What’s the name of this show? MadTV.
Wait, this isn’t a new show? Isn’t MadTV already on? No, silly. The Saturday night staple was canceled in 2009 after 14 seasons. Where have you been?
I was always more of an SNL guy. When does it premiere? Tuesday 26 July at 9pm ET on the CW.
The show isn’t even on Fox any more? Nope.
I don’t even know what world I live in any more. Next you’re going to tell me there’s a whole new cast. There’s a whole new cast of eight, which is divided evenly along gender lines and has one of the most diverse lineups I’ve seen on television. At least that is a blessing.
Though there is a new cast, each week, two alums from the show come by to host. For the premiere, it’s Nicole Sullivan and Will Sasso. Strangely enough, because they are far more familiar than the cast of unknowns, they have a tendency to pull focus.
What kind of sketches do they do? The first episode is mostly focused on celebrity impersonations and political humor. There is a fake round of the Newlywed Game with Donald and Melania Trump and Bill and Hillary Clinton; a recap about the absurdity of Game of Thrones; a fake animated movie recording featuring everyone from Tony Danza to Steve Buscemi to Penelope Cruz; a season of The Bachelor if it starred Kenny Rogers; and Elizabeth Warren going all Def Comedy Jam on Donald Trump at a political rally. Since we already had Trump and Game of Thrones sketches, how about a sketch where Trump is on Game of Thrones? That’s buy one get one free right there.
Kenny Rogers, Tony Danza, Penelope Cruz: do they impersonate any modern celebrities? There is one killer fake Lena Dunham and a very good Kristen Stewart, but other than that, not really. Some of the impressions aren’t very good. The players who do the Trumps miss the mark entirely and the Kenny Rogers is about as unrecognizable as his new face. Not being able to land a Donald Trump impersonation is like not being able to walk onstage at the Laugh Factory and chew gum at the same time.
The shame about the Kenny Rogers sketch is that if it just had someone playing a redneck buffoon who somehow was on The Bachelor it would have been funny. But instead it’s about Kenny Rogers – who isn’t actually a redneck buffoon.
So it’s not funny? Mostly no. There are a few chuckles, like the Trump Game of Thrones sketch, a joke about casts that pray together, and a weird one featuring a woman on a second date. Of course these are the original ideas that have nothing to do with topical humor or famous people. That is always when the original show shone, creating indelible characters and letting them wring as many laughs as they could between commercial breaks. Do we need another sketch where Dora the Explorer is thrust into adult situations? No, we do not.
The discrepancy between the old show and the new one is made only more apparent when, late in the broadcast, there is an encore presentation of a scene by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele from when they were MadTV regulars. Their hilarious work shows the potential of the format, one that the first installment hasn’t lived up to.
Should I watch this show? As with any sort of variety show or late-night comedy these days, if there is a really brilliant sketch, it’s going to end up all over your Facebook feed the following day as the video goes viral. Wait to see a few of those and then maybe MadTV can turn itself into appointment television once again.
