Line #1 Trivia/MadTV1995


1	* ActorSharedBackground: Stephnie Weir, who would frequently do impressions of Anna Nicole Smith, was born on the same day as Anna Nicole Smith, in Texas, albeit Odessa rather than Houston.
2	* ApprovalOfGod: Although there's no way to ''prove'' it with her being dead, Debra Wilson claimed after Music/WhitneyHouston's death that Houston was a fan of Wilson's celebrated impression of her. ("She didn't take herself too seriously", Wilson says.) Creator/OprahWinfrey, on the other hand, made no secret of her displeasure of Wilson's impression of ''her'', not that it ever stopped her. Tellingly, Wilson has retired her impression of Whitney following her death despite its enduring popularity, but continues to lampoon Oprah upon request.
3	* {{Corpsing}}: Compared to ''SNL'', it may be not-so-prevalent, but the show's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDGDRdoERjk&feature=youtu.be&t=53s definitely]] [[https://youtu.be/u7I0iG4haGw?t=2m25s had]] [[https://youtu.be/NRR-eBML7hI?t=3m19s its]] [[https://youtu.be/cs2BNl_IhJg?t=2m35s moments,]] with Michael [=McDonald=] being the undisputed king of making many of his co-stars break.
4	** Even Michael [=McDonald=] himself breaks character when there is an unscripted event completely out of left field, which can be seen in a Christmas segment where Nicole Parker brought in a pig onto the stage, only for the pig to soil the carpet.
5	* CreatorBacklash:
6	** Creator/PhilLamarr makes no secret of his disappointment in the show abandoning its "alternative ''SNL''" idea as early as its second season to just become "diet ''SNL''."
7	** Similarly, Creator/IkeBarinholtz has expressed frustration at the show's executives' refusal to explore having any identity outside of being a rival to ''SNL'', claiming that it divided its audience in a way that would never favor it and prevented it from developing a voice of its own.
8	* CrossCastRole: Darrell from the "Can I Have Your Number" sketch is a man but played by the female Nicole Randall Johnson.
9	* DuelingShows: With ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. While ''[=MADtv=]'' has its share of fans[[note]]a lot of which are former disillusioned fans of ''SNL''[[/note]] and is considered the longest-running Fox sketch show (and ''SNL'''s longest-running rival), ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (for all its flaws, SeasonalRot, detractors, and controversial moments) came out on top as the edgy, weekend live sketch show with a cast of up-and-coming comedians. ''Saturday Night Live'' even has two former ''[=MADtv=]'' cast members: Jeff Richards (who was on the show from 2001 to mid-2004) and Taran Killam (who stayed from 2010 to 2016)[[note]]Stephnie Weir, Mary Scheer, Jordan Peele, Keegan Michael Key, and Erica Ash auditioned, but were turned down[[/note]].
10	* DeniedParody: Alex Borstein has flatly denied that Ms. Swan is an old Asian woman, and claims she's based on her grandmother. (The Vancome Lady thinks she's Icelandic; Borstein also parodied Bjork, and inevitably took advantage of the name to put Swan in her famous swan dress.) In a bit of RealityIsUnrealistic, Borstein's grandmother is Hungarian, a European people with a [[https://dailynewshungary.com/genetic-study-proves-hungarians-descendants-huns/ very Asiatic history.]]
11	* ExecutiveMeddling: According to Creator/IkeBarinholtz, any attempts made by the cast to push the show away from its status as "Fox's ''SNL''" and develop an identity of its own were vetoed by its executives.
12	* HostilityOnTheSet: By most reports, there were a lot of tensions between the cast members throughout the show's run:
13	** Creator/AriesSpears didn't seem to get along with anyone (with the notable exception of Debra Wilson, whom he was often partnered with in sketches), accusing Creator/AlexBorstein of racist remarks. In turn, both Creator/JordanPeele and Creator/KeeganMichaelKey claimed he was cold to them and oftentimes difficult to work with. The show itself may have been inspired by the goings-on backstage when it had Creator/NicoleSullivan and Spears re-enact (what they claimed to be) an actual TV Guide article reporting tensions between the two of them (the show was known at the time for playing with {{Kayfabe}}, including a sketch where Wrestling/BretHart flips out while filming a sketch and attacks the cast members).
