Mad is an American animated sketch comedy produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The series was based on Mad magazine, where each episode is a collection of short animated parodies of television shows, movies, games, celebrities, and other media using various types of animation (CGI, claymation, stopmotion, etc.) instead of the usual animation style that Warner Bros. Animation is known for. The series premiered on the evening of September 6, 2010 on Cartoon Network. The series ended its 3-year run on December 2, 2013.
A Mad Look Inside – A short piece in which viewers see a magical world inside a celebrity. This only played during Season 1.
Alfred E. Neuman for President – During the Election of 2012, there were campaigns for Alfred E. Neuman's presidential election.
Ask the Celebrity – Where various celebrities respond to fan letter questions, which the answers are always absurd. Such as Miley Cyrus, when asked what she did to put on a good concert performance, states that she rubbed cats on herself and walked on wool carpeting.
Bad Idea # – This presents a scenario from the long list of possible bad ideas.
Celebrity Birthdays – This segment shows the birthdays of fictional characters and other people in show business. Only one section of this type has been shown, though.
Celebrities Without Their Make-Up – The segment shows what real and fictional celebrities would look like without their make-up. For example, Zach Galifianakis is Benson from Regular Show without his make-up, Russell Brand is a wooden nutcracker without his make-up, Robert Pattinson is Alfred E. Neuman without his make-up, Iron Man is C-3PO without his make-up, and SpongeBob SquarePants is a fruitcake without his make-up.
Commercials – There are some commercials for fictional items and programs on every episode.
Dear Reaper - Letters from children and letters from the Grim Reaper about their death.
Don Martin – Adaptations to comics strips by longtime Mad cartoonist Don Martin.
Drawn-Out Dramas – After one of the primary sketches of the episode concludes, the Mad "wallpaper" will appear and "rip open" to reveal a Sergio Aragones-style sketch in front of a colored background, often using a version of Alfred E. Neuman in some capacity.
Gross and Beyond Gross – Differences between gross and beyond gross.
MAD News – A newsman ends up delivering the recent news. This sketch originally began broadcasting randomly in the middle of an episode usually interrupting another sketch. Starting with episode 9, the sketch now serves as a cold opening for every episode until MADvent Calendar came into view as the MAD News goes back to interrupting another sketch.
MADitorial – An editorial segment starting with episode 5 of Season 4. The sketch is animated by Jorge R. Gutierrez.
MADucation 101... – Lessons in any subject.
MADvent Calendar – A series of funny and ridiculous pop culture events that happened recently. Starting with Season 3, the sketch serves as the new cold opening for every episode.
Mike Wartella – Animations by cartoonist M. Wartella.
Rejected – A segment revealing rejected ideas within various pop culture properties like Rejected Transformers, Rejected Superheroes, Rejected Audition Tapes, Rejected Pokémon, Rejected Toy Story 3 Characters, Rejected Smurfs, and more.
Security Cam – A presentation of surveillance footage of things that happens at public places during nightly closing hours. Each video features supernatural occurrences that suggests would never happen during the day.
Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions – An adaptation of Al Jaffee's reoccurring magazine feature, it features a scenario when a person asks a question regarding something that obviously presented, resulting in the person or people who were asked to give a sarcastic response that suggest otherwise.
Spy vs. Spy – An adaptation of the long-running comic series Spy vs. Spy.
Super-villains for Your... – A parody of the PSA segments from the Super Friends. Here various super-villains from the Legion of Doom present themselves as moral guidance to some child or children. However, as they are villains, they always manage to swindle, double cross, or betray the children resulting in them dying at the villain's hand or suffering some unforeseen related event.
This Day in History – A look at an achievement on the day of the initial broadcast. Most cases it will involve a lesser known person of historical significance doing or coming up with something in the shadow of another well-known historical figure.
What's Wrong with this Picture? – A game depending on what is virtually incorrect about the picture shown on the screen, but tells the correct or least likely things shown hyped as the wrong thing.
Where's Lady Gaga – A Where's Waldo type sketch featuring pop superstar Lady Gaga who is hiding at a small-time public function. The viewer is asked to try to find her only to see at the end that she is always cleverly disguised as a prop to blend in perfectly with her surroundings.
Outstanding Short Format Animated Program for "Kitchen Nightmares Before Christmas / How I Met Your Mummy" (Nominated)
2012 PAAFTJ Television Awards
Best Animated Series (Nominated)
Home release
The DVD Mad – Season 1, Part 1 was released on September 20, 2011 with a matted 1.33:1 picture and an English stereo track. The extras on the DVD are trailers for Young Justice, the 2011 ThunderCats, and The Looney Tunes Show. The rest of the first season was released on January 17, 2012.
All four seasons of the series are available on the online streaming service Amazon Prime.
