Episodes of Soured Sitcoms by Frank Caruso in Cracked #232, November 1987
This is only the first part. Tomorrow are Crazy and Sick's versions of the program.
THE SIX MILLION DOLLARS, MAN!
MAD #172, March 1975
w: Lou Silverstone
a: Angelo Torres
All children that were alive in the seventies know of The Six Million Dollar Man, how Col. Steve Austin (Lee Majors) got in a bad accident astronauting and was rebuilt by the government as a cyborg, costing six million dollars to make him robotic. His origin is explained in the opening credits.
”Verner Won Ton” is a play on Werner Von Braun, a former scientist for the Nazi party that was brought to the U.S. during our Space Race with Russia. 'Eastworld' is a play on 'Westworld', a movie about a robot amusement park long before it was a TV series. The tennis player is Bobby Riggs, referring to Billy Jean King, who beat him in the well-publicized Battle of the Sexes game.
Steve Austin's supervisor at the Office of Strategic Operations, a CIA stand-in, was Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson).
WFL was the World Football League. Mark Spitz was the Olympic champion swimmer.
Dr. Balsawood is Martin Balsam, who only co-incidentally was Steve Austin's doctor in the pilot episode.
From MAD's “Whatever Became of”... TV Characters Edition in #266, October 1986, by Mike Snider.
Cracked did several parodies and mash-ups, just as they did of a lot of TV shows and movies. Here are two:
THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR MAN
Cracked #120, October 1974
a: John Severin
Mr.Phelps was the lead character on Mission:Impossible
THE FAR-OUT FOUR
Cracked #123, March 1975
a: Polly Titian (John Severin)
Gerald Ford and VP Nelson Rockefeller have enlisted the aid of Henry Kissinger, Steve Austin, Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin), and Kwai Caine (David Carradine)
Henry Kissinger had a reputation for being a ladies' man.
At one time, politicians actually did their job of getting things done rather than hating the other party. Billie Jean King is called “Billie Joe” here. I'm not sure if that was intentional or just out of ignorance.
But that's not all! Tomorrow a look at even more Cracked takes on The Six Million Dollar Man, including a Star Wars mashup!
THE $6,000,000 MAN-IAC
Crazy #18, July 1976
w: Len Herman
a: Ernie Colon