14	** Creator/BobbyLee didn't get along with Michael [=McDonald=] or most of his other then-castmates (in [=McDonald=]'s case he and Lee seems to have made up), though he speaks fondly of Alex Borstein (ironically enough), as well as Creator/WillSasso, Mo Collins and Debra Wilson. One of his castmates who he ''didn't'' get along with? Aries Spears. It even extended at one point into each others' podcasts where Lee invited Spears onto his podcast TigerBelly, only for Spears to coldly rebuff his invite.
15	** Bryan Callen from season 1 does not get along with Lee, ''at'' '''all'''. The fact that he made considerable controversy for threatening [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor pretty unspeakable things that derailed his own career]] towards Bobby further cements his own {{Jerkass}} status towards people.
16	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
17	** For a time, the only [=DVD=]s released were the complete season one set and a compilation special called ''The Best of Seasons 8, 9, and 10''. Despite a preview for the second season DVD, Warner Bros. decided not to release anymore [=DVD=]s for the show due to low sales. Creator/ShoutFactory picked up the slack and released seasons two, three, and four on DVD, but then stopped for the same reason Warner Bros. did. Don't bother looking for it on television, since Creator/ComedyCentral stopped airing the show in 2010 (it didn't even air the last couple of seasons [12 to 14], though Canada's Comedy Network aired season 12 before pulling the show) and no other channel has aired it since . Website/YouTube seems to be the only place anyone can find ''[=MADtv=]'' sketches (albeit ones with Comedy Central station identification bugs or Dutch subtitles[[note]]maybe a few that have Fox or CW station [=ID=] bugs {or even station ID bugs from Canada, like the now-defunct [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E!_(Canadian_TV_system) CH]]}, but those are rare[[/note]]), and the [=iTunes=] store only has full episodes of the last two seasons available.
18	** As of 2020, HBO Max has seasons one to 14 of the show. However, of the 329 episodes (that's the Fox version, the 20th anniversary special, and the short-lived CW revival) that have aired, 114 episodes are missing[[note]]with season six (the 2000-2001 season) missing ''19'' episodes out of 30[[/note]] due to rights issues over the celebrity guest stars and musical performances (though the music video parodies and spoken references to songs are still there, unlike what happened with ''In Living Color'' when it was released on DVD with the entire fifteenth season being missing), leaving 215 episodes that have cleared.
19	* RealLifeRelative:
20	** Cast member Creator/JoshMeyers is the brother of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' cast member Seth Meyers, making this the only time an ''SNL'' cast member had a sibling who was a cast member on a rival show.
21	** Mo Collins' son appeared in a sketch about wigs.
22	** Stephanie Weir's actual husband appears in the "Wedding Video" sketch.
23	** A couple of sketches have had Nelson Ascenscio's twin brother and Paul Vogt's twin brother (Peter), making them the only ''[=MADtv=]'' cast members who have an identical twin brother.
24	** In the "Adopted Asian Baby" sketch Bobby Lee's brother Steve plays a fellow baby. Steve Lee also sometimes appears on the sketches where Bobby Lee plays his Asian CasanovaWannabe character, Tank.
25	* RecycledScript: There are many recurring characters in the show, and some of these characters had scripts with either the same plot/situation or having the character repeat his/her shtick, with only a few variables. This becomes particularly prevalent in the later seasons.
26	** Particularly egregious are the Crafty Gal sketches. There are 5 of these sketches, and all feature Denise (Creator/CristaFlanagan) and Kendra (Creator/ArdenMyrin) as two unattractive girls who sell crafts at a booth, and during the process talk about being sexually harassed and/or their willingness to date any man. A man or two will approach them and the sketches end with the girls going home with the man. There is virtually no variation between these sketches with the exception of the men they go home with and the place.
