Line #20 YMMV/Mad - TV Tropes


1	!!YMMV tropes related to the magazine:
2	* ContinuityLockOut: Just who ''is'' "Max Korn", anyway?
3	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
4	** "You Can Never Win With a Bigot", which makes fun of bigots' contradictory prejudices. Has a family of new German immigrants moved in? They'll just sponge off of welfare. Wait, isn't one of them an electrical engineer? He's taking jobs away from the natural-born American citizens! It's a rather effective bit of satire that shines a light on how hypocritical bigots can be.
5	** In another comic about racism, a white woman and a black woman are talking:
6	-->'''White woman:''' I don't like the color of your skin!
7	-->'''Black woman:''' Neither do I, but they won't sell me a more popular shade at the cosmetics counter because I'm black!
8	* GeniusBonus: While most characters in parodies are given a name that sounds a bit like their actual name, in the ''Film/DirtyHarry'' parody, the Scorpio Killer is named [[http://www.psychicguild.com/horoscopes_zodiac.php?sign=Libra Libra]]. For those who know their [[https://voyance.website astrology]], that's the ''last'' astrological sign one would associate with the character.
9	* GrowingTheBeard: For the original Kurtzman comics, the first few issues got off to a decent start, but sold rather poorly. But come issue #4, with its landmark Superduperman story drawn by Wally Wood, and the series officially made its mark.
10	* HarsherInHindsight:
11	** One of MAD's predicted headlines of 1962 was Creator/MarilynMonroe checking into the hospital for a minor ailment, as a WorstNewsJudgmentEver joke. Monroe died in 1962, and her death was one of the biggest stories of that year.
12	** Their spoof of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' ends with Yodel's ghost attending the wedding of Princess Laidup and Ham Yoyo, holding a sign warning, "[[{{Pun}} May divorce be with you!]]" ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' later confirmed that Leia and Han indeed divorced.
13	** "When WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead Grow Old" from 1995 had a joke about Music/MichaelJackson and Lisa Marie Presley celebrating their 50th anniversary together, with Jackson having not been seen in public since his face exploded onstage in 2018, along with Tito having 28 multi-platinum albums. Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley divorced a year later, and Michael and Lisa Marie died at age 50 in 2009 and age 54 in 2023, respectively. The year choice of 2018 is also very close to the release date of ''Leaving Neverland'', the documentary that brought Jackson's alleged pedophilia back into the public consciousness, which came out in early 201'''9'''. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also, Tito only released one album in 2016, which came and went without a trace.]]
14	** The "Dumbest Thing of 2019" was the assumption that MAD would stop publishing new content entirely. Just eight months later, they did.
15	* HilariousInHindsight:
16	** A parody ad for Cadillac back in 1960, showing a woman wearing an emblem of the car like a necklace to show off her status symbol. Who knew rappers would adopt the same style decades later?
17	** In a 60s parody of Magazine/TVGuide, commercials are listed in the listings. Many online guides now list infomercials by the program's name instead of the standard ''Paid Programming''.
18	** In a 70s one-page comic about ''Series/MissionImpossible'', Jim Phelps receives a secret briefing message informing him that he's become a threat to the agency due to wasting the IMF's money on impractical spy tools and endangering his fellow agents through reckless approaches to missions. In the first ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]'' [[Film/MissionImpossible1996 film]], released two decades later, Phelps ends up becoming the villain. Even better, Phelps realizes the IMF is on to him when he hears "Good morning, Mr. Phelps", and realized that Ethan used his glasses to expose him.
19	** A 2002 issue showcased wedding photos that were fated to be left out of the album. The first one is "another would-be photographer who doesn't realize that cameras held at arm's length never yield flattering pictures".
20	** The ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' parody "Re-Hash of the Jeti" (#242, October 1983):
21	*** It includes a scene of the Lando Calrissian character in the Millennium Falcon calling the Death Star a "WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse" operation, with Mickey drawn in the copilot's seat. Guess [[Creator/{{Disney}} who]] owns the ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise now?
22	*** And Luke's exposition dump on Leia where he mentions C-[=3PO=] being his brother, which is technically true after ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' revealed that Anakin built him.
