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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TRADING RACES
MAD #246, April 1984
w: Stan Hart
a: Mort Drucker
Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) is the pampered director at the Duke and Duke brokerage firm, living in a townhouse waited on by his butler Coleman (Denholm Elliott). Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) is a lowly street hustler. He bumps into Louis one day, Louis thinks he's being robbed, and Louis' bosses Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer Duke (Don Ameche) see this and decide to conduct a wager—switch the lives of the two of them and observe the results. This begins a campaign to set up Louis Winthorpe into a spiral of decline. Billy Ray, meanwhile, is being groomed to be his successor.
More than likely a subversion of the watermelon and fried chicken trope in the next to last panel, especially considering they avoided Aykroyd in blackface later on, though I can't figure out the meta-joke. Boy, were we racist forty years ago.
Louis Winthorpe is framed for dealing drugs, shunned by society, and his engagement is broken off. At the police station, he meets Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis), a prostitute, and moves in with her having nowhere to go. Billy Ray overhears the Duke Brothers (not to be confused with Them Duke Boys) talking about their bet while in the bathroom and plots revenge, bringing Louis and Ophelia in on the plot.
Billy Ray is aware that the firm has obtained information about orange crops from the government. A Duke employee is bringing that information in a suitcase on a train and the plot involves secretly switching it with a forgery so the brothers will get the wrong information, sell their stocks, and lose all their money. Louis, Billy Ray, Ophelia, and Coleman go on the train in disguise, and they, with the proper information, are able to buy up all the stocks and become rich.
There's a parody of Risky Business after this, which is what Siskel and Ebert are talking about.
From Recasting Old Movies with Today's Famous Wrestlers by John Prete (John Ficarra) and Sam Viviano, from #285, March 1989.
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.
