Product Details

• Actors: Bryan Callen, David Herman, Phil LaMarr, Artie Lange, Mary Scheer
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004
• Run Time: 806 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002KPHVU
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,257 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Television > TV Series By Letter > M > Mad TV

• For more information about "MADtv - The Complete First Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A fan and critical favorite for 10 seasons, the sketch comedy series MadTV makes its long-awaited DVD debut in a three-disc set that compiles its first season, along with choice skits and outtakes culled from its entire network run. Like its magazine namesake, MadTV earned its stripes on the strength of its parodies of pop culture, which included clever potshots at Hollywood ("Gump Fiction"), rock & roll, children's animation ("Gumboy and Pokey") and politics. The irreverence of the skits was well served by its versatile cast, which included future breakout performers Orlando Jones, Nicole Sullivan, and Artie Lange in the first season (1995-96) lineup. Though MadTV rarely landed celebrity guests on par with its main competition, Saturday Night Live (first-season highlights are ex-Kids in the Hall Dave Foley and Bruce McCullough), the quality of the writing and performances really didn't require added star power to earn its laughs. In addition to all 19 episodes of the first season, the set includes a number of unaired skits and bloopers, the series' 200th episode (from season 9), which features the return of several first-season players, and a collection of parodies from all 10 seasons. --Paul Gaita

Product Description

MADtv is a late night sketch-comedy show based on the humor of the popular MAD magazine. Material includes celebrity impersonations, music video, commercial, movie, and TV show parodies, recurring characters, musical guests, and the occasional mock cartoons. The show competes against another popular sketch-comedy show, the long-running Saturday Night Live, but the show is aimed at a younger audience. With the show's revolving-door cast of talented, comedic actors and numerous Emmy Award nominations, MADtv is truly a success story. MADtv airs at 11 PM Saturdays with most FOX affiliates, and episodes from the first 8 seasons air on Comedy Central at various times of the day.

DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:Unaired Sketches
Outtakes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great show, AWESOME release quality! I'd rate this 6 stars., October 7, 2004

By	Twiddles42 (MN, USA) - See all my reviews

19 hour long episodes, one three double-sided/dual-layer discs, at a reasonable price that's not out to fleece the customers, unlike so many other season sets of hour-long shows (or, indeed, the multitude of half-hour shows where they stuff 8, 9, or 10 half-hour episodes on a single-sided/single-layer disc and look like crap and have the unmitigated audacity to sell for the same ~$33 price.)

Not just that, the bloopers and 200th episode extras were a great joy to watch, as were the 'best of' clips and unreleased skits. Not to forget knowing that Warner Bros (the distributer) has enough faith to announce on disc 3 that season 2 will be coming!!

These episodes look and sound great as well (how could they not?)

No other TV show has been given this excellent level of treatment on DVD, and MadTV itself is a worthy enough of a show (at least to me).

Big kudos to Warner Bros on the quality of this release! Now if only they would release their 'Doctor Who' titles in dual-layer. :-)

While I tend to look more at disc quality, I should say something about the show's quality. MadTV was FOX's latest attempt (1995) to create an edgy show, after In Living Color was put to sleep and The Edge not meeting expectations. Many skits are brash and envelope pushing, but only in a good way. (okay, some are distasteful, as is typical for the genre, but most will leave you with a smile on your face.)

The show also has a modern day feel to Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (1968). Naturally, as Laugh-In paved the way for all subsequent skit shows, including Saturday Night Live. (Indeed, Lorne Michaels of SNL fame started with Laugh-In as well.)

Standout actors are Orlando Jones, Debra Wilson, and Nicole Sullivan, but there's not a bad actor of the bunch.

Am looking forward to seeing more seasons released, hopefully with the same amount of quality and extras put into them!

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a COMPLETE collection of MAD TV- Season One, October 3, 2004

By	Patrick T. Gorman (Diego Garcia, BIOT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

They sure didn't hold out anything in this DVD collection of season ONE. Every episode, every skit, and every parody is there. No censors, no bad editing. Its ALL there! I was really suprised and I am still very satisfied with my purchase, since I was expecting cheap quality. Sound is awesome, picture quality is what you would EXPECT from DVD.

All in all though, Season one is quite tame compared to the rest, but it is great watching how it all started!

Disc 3 has some bloopers on it. Not enough special features throughout, only on Disc 3. But I can't really complain, because overall the whole package seems too much for such a little price. Definite 5 Stars!

Cant wait for Season Two so I can see more Spishak commercials!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The beginning, January 8, 2005

By	N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

When Mad TV premiered on Fox in 1995, it provided a great alternative to a then duller than usual Saturday Night Live. While there are a number of skits that are as equally dull on this first season set, Mad TV made a name for itself with it's scathing and irreverant sense of humor and parodies of commercials and general pop culture. While the first season's cast didn't feature many of the familiar and hilarious faces that fans of the show would come to love (Michael MacDonald, Alex Borstein, Mo Colins, Aries Spears, and Stephanie Weir would come in later seasons), it did feature some breakout talent like comedians Orlando Jones and Phil LaMar, Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange, fan favorites Nicole Sullivan and Debra Wilson, and Office Space's David Herman. Dull moments aside, the cast mostly does some great work, and the claymation and animation shorts are laugh out loud hilarious. All in all, longtime fans of the series will want to check this out for a nostalgia trip down memory lane, and new viewers will want to give this a look as well to see where it all began.