23	** Their ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' parody "Hokeycon" made Meowth a cow-themed Pokémon called "Vermooth". In ''Videogame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' Meowth gained an evolution that gave it horns similar to a cow.
24	** "The Comics Page of ''L'Osservatore Romano''" (issue #396) featured religious-themed takeoffs of contemporary comic strips. One of said comics parodied was ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', which had Jason reading Literature/TheBible and saying to his mother, "God has an unseen power that's everywhere, inside everything. Satan tries to seduce Jesus over to the dark side, then Jesus comes back from the dead[…] If I'm not mistaken, Creator/GeorgeLucas has the mother of all copyright-infringement lawsuits here". Five years later, ''[=FoxTrot=]'' ran a strip whose [[http://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot/2005/03/27 punch line]] was remarkably similar to the parody one in ''MAD''.
25	** A [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/675547033490292737/720900084723875870/South_Park_Skit.jpg 1998 issue]] poked fun at ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' with a mock interview with Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone. Among the things it mocked were Stan and Kyle being flat characters, the swearing being constantly bleeped out, Chef's songs, the Kenny running joke, and the idea that ''South Park'' is a passing fad and Matt and Trey may have to return to their less-popular film career. Nowadays: ''South Park'' has given Stan and Kyle some legitimate character arcs, Creator/ComedyCentral allows every swear word but the F-bomb to go unbleeped, Chef not only ceased the singing running gag but was KilledOffForReal, the Kenny running gag being phased out until it only pops up about once a season, and ''South Park'' has become a LongRunner with a movie of its own, and survived even after ''MAD'' itself was cancelled.
26	** In their ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' parody, the "literal balloon animals" scene has Fiona accidentally turn a frog into a prince while trying to inflate him. ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' would reveal that [[spoiler:her father, King Harold, is the frog prince]], adding a new unintentional gag of SurpriseIncest!
27	** Their parody of [[Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977 the Hulk TV show]] brings up the alleged "Bruce isn't a masculine enough name" rationale behind Bruce's AdaptationNameChange to David, mocking it by juxtaposing the discussion with a report about Bruce Jenner winning a decathlon and being proclaimed "the world's greatest athlete" by an announcer. Bruce, of course, would later come out as UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} and change her name to [[Creator/CaitlynJenner Caitlyn]].
28	** In "The Force and I: The ''Mad'' 'Star Wars' Musical", Obi-Wan Kenobi tries to use the mind trick to make Han Solo pay him by check, only for Han to tell him that he'll pay cash or they're not flying anywhere. Luke comments that he thought the Force was all-powerful and Obi-Wan replies that there's one power that not even it can stand up. "What's that?" asks Luke and he tells him it's the power of money. A little more than 20 years later of real-world time, Qui-Gon Jinn would try and fail to get Watto to agree to agree to accept payment in credits using a mind trick in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
29	** In 1960, the success of the ''Theatre/LilAbner'' Broadway musical and movie inspired ''MAD'' to write a musical crossover between several newspaper comics including ''ComicStrip/LittleOrphanAnnie''. Seventeen years later, she'd also star in [[Theatre/{{Annie}} her own Broadway smash]].
30	* IAmNotShazam: Those not too familiar with the magazine may assume that "Mad" is the name of the mascot, Alfred E. Neuman.
31	* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Tom Richmond's art style is criticized by some fans as being too similar to that of Mort Drucker.
