I grew up reading ”Mad magazine”, generally pushing aside all the so-called competitors liked “Cracked.” I loved the satirical humor, and recognized the comic genius of writers like Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein, as well the great cartoons of Dave Berg (“The Lighter Side”), Antonio Prohias (“Spy vs. Spy”) and the classic Sergio Aragonne margin-filling illustrations. Anytime I saw a new cover featuring the iconic Alfred E. Neuman, I’d grab it and go right to the back cover page, where I could tri-fold it to reveal some piece of joke art. The political humor was always razor sharp, the jabs at ‘normal everyday life’ were dead on, and the parodies of movies and TV were (and still are) unmatched. I even took their version of “Raider of a Lost Art” and turned it into a reader’s theatre piece when I was in high school.

It seemed only natural that I would gravitate to the TV series sporting the name “Mad TV” when it first aired in October of 1995. I was hoping that it would come along and bring on the long overdue death of “Saturday Night Live” which arguably hasn’t had more than 3 or 4 funny sketches in the last 20 years. There were others that tried, “Fridays” comes to mind, but all of them were pretty short-lived. “Mad TV” didn’t topple “SNL”, but it certainly stole a huge number of its viewers during its debut season. I was concerned that the series’ only connection to the magazine would be the name, but it quickly won me over. I was blown away by the extremely talented cast. All of them have moved on, but my memory of that first season is intact.

I almost hate to point out any cast members in particular, as there wasn’t a weak link in the bunch, but David Herman and Phil LaMarr pretty much took front and center. Herman had the unique ability to take the role of an ordinary nebbish and turn it on its ear. (He would take this to greater lengths later in Mike Judge’s brilliant corporate satire “Office Space”) There is a classic sketch in the first season where he plays a happy father assembling his child’s bicycle on Christmas Eve so it will be ready in the morning. It is one of television’s funniest moments, in my opinion, watching him de-evolve into a mindless wreck as the night wears on.

Phil LaMarr is the voice behind Samurai Jack, the Green Lantern (“JLA”) and Hermes Conrad (“Futurama’). But before doing all of that great work, LaMarr created the memorable hyper UPS guy on “Mad TV”. But that was just one of many he brought to life throughout his many seasons on the series. Artie Lange, who now helms a very coveted spot on the “Howard Stern Radio Show”, was always perfect as the burly lug. Then there was the lovely Nicole Sullivan, who’s Vancome Lady, will go down in history as one of the funniest characters on the series.

Warner Brothers is releasing the 1st season of “Mad TV” in a 3-disc set featuring all 19 episodes of that freshman year. Though the series continued to be funny for years after, the 1st season is undeniably the best. Parodies of “Forest Gump” and animated “Spy vs. Spy” cartoons were just some of the great comedy bits that were peppered throughout the season. The “Lowered Expectations” series was a hysterical takeoff of those God-awful dating services, while the many cast member monologues showed just how funny and talented this group comedians were.

The 1st season set does come with a few bonuses, including a few unaired sketches and a uproarious blooper reel. You’ll also find the 200th episode that featured the visit of past cast members Alex Borstein, Orlando Jones, Artie Lange, Will Sasso and Nicole Sullivan.

Even though “Mad TV” is going into it’s 10th season and still going strong, there has been some wear over the years, much like that of “SNL.” Less of the skits work as well as they used to, and some of the newer cast members don’t have that ‘chemistry’ that made the original cast work so well, but it is still worth tuning into from time to time. But given a choice, I’d rather re-visit the series’ glory days and this DVD set is the perfect way to do it.

Starring: David Herman, Debra Wilson, Orlando Jones, Phil LaMarr, Nicole Sullivan, Bryan Callen, Artie Lange
Extras: Blooper Reel, Unaired Sketches, Best of Parodies, 200th Episode
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Surround
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 9/21/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Mad TV: Season 1 an A.