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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RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II (1985)
dir: George P. Cosmatos
DUMBO: MORE BLOOD PART II
MAD #259, December 1985
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Mort Drucker
Not the greatest moment for two of my all-time cartoonists to endorsing our use of troops in Nicaragua in the mid-eighties, which turned out to maybe not have been such a good idea when looking back on it in history.
Sequel to the earlier First Blood about former Green Beret John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone). We begin where that left off, where he is let out of a prison camp and back into the army by Col. Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna). His mission, under the command of Major Marshall Roger Murdock (Charles Napier), is to Thailand and photograph proof of missing Prisoners of War from Vietnam, and any that do exist are to be retrieved by soldiers. After landing, he meets agent Co Phung Bao (Julia Nickson).
Against orders, Rambo frees the P.O.W.s and is abandoned by the army. Murdock never intended to complete the mission, because he didn't intend for Rambo to actually find any missing troops, and orders it shut down. Rambo is kidnaped by Russian officers, and tortured by Sgt. Yushin (Vojislav Govedarica).
Rambo, with the aide of Co, overpowers the Russians and he vows to get back at the Americans that did him wrong. He and Co fall in love and he promises to bring her back with him. The Vietnamese go after Rambo, killing Co, and he escapes in one of their helicopters.
Rambo single-handedly overpowers the Russians and Vietnamese, hijacking their helicopter, shooting soldiers with explosive-tipped arrows, and bringing P.O.W.s home. He almost kills Murdock for sabotaging the mission and he knows there are more P.O.W.s out there, demanding Murdock have them rescued as well. Rambo's promised a medal by Trautmann but all he wants is for our country to love the troops as much as they love our country. Then he walks off and says he'll live life day by day.
Staying Alive was a film Stallone directed and Lords of Flatbushwas his first film.
The movie and image were popular enough that MAD kept using it, like with these two articles that were both in the same issue.
WHEN THE RAMBO INFLUENCE SPREADS EVERYWHERE
MAD #264, July 1986
w: Lou Silverstone and J. Prete (John Ficarra)
a: Angelo Torres
The politician, George H. W. Bush, had not been president yet. The game show host, Bob Barker, has his hair parted on the wrong side.
MAD'S WRESTLING PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
MAD #264, July 1986
w: Lou Silverstone
a: Mort Drucker
MAD usually had a [...] Of the Year profile where the interviewee was the latest celebrity. That issue's article about Vincent McMahon had Sylvester Stallone interviewing him in his Rambo garb.
Captain Lou Albano was known for his professional relationship with Cyndi Lauper.
Capt. Lou Albano, Sgt. Slaughter, and Fred Blassie are portrayed here.
Rowdy Roddy Piper is the opponent of Hulk Hogan. Gloria Steinem, Geraldine Ferraro, and Jackie Onassis are in the audience.
RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II
Cracked #217, January 1986
a: Kent Gamble
(When this was reprinted a few years later, they changed the name to lampoon it, calling it Rambozo: Worst Blood Part II)
The Charles Napier caricature looks more like a combination of Alexander Haig and Jack Palance.
Another of the Russian troops not used in the MAD parody is Lt. Col. Podovsky (Steven Berkoff)
This was the inside front and back cover for #219, a couple issues later.
THE PRICE IS ALL RIGHT
MAD #51, December 1959
w: Larry Siegel
a: Mort Drucker
Best known for the version that existed in the 70s with Bob Barker and that continued into the 00s with Drew Carey, this is the first version with Bill Cullen when game shows were on networks in prime time the first time.
The premise had four contestants guessing how much a prize cost, and the one with the closest guess would win it.
THE PRICE IS TRITE
MAD UK #303, July 1987
w: David Robinson
a: William Simpson
There was a British version of the show as well, hosted by Leslie Crowther. It used the “Come on down” catchphrase and the contestants were guided by four models.
The Generation Game was a British game show similar to Family Feud except it was different generations competing against each other rather than different families.
“Escalator” was one of the games in which a contestant would guess a price for a product, then choose if they wanted to go up the next step to make another guess aand take a chance at possibly winning something better.
Punch a Bunch allowed contestants to punch a circle with a £ sign for each correct guess about a price and would get the amount on the card inside the hole.