32	* MemeticMutation: Alfred E. Neuman is [[https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/03/03/a-boy-with-no-birthday-turns-sixty/ a]] [[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mad-magazines-iconic-alfred-e-neuman-turns-60-year-180958466/ rare]] [[http://john-adcock.blogspot.com/2010/02/mysteries-of-melvin_17.html pre-Internet]] [[https://therealalfrede.blogspot.com/ example;]] his image can be traced to as early as the 1890s and in several unlikely places from Europe to America. He seems to have originated as the titular character in a stage play from 1894, "The New Boy". The poster for the play had a striking illustration of the smiling jug-eared kid with a missing tooth, which was plagiarized for other posters and other uses like political cartoons and advertising dentists' clinics, gradually mutating under different artists. As early as the 1910s, the kid's distinctive facial features had already become virtually identical to the Alfred of ''MAD'', and the catchphrase "What, me worry?" was attached to him by this time. Over the years he's been used in diverse ways like as a soft drink mascot, for funny postcard art, and for political paraphernalia mocking opponents' supporters. It's even been alleged that he was used in anti-Semitic posters in post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarI Austria. ''MAD'' just named him and chose him as their mascot. In the 1960s they won a copyright lawsuit after the widow of an earlier artist who made such artwork of the kid sued them, with the kid being ruled to be public domain. But he's long since been indelibly identified with ''MAD''.
33	* NauseaFuel:
34	** Basil Wolverton loved hideously pock-marked, hairy, blemished women, and occasional BodyHorror.
35	** Tom Bunk is fond of Basil Wolverton-esque women, as well as gags relying on blood, guts, puke, snot, pus, eyeballs, et cetera. This is ''especially'' true if he's being paired with writer Michael Gallagher (who is usually very tame when working with other artists).
36	** Al Jaffee loves drawing grossout gags and obese people.
37	** ''Spy vs. Spy'' has become considerably more visceral since Peter Kuper took over.
38	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: MAD taught a generation of kids to take nothing too seriously and to question social norms, a role that the Internet and satire media influenced by MAD have filled all too neatly.
39	* SeasonalRot: After briefly being reduced to a quarterly issue (but then brought back to a bi-monthly process shortly after). Other events that led to ''MAD'' magazines SeasonalRot include: when the comic went from black and white to color, when William Gaines died, when the magazine was adapted to ''Series/{{MADtv}}'' (the FOX sketch show that was set up as a rival to ''Saturday Night Live'', not the Creator/CartoonNetwork one made after the FOX version got canceled), when the magazine started accepting advertisements and "sold out", and when they switched to reprints.
40	* ShallowParody: See the page for examples, some of which are based off early drafts, and others involve getting things wrong or not doing the research.
41	* StrawmanHasAPoint: In one "The Lighter Side of" strip, a born-again Christian man talks about how he was saved after he gave up his sinful ways, and demands that a woman do the same, lest she go to Hell. When she insists that she's never sinned and has nothing to repent, he contemptuously says "Then there's no hope for you", and walks off. He's meant to come across as a self-righteous fundamentalist, but many Christians believe that ''everyone'' has sinned, and are unworthy of salvation unless they repent and accept Jesus into their hearts. From their perspective, he's not wrong to think that the woman is blind to her own failings, or that her attitude will keep her from being saved.
42	* TearJerker: The October 2018 issue "updates" the classic children's ABC book ''Literature/TheGashlycrumbTinies'' for modern audiences, but notes that unfortunately there seems to be only one way for children to die nowadays - [[https://imgur.com/gallery/Gcv8nQW in a school shooting]]. The end result is satirical in the darkest way possible, pulls absolutely no punches, and exactly as heartwrenching as it sounds. It doesn't help that it was in one of the last issues before the magazine stopped publishing new content.
43	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Ask longtime readers when ''MAD'' went downhill and you'll get answers ranging from "When it became a magazine" to "When Kurtzman left" to "When Gaines died" to "When they started accepting ads" to "When they switched to reprints". Art director Sam Viviano says that ''MAD'' was funniest "[[NostalgiaFilter whenever you first started reading it]]".
44	** Parodied in Desmond Devlin's [[http://web.archive.org/web/20100715220718/http://dccomics.com/mad/?action=about1 fictional history of ''MAD'']]:
45	-->"The second issue of MAD goes on sale on December 9, 1952. On December 11, the first-ever letter complaining that ''MAD'' 'just isn't as funny and original like it used to be' arrives".
46	* ValuesDissonance:
47	** In "Star Roars", their parody of ''Film/ANewHope'', Barstool (R2-D2) calls Cree-Pio (C-3PO) a "fag robot". Acceptable in 1977 when the issue came out, but not so much nowadays. Some reprints change the line to the less-offensive "gay robot".
