Mad TV Best of Seasons 8/9/10

I loved the first season release of MAD TV on DVD. I've been waiting forever for the second season to come out and then desperately awaiting seasons 3 to 6 which I believe where the best of the best.

This second DVD release is a bit of a big question. Why seasons 7, 8 and 9? They're not even the best seasons. In fact, season 7 was about the last of the funny seasons. They kinda started going down hill after that. I hope the rumour that MAD have decided to abandon complete season releases and release the so called "best bits" is not true.

I wouldn't have even minded if it was a so-called BEST OF Mad TV if they included sketches from the first 6 seasons as well. The best sketches and seasons where when Will Sasso, Alex Bornstien(Ms Swan), Nicole Sullivan(Vancomb Lady), Phil LaMarr(UPS Guy), Pat Kilbane(Mr Spock) Artie Lange(Slob), Bryan Callan(Kabana Boy), David Herman, Orlando Jones but they had all left by season 7 and are not on this DVD and sadly missed.

NOTE: Alex Bornstien does appear in one sketch of season 9 as Mrs Swan. I think that might have been a special guest appearance. But not enough to say she's in it.

OVERALL

This DVD is OK, but it shouldn't have been released like this. I'd much prefer to see them released as a full season OR the very best of MAD-TV which would require a few more discs then just the one 2 hours long one here. You really see the decline during season 8, its ok, but it's far from the best of what MAD TV has done in the past.

BONUS FEATURES:

The bonus features are worthless. They're about 3 or 4 bloopers of Stewart with or without commentary that's almost as boring as listening to a Farrelly brother's commentary track. They're not great at all. They were seen at the ends of those episodes and Commentary should be kept for something interesting.

EPISODES

SEASON 8

Reality Show Cameras: Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne meet Anna Nicole Smith and Jay Leno shows up and they all end up on COPS. ***

Stuart: Meet the Parents: Stuart is about to go away for the weekend with his father and doesn't want to go. ***

Oprah: Jackass: Oprah and her husband Stedman meet up with the morons of Jackass and do what Jackass does. ***

George W. Bush: Fitness: George Bush is doing a fitness video and has his mother join in to do her aerobics. **

Lords of the Bling 2: A Lord Of The Rings parody featuring a bunch of rappers and Shaq. ***

Madvertising: Hey Joe: There's something different about Joe but no one seems to be able to put their finger on it. ***

Honeymooners: A modern spin on the show. ****

Mofaz: Marital Breakdown: That guy who has problems tells a couple whos cars broken down hes giving a lift to about what real problems are. **

CSI: Pretty much sums up that show in every detail. **

Dr. Kylie: Butt Seriously: the man having his rectum tested has a bunch of med students take an unwanted peak and he has to put up with the doctor aswell **

Oprah: Fat Camera; One of the classic sketches of Oprah becoming meaner then hell when she realises the camera that makes her look thin isn't working.

SEASON 9

Stuart: Therapist. Forgetful sketch. **

Madvertising: Ups. Funny advertising for a laxative. ****

Real Mo'fo: Black History Month: There was better ones then this. Features PoofDiddy **

The O.C. Meets American Idol; typical show about how Asians, black guys and gays aren't accepted around the OC. *

Coach Hines: The Assembly; the headmaster cant get the mornings speech to the assembly out because the gym teacher is telling everyone off. **

Dot: Spelling Bee contest on ESPN has the annoying dot competing. ***

Marvin Tikvah: Clubbing; that annoying sleazy producer finds a few girls to try and impress. *

Madvertising: M&M's: The M&M's in a Wizard Of Oz sketch. Good candy, bad commercial. *

Letters To Lincoln: A bunch of celebrities read letters from Abe and his wife. **

Jovan Musketelle: Eyewitness 2004: a live news broadcast about a bunch or sport rioters find out who the craziest guy in Detroit is. Then span back through history showing his ancestors. ***