27	** Also taking flak for this are Bobby Lee's Bae Sung, Tank, and the Blind Kungfu Master sketches, where their respective characters do the same actions with usually the same ending in different places. This was sort of lampshaded in one of Bae Sung sketches where Tony Soprano (Portrayed by Frank Caliendo) pointed out that saying "hot dog" over and over again is not funny, and proceeded to brutally murder Bae Sung for annoying him.
28	** Scripts can also be recycled between different recurring characters. Paul Timberman's Workshop (By Will Sasso) and Wendy Walker's 3 Minute Meals (By Crista Flanagan) are essentially the same shtick: A TV personality tries to demonstrate a task but gets physically injured in the process. This example is interesting given that Crista Flanagan's Wendy Walker character only appeared several seasons after Paul Timberman's Workshop sketches ceased.
29	* SoMyKidsCanWatch: A fun variation: Creator/SusanSarandon made a few guest appearances because her kids were huge fans of the show.
30	* TechnologyMarchesOn: An early recurring sketch was "Lowered Expectations", a video matchmaking service for ''extremely'' maladjusted individuals. While hilarious, the sketch was a bit...dated in the late '90s due to the rise of the internet and online dating making video services obsolete, and the sketch was quietly retired by the end of the decade.
31	* ThrowItIn: Although [=MadTV=]'s comedy sketches are taped, even outside of HilariousOuttakes a few sketches still had the cast members' {{Corpsing}} moments left uncut. Mo Collins will occasionally be seen trying to stifle a laugh, and even Michael [=McDonald=] was seen corpsing at least twice.
32	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
33	** Creator/SethMacFarlane was originally contracted to do cartoon shorts for this show, but backed out in favor of creating his own TV series for FOX. Had [=MacFarlane=] taken the offer, he would have created ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' for ''Series/MadTV1995'' before spinning it off into its own show, much like Creator/MattGroening did with ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' on ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow''. This is why Alex Borstein, a regular on [=MadTV=] at the time, was cast as female lead Lois Griffin, again echoing the casting of ''Tracey Ullman Show'' regulars Creator/DanCastellaneta and Creator/JulieKavner on the ''Simpsons'' shorts.
34	** Creator/KeeganMichaelKey and Creator/JordanPeele were originally hired with the intention of FOX picking only one of them to be in the next season's cast, but the two had such great chemistry both separately and together that FOX decided to pick them both.
35	** Stephnie Weir (the ''Series/MadTV1995'' cast member known for recurring character Dot[[note]]a mentally unstable girl whose parents abuse her because she's as not smart as her sister[[/note]] and her impression of Anna Nicole Smith) originally auditioned to be a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' cast member. She was passed up on ''SNL'' in favor of Creator/RachelDratch.
36	*** Creator/JordanPeele also auditioned to be on ''Saturday Night Live'' during the hiatus brought on by the 2007-2008 Writers' Guild strike when Creator/LorneMichaels used the time off to find a cast member who could play Barack Obama. Peele and another black male cast member (Creator/DonaldGlover) were passed up in favor of Fred Armisen (to much controversy) until September 2012, when Creator/JayPharoah was chosen. Peele would end up playing Obama on his own show ''Series/KeyAndPeele''.
37	*** In a reversal, Creator/CheriOteri auditioned to be in the original ''[=MADtv=]'' cast. When the producers chose Nicole Sullivan instead, she went over to ''SNL''.
38	** [[https://youtu.be/3qk6AHEj7v8?t=170 According to Joey Diaz]], after the first ''Series/TheSopranos'' parody sketch blew up, the cast was more than ready to make a second one when Jamie-Lynn Sigler (who played Meadow on ''The Sopranos'') hosted, but someone from the ''Sopranos'' production team stopped them.
39	--->'''Joey Diaz:''' "She can host, but she ain't doing no fucking sketch", so we canceled the sketch.
40	** In 2003, Stacy Hallal pitched what would become ''WesternAnimation/RubyRocketPrivateDetective'' for the show. It was not picked up.

Context Trivia / MadTV1995