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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GNOME IMPROVEMENT
MAD #311, June 1992
w: A. J. Marly (Arnie Kogen)
a: Angelo Torres
Sitcom was based on the stand-up comedy act of Tim Allen. He plays Tim Taylor, host of the show Tool Time, and the show centers on his home life with his wife Jill (Patricia Richardson) and their three children Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Mark (Taran Noah Smith), and Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). His assistant and sidekick on the show within a show was Al (Richard Karn), The neighbor he often talked to was Wilson (Earl Hindman) and the running gag was you only saw the top of his head over the fence. Herve Villechaise of Fantasy Island was not a regular, but his catchphrase there was "Boss! De plane!" Crow from Mystery Science Theater 3000 is about to be taken apart by a "Crow Bar". Get it?
Tim Allen's recurring grunt was from his stand-up act and appears in the opening credits.
-The character of Tim Taylor is loosely based on PBS personality Bob Villa.
-Longevity of network TV shows used to be determined by random "Nielsen" families having a box attached to their televisions to see what they watched.
-I forgot all about Anything But Love, probably so did a lot of people.
Here's Tim Allen pretending to be offended by the parody they probably told him about in advance.
SOME IMPROVEMENT
Cracked #273, August 1992
w: Tony Frank (Lou Silverstone)
a: Walter Brogan
Neil Bush, George H.W. Bush's brother, was implicated in a savings and loans scandal in the early nineties.
Fun Fact: a few episodes of Home Improvement were written by Bob K. Taylor, the only cartoonist to have worked for MAD, Cracked, Crazy, Sick, AND National Lampoon.
SOMBRE
MAD #114, October 1967
w: Lou Silverstone
a: Mort Drucker
Western begins with an opening shot of the man we at first only know as "Hombre" (Paul Newman). Much is made of the fact that Newman plays a Native American but has blue eyes. He is called into town by Henry Mendez (Martin Balsam) and informed his stepfather has died and among the things he has inherited are a local boarding house. While in the bar he beats some white men harassing local Mexicans and Indians, establishing the type of person he is. But now that he owns the boarding house he has to conform to the ways of the white man.
Billy Lee (Peter Lazer) and Doris (Margaret Blye) are a couple staying at the boarding house. Hombre/John Russell comes introducing himself to the housekeeper, Jessie (Diane Cilento) as the new owner. They all decide to leave town and John goes with them since the boarding house is now empty. Grimes (Richard Boone) is another passenger who happens to be taking the same trip.
Mr. Favor (Fredric March) and his wife (Barbara Rush) also join them on the trip. Mendez and Russell are forced to ride on the roof of the coach because Mrs. Favor doesn't want to be in the same coach as a Mexican and an Indian (it was two centuries ago). When they take a rest stop, Grimes holds up the train with two other bad men who had been waiting and holds up the coach, and takes Mrs. Favor hostage.
Paul Newman finally did win an Oscar in 1986 for The Color of Money, though I think one of the bigger Oscars is usually for one's entire career rather than the particular movie.
It ends with Russell and Grimes shooting each other simultaneously. The survivors fighting is for this.
HOLLYWEIRD SQUARES
Cracked #231, October 1987
w: Moe McMahon & Mort Todd
a: Rob Orzechowski
The basic premise of the show was that nine celebrities were in a grid. The contestants represented X and O and were alternately asked a series of questions and got to pick a celebrity to answer them. If they guessed whether the celebrity answered correctly, that person would light up with their letter and the first to get three correct answers in a row with the celebrities lining up with their letters like a game of tic-tac-toe was the winner.
Pat Sajak and Vanna White are featured here because there was also a Wheel of Fortune parody in that issue.
The show went through various incarnations throughout the years. This one was hosted by John Davidson. The celebrities are Michael J. Fox (Family Ties), Dr. Ruth Westheimer (call-in radio sex therapist), ALF, Al Lewis (Munsters), Vanna White (Wheel of Fortune), Sagebrush (Cracked), Bob Hope, Betty White, and the Talking Blob (Cracked)
Vanna White, in addition to Wheel of Fortune, had also been a Playboy model.
