This list of film spoofs in Mad includes films spoofed (parodied) by the American comic magazine Mad. Each issue of Mad features a spoof of at least one feature film or television program. The works selected by the staff of Mad are typically from the cinema of the United States and the television in the United States, respectively.
The authors parody the original titles with puns other wordplay. Characters are caricatured, and lampooned with joke names.
These articles typically cover five pages or more, and are presented as a sequential storyline with caricatures and word balloons. The opening page or two-page splash usually consists of the cast of the show introducing themselves directly to the reader; in some parodies, the writers sometimes attempt to circumvent this convention by presenting the characters without such direct exposition. Many parodies end with the abrupt deus ex machina appearance of outside characters or pop culture figures who are similar in nature to the film or TV series being parodied, or who comment satirically on the theme. For example, Dr. Phil arrives to counsel the Desperate Housewives, or the cast of Sex and the City show up as the new hookers on Deadwood.
The parodies frequently make comedic use of the fourth wall, breaking character, and meta-references. Within an ostensibly self-contained storyline, the characters may refer to the technical aspects of filmmaking, the publicity, hype, or box office surrounding their project, their own past roles, any clichés being used, and so on.
Several actors and directors have said that they regarded ridicule by Mad as an indication of major success in their careers.
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, film and/or mad:
“Thirty—the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning brief-case of enthusiasm, thinning hair.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“Thirty—the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning brief-case of enthusiasm, thinning hair.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“Television does not dominate or insist, as movies do. It is not sensational, but taken for granted. Insistence would destroy it, for its message is so dire that it relies on being the background drone that counters silence. For most of us, it is something turned on and off as we would the light. It is a service, not a luxury or a thing of choice.”
—David Thomson, U.S. film historian. America in the Dark: The Impact of Hollywood Films on American Culture, ch. 8, William Morrow (1977)
“Make ‘em cry. Make ‘em laugh. Make ‘em mad, even mad at you. Stir them up and they’ll love it and come back for more. But for heaven’s sake, don’t try to improve their minds.”
—Robert Rossen (1908–1966)