48	** In the parody of Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/{{Batman\|1989}}'', "Battyman" says that he doesn't want to hear people say that his costume is "faggy".
49	** In their parody of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, the parody of the opening song has the following lyrics, which contains an ableist term that wouldn't be published today.
50	-->Our Game Boy junk and trading cards\
51	Sell across the map\
52	All bought by parents of ''retards''\
53	Who "have to" own this crap!
54	** Similarly, issue #396 ran with two different covers lampooning the 2000 election between UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and UsefulNotes/AlGore. The cover art featured Alfred holding up signs in front of each candidate's name to make them spell "[=BUmbling SHmuck=]" and "[=GOofy REtard=]" respectively. A similar cover running in later years would no doubt use different words. (Gag writer Duck Edwing's original concept art, as seen in ''MAD Cover to Cover'', had "[=BUll SHit=]" and "[=GO home... REtire=]" instead. While it's obvious why the former was changed, it's not known why the latter was too.)
55	** A lot of their movie parodies relied on QueerPeopleAreFunny, where the simple "reveal" that some male characters were gay and in love was treated as something inherently shocking and funny (such as in their ''Beauty & the Beast'', ''Spider-Man'' and ''Shrek'' parodies).
56	** Lampshaded in a disclaimer preceding their 2020 reprint issues, saying that some material was unedited and may be offensive to some readers.
57
58	----
59	!!YMMV tropes related to the TV series (the Cartoon Network one, not the FOX one):
60	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
61	** The [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Applejack]] CaptainErsatz from the ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' parody skit (given the name "[[FanNickname Maplejack]]" by fans to avoid confusion with the original).
62	** [[PunnyName Sudoku]], the bizarre hybrid between ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} and [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars Ahsoka]] from the "Groan Wars" sketch, has become very popular on her own years after the show ended.
63	* FandomRivalry: With fans of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', natch. Didn't help this was released at a time where Creator/CartoonNetwork started to [[FollowTheLeader emulate]] Creator/AdultSwim with more trippy, edgy shows like ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' and ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' (before both shows took a [[CerebusSyndrome different direction]]) as well as even more raunchier shows like ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotomy}}'', ''WesternAnimation/SecretMountainFortAwesome'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheProblemSolverz''.
64	* GeniusBonus:
65	** "Gaming's Next Top Princess" shows that they are very definitely JustForFun/OneOfUs (or, at the very least, actually did research on female characters in video games). They even got [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus Aran's birthplace]] right!
66	** The "And That's What Superfriends Are For" sketch features countless B-list & C-list DC characters.
67	** And for actual GeniusBonus points, in the episode with "Undercover Claus", the sketch with the boy who got a time machine has him knock out the boy who becomes his dad with a "Titor" aluminum bat. It sounds like an example of BrandX, unless you remember the guy who posted on various internet forums under the name John Titor - who claimed to be a time traveler from the future.
68	** Downplayed in [[Franchise/YuGiOh "Yu-Gi]][[WesternAnimation/YogiBear -Bear!"]]. Ranger Smith challenges Yogi to duel to stop him from stealing a picnic basket. While the rules are largely ignored, nobody mentions magic or trap cards and Yogi summons fictional-bear themed monsters (one of which is a combination of Boo Boo and ''the Blue-Eyes White Dragon''), the monsters that Ranger Smith uses are real, bing the [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/7/77/AmazonoftheSeas-AP06-EN-SP-UE.png/revision/latest?cb=20150115200259 Amazon of the Seas]] and [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/5/55/Gigaplant-PTDN-EN-R-1E.png/revision/latest?cb=20080601183907 Gigaplant]].
69	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The show seems to have a cult following in Latin America, to the point that there are ''[=MAD=]'' videos on Website/{{YouTube}} that are in Spanish.
70	* GrowingTheBeard: Season 2 saw this with more features from the magazine and a new look for ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy'' along with less use of gross-out humor and more variety in their sketches.