Orson Welles did wine commercials with the slogan "We will sell no wine before it's time"'
Paul Lynde was a regular in the show's 70s version. Peter Marshall was the previous host.
From If the Carter Family Became TV Regulars in #150, May 1978, art by John Severin
Chevy Chase played president Gerald Ford on Saturday Night Live. Walter Mondale was Carter's Vice President.
From Saturday Night Live imitation Fridays, known for the early careers of Seinfeld co-creator Larry David and co-star Michael Richards.
MAD #108, January 1967
w: Larry Siegel
a: Jack Davis
Sitcom about soldiers in at Stalag 13, a POW camp in Germany during World War II, led by Colonel Robert Hogan (Bob Crane)
The Allied prisoners, LeBeau (Robert Clary), Newkirk (Richard Dawson), Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon), and Carter (Larry Hovis) had secret tunnels across the base and use it to smuggle prisoners in and out of various camps and the officers at their own base were none the wiser, and they behaved well for the Germans in order to carry on their secret operations.
The premise of this parody is that this POW camp is cushy, more like a white-collar prison, compared to real POW camps.
Sgt. Schulz (John Banner) was the clumsy but lovable Nazi of the camp, often catching the men in secret acts but never telling for fear of repercussions from his superiors.
Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer) was the leader of Stalag 13 who was unaware of what was going on and figured he ran a tight ship. His secretaries varied in different episodes.
The punchline to this piece (the writer of which I believe had survivors in his family) is that if you like humor about a POW camp, you'll love humor about a concentration camp.
In the letters column a couple issues later, some of the actors showed they're in on the fun.
Homer, back when he was a child of the 60s, showed what his favorite TV show was growing up.
That's all the humor that could be misconstrued as anti-semitic for now. People who've only seen the last three posts must think that's all we do.
HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I (1981)
dir: Mel Brooks
HYSTERIA OF THE WORLD, PART I
MAD #231, June 1982
w: Stan Hart
a: Mort Drucker
From The MAD Academy Award Show in that issue, in the category "Most Tasteless Movie of the Year". A running joke there was that Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford from Mommie Dearest was running up on stage to steal the awards.
Too soon?
Goof-up: At 2:43, they show the mattress when he glides away.
THE HINDENBURGER
Sick #110, June 1976
w: Fred Wolfe (Paul Laikin)
a: Jerry Grandenetti
Wasn't a big enough movie to be parodied. My guess is they did it because they had enough photos and drawings of George C. Scott to work and/or swipe from.
Disaster film about how the Hindenburg zeppelin explosion was most likely an act of sabotage. Zeppelins were considered a viable form of transportation at one time and also used as a symbol for the strength of Nazi Germany.
Per the Wikipedia summary:
Kathie Rauch from Milwaukee, Wisconsin sends a letter to the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., claiming the Hindenburg zeppelin will explode after flying over New York City. In the meantime, Luftwaffe Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott) boards with the intention of protecting the Hindenburg as various threats have been made to down the airship, which some see as a symbol of Nazi Germany.
Ritter is assisted by a Nazi government official, SS/Gestapo Hauptsturmführer Martin Vogel (Roy Thinnes), who poses as an "official photographer" of the Hindenburg. However, both operate independently in investigating the background of all passengers and crew on the voyage. Ritter has reason to suspect everyone, even his old friend, Countess Ursula von Reugen, whose Baltic estate in Peenemünde had been taken over by the Nazis and appears to be escaping Germany to visit her daughter in Boston.
Other prime suspects include card sharps Emilio Pajetta (Burgess Meredith) and Major Napier (Rene Auberjonois), Edward Douglas (Gig Young), a suspicious German-American ad executive, as well as several crew members and even the Hindenburg captains Pruss (Charles Durning) and Lehmann Richard Dysart). Many possible clues turn out to be red herrings, such as Joe Spah (Robert Clary) sketching the ship's interior as an idea for a Vaudeville show and mysterious names which later turned out to be the name of race horses on board the Queen Mary (where Douglas's competitor is travelling).
