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.
Updated daily. There's posts besides this one archived in the sidebar on the right, you clods!
if you're at a laptop or desktop, right-click and open link on pages and they'll be clearer and legible in a new window.
Showing posts with label RETURN OF THE JEDI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RETURN OF THE JEDI. Show all posts
REHASH OF THE JETI
MAD #242, October 1983
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Mort Drucker
Apparently 5/4 is a big holiday in Star Wars-land. Get it? May fourth. As in “May fourth be with you”.
Which is why I moved this parody a few days to today.
I posted this cover before a couple years ago when I posted parodies of The A-Team (link on right), but I'm just following MAD's tradition of reprinting things a few years later.
The image of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) in a bikini came from this, and would be a big thing on nerd porn if such a thing actually existed, and we all know it doesn't. Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2D2 (Kenny Baker), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Yoda (Frank Oz), and Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) are all also back. The Muppets in the splash panel could be a refernce to Frank Oz, the Ewoks, or both.
The Death Star is being reconstructed while the Empire is working to eliminate the Rebel Alliance. C3P0 and R2D2 have been sent to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, finding out through holo-message that they have been traded for him. Leia, disguised as a bounty hunter under the pretense of capturing Chewbacca, attempts to unfreeze Han.
The jar cropped in the third panel presumably says “may the sauce be with you”
Luke arrives in person to settle the whole thing, but is fed to a Rancor, which he fights and kills. Everyone is caught and as punishment, thrown to the Sarlac, a beast that has melded with the floor of the desert. Except for Leia, who becomes Jabba's concubine, where she's in a bikini, the image of which would be used in this non-existent nerd porn.
As they are lowered into the pit, Luke saves them all with a light saber that was hidden inside R2D2. Luke goes to Dagobah for his final lessons in Jedi training with Yoda. Yoda is dying but confirms that Darth Vader really is Luke's father, and he must face Vader again to defeat the Empire. The ghost of Obi-Wan (Alec Guiness) confronts Luke and tells him Leia is Luke's twin sister. Meanwhile, the Alliance has decided to get back at the Empire before they can construct a second Death Star.
As a battle plan is conceived with them all meeting on the moon of Endor. Leia, separated from them, is rescued by Ewoks. The others are kidnapped by other Ewoks. C3PO speaks their language but the Ewoks don't realize they're on the same side until...
...they think C3PO is a god. Luke reveals to Leia that they are siblings and he goes to the new Death Star to fight Darth Vader in front of the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) who is trying to get Luke to join them on the dark side.
Luke defeats his father, Darth Vader, by cutting off his hand with a light saber. The Emperor still wants Luke to cross over and is electrocuting him to try and get him to. This is too much for Vader, who throws the Emperor down a reactor. Back on the moon of Endor, the Rebel Alliance attacks the Empire's Imperial forces and (not shown) they are attacked by Ewoks who come at them by surprise with only sticks and stones.
As Darth Vader's dying wish, he asks Luke to take off his mask. The battle against the Empire is won and the Death Star is destroyed once and for all. Han promises Leia he won't cockblock her and Luke but she says their courtship will never happen now that they're brother and sister, and he can have her now. Then everybody parties.
Here's what Luke had to say about the parody.
And what Don Martin had to say.
Here was the cover to the Swedish edition. Mr. T. must not have been known well enough there yet. I pity those fools. The joke's on them. I don't know who this guy is either. Looks a bit like Sean Connery, but with helmet hair. Jesse Ventura? G. Gordon Liddy? I'm gonna go with some Swedish guy.
This was Cracked's take.
RETURNS OF THE JED EYE
Cracked #198, November 1983
a: John Severin
A couple issues later, in #200, they did an article on George Lucas.
This was the cover for the German humor magazine Panic.
And the German humor magazine Stupid. The guy with the beer bottle looks like Sean Hannity, even though I know it's not.
THE ACADEMY AWARDS a/k/a OSCARS
1929-present, various
THE ACADEMY AWARDS SHOW
Cracked #134, August 1976
a: John Severin
MAD did Academy Awards spoofs too, some of which I've posted excerpts from, plus tons of articles that were Academy Awards For Teachers, For Lawyers, For Parents, etc. that were basically framing devices for a series of gags but featured no celebrities or movie clips. This was one that was a direct parody of the actual Oscar ceremony.
The show is always hosted by a famous actor, comedian, or TV personality. This is hosted by Katherine Hepburn. Peter Falk, Ed McMahon and Clint Eastwood can be seen in the background.
Bob Hope was often the host when the Academy Awards first became televised. Bruce was the name for the mechanical shark in Jaws. Burt Reynolds can be seen in the foreground of the fourth panel. Robert Redford is the next presenter.