71	* HarsherInHindsight:
72	** In "[[Series/IHateMyTeenageDaughter I Hate My]] Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles", Leonardo says his mom looks like a "creepy Kardashian", specifically (as she was known at the time) Bruce Jenner. Her date, Shredder, later says that she's as beautiful as Bruce Jenner. If this sketch was made today, people would assume a more offensive joke at the expense of the transgender woman we now know Creator/CaitlynJenner to be.
73	** Creator/JohnLasseter forcing Pixar characters to become 3-D against their will in "Film/{{Tak\|en}}ing [[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo Nemo]]" becomes a lot worse after allegations of sexual harassment came out against him in 2017 and he eventually left Disney and Pixar the following year.
74	** The [[MilestoneCelebration double-length 100th Episode]] contains a segment called "In Madmoriam" that honors characters who had died in previous episodes while assuring viewers that their spirits will live on in reruns. The show would end up getting canceled just 3 episodes later and be quickly removed from Cartoon Network's schedule.
75	** The teaser for the episode featuring the ''[[Series/OnceUponATime Once Upon a]] [[Creator/CartoonNetwork Toon]]'' sketch includes a [[BitingTheHandHumor crack]] at how Cartoon Network was now 20 years old but "still [wasn't] old enough to stay up past [[Creator/AdultSwim 9:00]]". The joke got a bit awkward in the following decade when expansions to [adult swim]'s hours meant that, eventually, Cartoon Network could no longer stay up past '''5''':00, either. Although a two hour block of [adult swim's] increased run-time would be dedicated to the positively received "Checkered Past" block that showed reruns of past Cartoon Network shows, fans nevertheless became worried that the current Cartoon Network itself was becoming devalued in the eyes of the network executives.
76	* HilariousInHindsight:
77	** "[[WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse Mouse]] [[Series/{{House}} MD]]", as a sketch, may or may not have originated as a parody - namely, [[http://tvblog.girlpower.it/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/dottmouse.JPG a 2009 storyline]] on ''Topolino'', that is, the Italian Mickey Mouse magazine parodying the ''Series/{{House}}'' TV series. Which, ''in turn'', got its inspiration from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3YF8w9ilmY a commercial]], still from Italy, which celebrated the fact TV network ''Mediaset'' would start airing both franchises. Hell, even the cover you can see on the first link alludes to that commercial.
78	** None of their "Rejected ''[[Franchise/TransFormers Transformers]]''" would look out of place as a [[Toys/TransformersBotBots Bot]][[WesternAnimation/TransformersBotBots Bot]]. (With the possible exception of Headgear.)
79	** Alex in ''[[Franchise/{{Madagascar}} Outtagascar]]'' boasts about ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' "[making] more money than any movie ''ever''." Fast forward seven years later with the release of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' and that film would be the highest grossing film of all time from July of 2019 to March of 2021.
80	** The "[[Film/LesMiserables2012 Les]] [[Wrestling/TheMiz the Miz]] / [[Series/TheXFactor The]] [[ComicBook/LexLuthor Lex]] [[Series/TheXFactor Factor]]" Episode had a segment called "Real Life Heroes" where a guy shoots down the antenna broadcasting ''Series/{{Whitney}}''. A little over two weeks later, ''Whitney'' was cancelled. Looks like his plan worked!
81	** In "Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Icarus]]", Pit and Kirby fight Mega Man, Sonic, Pikachu, and Donkey Kong in a fight obviously based on ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''. Only Mega Man wasn't in the game and six players couldn't fight at once. Until [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU the fourth entry]], when it became possible.
82	** In "[[Series/MySuperSweetSixteen My]] Series/{{Supernatural}} [[Series/MySuperSweetSixteen Sweet Sixteen]]", the Winchester brothers are seen driving the "Supernatural Machine", an obvious reference to ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'''s Mystery Machine. It becomes a whole lot funnier after a [[Recap/SupernaturalS13E16ScoobyNatural crossover between the two series aired in 2018]].
83	** Five years after the show's cancellation, ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' did their own [[Recap/OKKOLetsBeHeroesS2E18CrossoverNexus version]] of "[[Series/OnceUponATime Once Upon a]] [[Creator/CartoonNetwork Toon]]".