As the Hindenburg makes its way to Lakehurst Naval Air Station, events conspire against Ritter and Vogel. They soon suspect the rigger Karl Boerth (William Atherton), a former Hitler Youth leader who has become disillusioned with the Nazis. Ritter attempts to arrest him but he resists and requests help from Ritter, who sympathizes with him because Ritter's son was killed in an accident a year before while in the Hitler Youth. Ritter later receives news that Boerth's girlfriend, Freda Halle, was killed while trying to escape arrest as the Hindenburg crossed the Atlantic. Boerth, upon hearing the news of Halle's death, plans to commit suicide by staying aboard the airship as the bomb goes off, to show that there is a resistance against the Nazi regime. Ritter reluctantly agrees with Boerth to set the bomb to 7:30, when the airship should have landed and passengers disembarked, saying an explosion in flight is the "last thing he wants".
While setting up the bomb, Boerth drops the knife part which is recovered by a crew member. To cover up the loss of his knife, Boerth steals a knife from fellow rigger Ludwig Knorr (Ted Gehring). Vogel starts to work behind Ritter's back, arresting Boerth and confiscating the Countess (Anne Bancroft)'s passport.
As the airship approaches Lakehurst Naval Air Station at 7:00, Ritter now realizes the landing has been delayed and searches for Boerth to ask where the bomb is. Vogel is caught by Ritter in the cargo bay torturing Boerth and gets into a fight with Ritter and is knocked unconscious. An injured Boerth tells Ritter the bomb is in the repair patch of gas cell 4. Ritter attempts to defuse the bomb, but is distracted by a now-awakened Vogel and is unable to do so in time. The bomb explodes, killing Ritter instantly and sending Vogel flying down the walkway. Vogel survives, being carried by ground crewmen. Boerth was injured from being tortured by Vogel and dies of his burns, but manages to set the Channings' dog free before the ship crashes to the ground. Other passengers and crew are seen struggling to survive the fire. The Countess survives and is reunited with her daughter.
The following day, with the fire cleared, a narrator lists some of the survivors and casualties of the disaster, as well as some of the possible theories. The wreckage is examined for the inquiry before being cleaned up. As Herbert Morrison's memorable radio commentary is played, the Hindenburg is seen flying once again, only to disappear again in the clouds as the credits roll.
SWILL STREET BLUES
MAD #231, April 1982
w: Tom Koch
a: Angelo Torres
There were more characters actually on the show than featured in the splash, but the main cast here is Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti), Mick Belker (Bruce Weitz), Howard Hunter (James B. Sikking), Leo Schnitz (Robert Hirschfeld), J. D. LaRue (Kiel Martin), Ray Catellano (Rene Enriquez), Henry Goldblume (Joe Spano), and Lucy Bates (Betty Thomas). Grant Tinker was the president of NBC.
Sgt. Esterhaus (Michael Conrad) was always the one doing the roll call at the beginning and would conclude it with "Stay safe out there". The two cops on the beat and in the previous page are Andy Renko (Charles Haid) and Bobby Hill (Michael Warren)
Furillo and Joyce Davenport (Veronica Hamel) were a couple and even lived together, but pretended not to be while at work.
They never said they took place or hinted at taking place in Chicago, Los Angeles, or any particular city. Another cop, here unseen, was Washington (Taurean Blacque).
THE KILL STREET BLAHS
Crazy #87, June 1982
w: Murad Gumen
a: Kent Gamble
Michael Warren had previously been a college basketball player.
This was on the cover of TV Guide by one-time MAD artist Bruce Stark.
Let us not forget SCTV's mashup of this show with Benny Hill
UPDATE:
Cover for the Mexican edition, which must have also done a Smurfs parody, or maybe a parody of the Schtroumpfs comic albums. Don't know why Hunter is chosen as “it”.
UPDATE 2:
ILL STREET BLUES
Bananas #58, c. 1982
w: Jovial Bob Stine
a: Sam Viviano
