History YMMV / Mad

** 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]].

** "[[WesternAnimation/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.

** 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 '''6''':00, either, causing some fans to worry that Cartoon Network's regular programming was becoming devalued in the eyes of the network executives.

** 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.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Hell, who knows what ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' would have been without MAD. 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.

* WhatTheHellCastingAgency:
** 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.
** 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.

** 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 being canceled just 3 episodes laterm with the show getting quickly removed from Cartoon Network's schedule.

* GrowingTheBeard: Maybe, with more features from the magazine and a new look for ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy''. Also with less use of gross-out humor and more variety in their sketches.

** 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 Schnick's impressions of [[WesternAnimation/IceAge Manny]], [[Franchise/TheMuppets Kermit]], [[Franchise/{{Madagascar}} Melman]], and [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Marvin]] in particular are pretty lousy.

** 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.

** Their ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' parody "Hokeycon" made Meowth a cow-themed Pokemon called "Vermooth". In ''Videogame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' Meowth gained an evolution that gave it horns similar to a cow.
** "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''.

** 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''.

* 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.

* 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]]."

-->"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."

** 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."

** 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.

** 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]].

* HoYay: Accidental, but the Pokeharmony skit features a male Machamp hooking up with a Hitmonchan, which is an all-male species.

** 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.

* 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.

** 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.

** 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/MissionImpossible'' 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.

** 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 and eventually left Disney and Pixar.

** 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]].

*** And speaking of which, the TakeThat to Creator/StevenSpielberg saying that he would be nothing without the 80s became somewhat hilarious when one of the main complaints of ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'' is that most of its film references are from 80s movies.

** The "Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Icarus]]" sketch from the [[WesternAnimation/{{Mad}} animated TV series]] included a ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' parody which has VideoGame/MegaMan take part in the battle. Flash forward to 2014 with the release of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', Mega Man is a fully playable character in those games.

** 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 '''7''':00, either, causing some fans to worry that Cartoon Network's regular programming was becoming devalued in the eyes of the network executives.

*** And speaking of which, the TakeThat to Creator/StevenSpielberg saying that he would be nothing without the 80s became somewhat hilarious when one of the main complaints of the film adaptation of ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'' is that most of its film references are from 80s movies.

*** And speaking of which, the TakeThat to Creator/StevenSpielberg saying that he would be nothing without the 80s became somewhat hilarious when one of the main criticisms of the film adaptation of ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'' is that most of its film references are from 80s movies.