84	** "[[Film/Super8 Super]] [[TheEighties 80s]]" essentially has the SignatureScene from ''Film/{{Pixels}}'' four years prior to its release.
85	** The "Film/{{Moneyball}} [[Anime/DragonBallZ Z]]" skit had ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' characters playing baseball ''years'' before ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' did the exact same idea.
86	** The sketch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhPkO9n_NLk&ab_channel=MrOtawara "Staking Dawn",]] parodying the ''Literature/BreakingDawn'' film (with a bit of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''), brings a Franchise/{{Batman}} wedding cake topper representing Edward (Bella says it was the closest thing to a vampire she could find). Then, in the upcoming ''Film/TheBatman2022'' film, the titular character is played by Creator/RobertPattinson, who played Edward in the ''Twilight'' film franchise.
87	* HoYay: Accidental, but the [=PokéHarmony=] skit features a male Machamp hooking up with a Hitmonchan, which is an all-male species.
88	* MemeticMutation: "[=ThunderLOLcats=] is better than ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCatsRoar''." [[labelnote:explanation]]As part of the backlash against ''Roar'' when it was first announced, many fans declared that ''MAD'''s "[=ThunderLOLcats=]" parody was a much better reboot than the actual reboot.[[/labelnote]]
89	* NauseaFuel: The two adaptations of Tom Bunk/Michael Gallagaher back cover gags from the magazine: the first involves a boy who deflates and spews goo and guts all over the place after popping a zit, and the second, a fat woman who says that her kids "eat like a bird" — which she then demonstrates by vomiting up worms into their mouths.
90	* NightmareFuel:
91	** A mini-sketch shows a guy trying to pop his zit -- which pops, and floods the room with his pus, causing his organs and skeleton to come out as well. That's right, that dude just died on camera in the most horrifying way possible. And before you ask, yes, he screamed.
92	** ''Beauty Tips with Megan Fox''. And not just the scene where [[spoiler: Megan Fox [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} turns out to be a cyborg]] ]], but her overall appearance makes her look like she crawled from the deepest trenches of the UnintentionalUncannyValley. The photo cut-out head and cartoon lips and eyebrows look really bizarre. Doesn't help that HAL from ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' is in her circuits.
93	** There's the music video parody of Music/KatyPerry's "Firework" video (called "Flammable" by Katy Putty). Much like the actual song, the parody song does have lyrics that speak out and give hope to those who are often ostracized or feel like they're not special and need to look to their inner light and let it out. The parody (like most good parodies) takes this a bit too far with [[spoiler: the fireworks causing the clay man, the stock paper woman, and the puppet man to catch fire. While the puppet is just singed [he is saved by a man with a fire extinguisher. He is shown running around on fire at the very end though.], the stock paper woman is screaming as most of her is now blackened ash, and the clay man's head melts and falls off his neck as Katy Putty [who inexplicably survives] is carted off by a police officer for arson and murder -- [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking but not jaywalking]].]] [[DownerEnding It's also the last skit of the episode]], [[FromBadToWorse AND the last]] [[TearJerker skit of]] the [[CrossesTheLineTwice first season.]]
94	** The ''Cars'' parody with Lightning [=McQueen=] being slowly and graphically crushed while he pleads for his life.
95	** A sketch from the HalloweenEpisode where a rabbit farmer makes a NightmareFace that fills up the screen.
96	-->"This has been a nightmare brought to you by ''MAD''."
97	* OlderThanTheyThink: A sketch show based on ''MAD'' magazine's parodies, cartoons, and random doodles is nothing new (besides ''Series/{{MADtv}}'' [which had the TV and movie parodies and the cartoons on occasion, but the doodles were phased out after season three], there exists an unsold pilot/TV Special of a ''MAD''-based sketch show in the 1970s that included parodies of ''Columbo'' and ''Film/TheGodfather''; the pilot was never picked up and made into a series).