That year, Faye Dunaway was in Day of the Locust, Karen Black was in Nashville, and Barbara Streisand in Funny Lady. The only thing I can see Natalie Wood was in that year was Peeper, which sounds nothing like The Tupperware Story. In the background are Telly Savalas, Tom Laughlin, Lee Majors, John Wayne, and Muhammad Ali
The nude body in the second panel is a reference to someone streaking a couple years earlier (see video clip below). Karl Malden is being dismissed by Michael Douglas, his co-star of The Streaks... I mean... The Streets of San Francisco.
The bartender in Jawz is Charlie Tuna.
This was the cover to the issue of MAD I've been posting excerpts from (see “Academy Awards” sidebar). Pictured are Michael Caine, Brooke Shields, Charles Grodin, Burt Lancaster, Faye Dunaway, Sylvester Stallone. Julie Andrews, Paul Newman, Gary Coleman, Mel Brooks, and Robert Blake.
I posted Bananas Movie Awards already last month but took it down and am putting it here because it seems more appropriate.
BANANAS MOVIE AWARDS
Bananas #69, c. 1983
w: Jovial Bob Stine
a: Sam Viviano
Hey, Lighten Up was a recurring feature in Bananas similar to Shut-Ups in Cracked, where a person would mention their problem and the guy here would interrupt and mention the brighter side of it.
John Travolta starred in Stayin' Alive that year, a sequel to Saturday Night Fever, both of which were parodied by in many places and will be posted here eventually.
Jennifer Beals, in Flashdance, had a double do all her dancing. The others in the audience are characters by John Holmstrom, Alyse Newman, Bruce Day, Bob Taylor, and Howard Cruse from the Comix section of the magazine. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) were [spoiler!] revealed to be siblings in Return of the Jedi.
Eddie Murphy was known for being profane and had been in Trading Places that year.
THE A(SININE) TEAM
MAD #242, October 1983
w: Stan Hart
a: Mort Drucker
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was also parodied in that issue.
Hannibal (George Peppard), Face (Dirk Benedict), Murdock (Dwight Schulz), B. A. aka Bad Attitude (Mr. T.), and Amanda (Melinda Culea) were AWOL Vietnam vets that were also mercenary soldiers.
Hannibal was always showing up in disguises.
The man who hired them is a caricature of Walter Matthau.
They carry on with their assignment.
Mr. T. was the main reason anyone watched the show. In the early 80s he was huge with children in movies and merchandising as a muscular man with his Mandinka haircut and his catchphrase of “I pity the fool...”.
The A-Team was also parodied by Lou Silverstone and Angelo Torres in #272, July 1987 for When American TV Programs Are Shown in Russia
In the early 80s Cracked would parody a show several times. The logic must have been they had a younger readership than MAD and so they rotated new readers quicker so one would not have seen the previous parodies. Or maybe because the casts would change each season. Or maybe they were using the shows to sell magazines. Or maybe they just wanted to. Whatever the reason, here was the first one.
THE A-A-AYY TEAM
Cracked #201, January 1984
a: John Severin
Murdock was the comic relief on the show.
They're tipped off by police that crooked cops are running a protection racket.
They inform the old lady that runs a store she is about to be hit.
The cops in on the racket flee to an amusement park.
The policemen here are caricatures of Abe Vigoda (Fish, Barney Miller), Bruce Weitz (Belker, Hill Street Blues), Columbo (Peter Falk), Barney Fife (Don Knotts, The Andy Griffith Show), and Telly Savalas (Kojak)
Their second one.
THE A-A-AY TEAM
Cracked #203, May 1984
a: John Severin
An arcade owner wants The A-Team to investigate who's been tampering with their video games.
Happy Days was on TV opposite The A-Team
Like I said, Mr. T. was huge in the 80s.
THE A-TEAM WAY OF DOING THINGS
Cracked #204, July 1984
a: John Severin
#3
Michael Jackson was also used in a few articles, so this was a way of killing two birds with one stone.
Wearing the one white glove was Michael Jackson's thing in the 80s
Jesse Jackson was candidate for President in 1984, I guess you would say the Bernie Sanders of his time.
Michael Jackson was the spokesperson for Pepsi. Neither here nor there but his hair caught fire during a shoot and we made jokes about it when I was in 8th grade.
Michael Jackson may have been one of the few things more popular than Mr. T. at that time.
And here's Cracked's final parody, If The A-A-AYY TEAM Was Made Less Violent in #210, March 1985
The A-Team has to turn down a client because it would require blowing up villages, so they take the case of a child who's sure to cause no problems for them.
They find a clue, a hamster's collar with a diamond on it, and see a suspect.
B. A. chases the suspect, but can't speed.
They can't use guns either.
D. C. Cab was an ensemble comedy featuring Mr. T. in the early 80s.
And have to improvise with new ways of torture.
If you understand Spanish, there's this.
Marvel Comics had a series for a while based on the show.
UPDATE:
If one Michael Jackson/A-Team team-up wasn't enough, there was also If Michael Jackson Had Starred In... in Cracked #207, October 1984, art by John Severin.