Lillian Verner: Game Show. *

Man Up: Regional Championships: The basketball team has made it to the finals and don't wanna jinx themselves so they run through a bunch of superstition's and do rituals to free it. *

Lorraine: Happy Trails: That lady who's always coughing introduces a couple of campers to the rest of her family. ***

Stuart: Next Door; Stewart & his mom annoy the next-door neighbour. **

SEASON 10

Ms. Swan: Valentine's Day: Alex Borstien makes a guest return to play Mrs Swan once more. She wonders into a candy store as it's closing and irritates the worker who wants to leave and go on his V-day date. ****

Bae Sung: Auto Craze; mechanics who don't speak English or speech whacked out become irritating to this customer. *

Sean Gidcomb: Supply Closet: Workers hate there boss because he's gone power crazy around the office. *

Gotta Getta Gotti; stupid sketch about a mobsters daughter in som ekind of reality TV show. *

Madvertising: Fantana Fun: 60's style advert of chicks in bikinis. One of which is a BBW. *

Tank: Rocketeer: over confident homeboy moron trying to convince girls his cars the bomb. **

Patrol Car: The camera on the squad car shows this cop has run into a few little problems. **

Angela: Chasing Dubya: 9-year-old student films the president playing golf and tries to get to the president to interview him and runs into trouble with the security. *

Average Asian: Party Asian: turns out there IS something this guy is good at after all! *

Lost: they find out there on an island of a fantasy. **

Boca Condo Report: Hurricane; Senior citizen couple bring the news of the hurricane happening around them explaining why they refuse to leave there home this time. *

My Predicament: White-trash sl## Brittany Spears music video parody. *

Abercrombie: Black & White: dumb racial sketch *

No hidden Eggs.

MAD TV. Season 1 was by far from the best season. But the DVD of series 1 was 5 star fantastic. Hurry up and release the full season 2 to 100 and not these compilations. Bring on series 2 already.

Let me start off by saying that I am a HUGE MADtv fan and have been for years. It is easily my favorite show of all time. While I loved "The Complete Season 1" released in 2004, I think this DVD set is terrible. Why they abandoned complete season releases in favor of throwing together a random mix of sketches in no set order from the 3 most recent, and arguably the worst, seasons makes no sense to me. Of course this does have some classic sketches, impressions and characters on it, such as Debra Wilson's Oprah and Mo Collins' Lorraine, but a majority of it is just random. Most of these sketches aren't some of the better ones. Who picked this list?

Of course I'll still buy it because I love MADtv, but hopefully in time they'll go back to releasing complete seasons again. I can watch a better mix of sketches and episodes for free every day on Comedy Central.

It's been no secret that, over the years, the writing on MAD TV has usually been superior to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, to say nothing of all the other sketch shows that have come and gone. MAD TV has always been more edgy, more satirical, and more willing to take chances than most comedy shows. And while SNL has basically turned into a celebrity talent show, MAD TV continues to give its audience a consistently smart, funny show.

This compilation definitely features MAD TV's take-no-prisoners style, and I am thrilled that the producers wisely decided to skip ahead a few seasons and give comedy fans a DVD showcasing the tremendous talents of the newer MAD TV cast members, especially Stephnie Weir, Michael McDonald, Alex Borstein, Mo Collins, Keegan Michael-Key, and Bobby Lee. Debra Wilson, one of the original cast members (and one of my person favorites) is also featured. Her "Oprah" is uncanny - it's as if she is channeling her, and the "Oprah Fat Camera" skit featured on the DVD is worth the price of the DVD alone.

MAD TV fans will be happy to see their favorite characters on the DVD - Ms. Swan, Stuart, Dot, Mrs. Campbell, Dr. Kylie, the snotty and sexually ambiguous Abercrombie & Fitch employees, Kim Jong Il, etc. I'm also glad to see that the producers have included several TV, film, and music video parodies for which they are famous. In the guilty-pleasure department, I'm looking forward to seeing the bloopers of "Stuart," one of the strangest and most hilarious characters ever created!

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