Television series

MADtv

Name: MADtv
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1995
Cast: Bobby Lee, Andrew Bowen, Andy Daly, Christina Moore, Ike Barinholtz

Parody
Light-hearted
Dip in and out

MADtv is a late-night sketch-comedy series that channels the anarchic, anything-goes spirit of MAD magazine. It's absurdist, frequently silly, occasionally genuinely sharp—a show that swings for the fences every week. It's for people who loved 90s comedy's willingness to be weird and stupid in equal measure, and who don't need every joke explained.

TVMaze rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love parody that takes pop culture and celebrity impressions apart one sketch at a time, and don't mind a hit-or-miss rhythm when the good ones land.

Skip it if you want a story that builds across an episode, since this is a grab bag of short bits with uneven misses and few arcs to lean on.

What it asks of you: Expect a sitting of short, self-contained blackouts, roughly an hour at a stretch, where you can dip in and out without losing the thread.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Saturday Night Live1975

The obvious DNA ancestor: live sketch comedy with rotating celebrity hosts, a repertory cast, and the same hit-or-miss format. Watching SNL's best sketches proves the form works.

But Twenty minutes of padding for every three minutes of gold. The show has famous dead air, and commitment to the bit sometimes outlasts the joke.

In Living Color1990

Sketch comedy with a sharper edge and more cultural specificity than SNL—faster, funkier, and genuinely inventive. This is what late-90s alternative comedy learned from.

But Some of it has aged poorly in ways that sting. The show swings wildly; misses can feel meaner than they land funny.

Chappelle's Show2003

Sketch comedy that's willing to be provocative and politically pointed. The best sketches feel like they're saying something while making you laugh so hard you can't think straight.

But It's dated differently than MADtv—more topical, which means some references have lost their urgency. The later seasons lost momentum.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from MADtv

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Kids in the Hall1988

Both shows built comedy around character-driven sketches and recurring figures rather than celebrity impressions; both understood that repetition and escalation could be funnier than setup-punchline.

Canadian sketch show that influenced MADtv directly—absurdist, character-driven, willing to repeat bits until they become disturbing. Some of the best sketch comedy ever made, and weirdly emotional underneath the madness.

But The first seasons are lo-fi and take time to find their footing. Canadian TV from the late '80s has a specific low-budget look that can feel cheap.

Key & Peele2012

Two performers with genuine chemistry executing absurdist, character-driven sketches with impeccable timing. Proof that sketch comedy can be smart and stupid simultaneously.

But Self-contained and short-form; it lacks the chaotic live-TV energy that makes MADtv feel dangerous. More polished, less feral.

The State1994

A sketch show by and for people who loved MAD magazine's sensibility—weird, unafraid of being ugly or silly, committed to characters that shouldn't exist. Pure creative chaos.

But It's lo-fi and occasionally incomprehensible. Runs about forty minutes that feel like eighty. Not everything lands.

Frisky Dingo2006

Adult Swim sketch comedy with MADtv's willingness to throw spaghetti at the wall. Absurdist, character-heavy, frequently hilarious in ways that sneak up on you.

But Animation will feel cheap compared to live action. The humor is deeply random; if you need sketches to make sense, this will frustrate you.

Soap1977

Sketch-adjacent comedy that's anarchic and ridiculous, parodying soap operas with genuine affection and lunacy. Proves you can undermine a genre while celebrating what makes it ridiculous.

But It's a serialized sitcom, not sketches, so the pacing is different. The humor relies heavily on soap opera knowledge that's now generational.

30 Rock2006

Written by people steeped in sketch comedy, packed with fast jokes, character bits, and the same willingness to destroy a scene if it gets a laugh. Sketch sensibility in narrative form.

But It's highly scripted and tightly produced—none of MADtv's live-wire spontaneity. Some jokes are too clever and land as smug.

WKRP in Cincinnati1978

Ensemble comedy with absurdist character humor and the same '70s sensibility for letting weird people exist in a space together. Less sketch, more situation, but the DNA is there.

But It's a traditional sitcom with laugh track. The pace is glacial compared to sketch. If you're looking for modern comedy, this will feel quaint.

Monty Python's Flying Circus1969

Both treat sketches as an opportunity to fully inhabit weird logic rather than puncture it—comedy through commitment to absurdity rather than commentary.

The ancestral text of absurdist sketch comedy—anarchic, surreal, intellectually fearless, but never sneering. Episodes build into something coherent despite seeming random. Watches like MADtv's weirder cousin.

But British '70s sensibility means it's paced differently and sometimes impenetrable without context. It's slow, intentionally obscure, and fundamentally theatrical in a way modern comedy isn't.

Multiple Maniacs1970

Both MADtv and Maniac use rapid context-switching and character transformation as their primary comedic engine—the humor lives in the freedom to become someone else, somewhere else, whenever the impulse strikes.

A feature film built like sketch comedy—fractured, genre-hopping, willing to abandon setup for mood and tone. Emma Stone and Jonah Hill run through their characters like performers in a show that's constantly changing its own rules.

But It's surreal and deliberately disorienting. If you need plot cohesion, this will exhaust you. It's styled like a fever dream, and that's deliberate.