98
99	* QuestionableCasting:
100	** While sometimes they're able to get the actor voices of the characters, when they don't the impressions tend to be rather hit-and-miss, though the latter might be intentional. Kevin Shinick's impressions of [[WesternAnimation/IceAge Manny]], [[Franchise/TheMuppets Kermit]], [[Franchise/{{Madagascar}} Melman]], and [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Marvin]] in particular are pretty lousy.
101	** One of the common complaints about the ''Once Upon a Toon'' sketch is that they never got some of [[TheOtherDarrin the original voice actors]] to reprise their roles. One example is not getting either Creator/JeffBennett nor Creator/PhilLaMarr to reprise their roles as WEsternAnimation/JohnnyBravo and WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack respectively.
102	* RetroactiveRecognition: Mikey Day was a recurring voice actor on the show, several years before he would gain greater fame and recognition as a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' cast member.
103	* ShallowParody: These popped up from time to time:
104	** Manga/{{Naru\|to}}[[Series/BeverlyHills90210 210]]: The writers apparently only saw the first three episodes of ''Naruto''. "Why do all these ''Naruto'' fights happen off-screen?" The relationship between the Genin, which is similar to a group of high school students' interacting, is also skimmed over.
105	** "[=PokéHarmony=]" (a parody of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and the dating website eharmony) depicts a female Hitmonchan pairing up with a male Machamp. Anyone who knows their Pokémon would know that it should be the other way around--Machamp has a 25% chance of being female, but Hitmonchan is an exclusively male OneGenderRace.
106	** "[[Franchise/KungFuPanda Kung Fu Blander]]" depicts [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Reshiram and Zekrom]] as [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/maditsmadfunny/images/9/9e/KungFuBlander.png small enough for Po to hold in both hands]], although by the episode's premiere (October 2011) Reshiram and Zekrom had already been known for at least a year ahead of time to be as big as the vast majority of their fellow cover legendaries up to that point. Though given their appearance in the sketch amounts to little more than a two second sight gag as one of numerous black and white objects and characters Po tries unsuccessfully to use against Shen, it's possible that this may have been deliberate.
107	* SpecialEffectFailure: The CGI, whenever it's used. This appears to be deliberate, though.
108	* SpiritualAdaptation: The show is basically a slightly more kid-friendly version of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' mixed with ''MAD Magazine'' sketches.
109	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: "Once Upon a Toon" was beloved for being a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover between various Cartoon Network shows, but was regarded as too short and lacking some other shows that could have appeared.
110	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
111	** ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'', ''Series/JerseyShore'', many celebrities and musicians, along with [[BitingTheHandHumor some of]] [[SelfDeprecation Cartoon Network's very own series]] are made fun of, especially the first in the series' early episodes. These date the series fairly specifically to the early 2010s. Many of their celebrity sketches also parody a specific outdated image of that celebrity, such as making fun of Music/JustinBieber's bowlcut hair, Music/LadyGaga's extravagant outfits, or Creator/KristenStewart's stoic attitude (back when she was ''only'' known as Bella Swan). Several of the shows and movies they parody were largely forgotten by the mainstream after the 2010s, such as ''Series/IHateMyTeenageDaughter'' or ''WesternAnimation/EscapeFromPlanetEarth'', making it more obvious that they were parodied when the works were still fresh in people's minds.
112	** The internet meme references that the show uses firmly date the show to the early 2010s as well, with sketches (such as ''[=ThunderLOLCats=]'', most notably) being chock full of references to then-current memes such as [=LOLCats=] and Rage Comics.
113	** The final episode has a bit that was instantly dated upon release, which contained an extended parody of the sitcom ''We Are Men''. That episode aired on December 2, 2013...almost two months after the sitcom it was based on ended, having crashed and burned after only two episodes.
114	* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Much like most of Cartoon Network's past and present offerings, this show is packed to the brim with a lot of {{demographically inappropriate humour}} [[note]]as well as [[CrossesTheLineTwice jokes about characters that tend to be liked by the target audience being severely injured or dying]][[/note]] that confirm that Cartoon Network's censors are either really bad at their job or this is all a part of Creator/CartoonNetwork's plan for more risque programming outside of Creator/AdultSwim. This was lampshaded in the ThanksgivingEpisode.
115

Context YMMV / Mad