Country of origin United States Original network Fox | No. of episodes 25 | |
Original release September 20, 1997 (1997-09-20) – May 16, 1998 (1998-05-16) | ||
The third season of Mad TV, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on the Fox Network between September 20, 1997, and May 16, 1998.
Contents
Season summary
At the start of season three, one third of the original cast (Bryan Callen, Orlando Jones and Artie Lange) was replaced by newcomers Alex Borstein (who would later do voicework and writing work on FOX's Family Guy), Chris Hogan, Pat Kilbane, Lisa Kushell, Will Sasso, and Aries Spears.
This was the last season to feature original cast members David Herman and Mary Scheer. Herman left to pursue a movie career, while Scheer left show business to become a full-time mother.
This was the last season Fax Bahr and Adam Small would produce Mad TV with Quincy Jones and David Salzman, although Barr and Small are still credited as "executive consultants". They went on to create Blue Collar TV, a similar sketch show that ran from 2004 to 2006 on the WB.
This was the last season Alfred E. Neuman and the bomb sequence was seen in the opening credits. However, Neuman's image still appeared on the Mad TV stage in the fourth season. This was also the last season of Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts, although Spy vs. Spy would be seen as part of the Mad TV rerun segments in the fourth season and fifth.
This was the first season in which Mad TV showed "classics", i.e. reruns of sketches from previous seasons.
Opening montage
The title sequence begins with several fingers pointing at a bomb. Then the bomb explodes and a picture of Alfred E. Neuman and a brain appears on a purple screen followed by the Mad TV logo. The theme song, which is performed by the hip-hop group Heavy D & the Boyz, begins. Cast members are introduced alphabetically with their names appearing in caption over black-and-white still photos of them. When the last cast member is introduced, the music stops and the title sequence ends with the phrase "You are now watching Mad TV."
Cast
* Performer was a featured cast member at the start of the season, but was promoted to repertory status mid-season.
Home releases
Shout Factory released Mad TV Season Four on DVD on June 25, 2013.