Country of origin United States Original network Fox | No. of episodes 25 | |
Original release September 13, 2003 (2003-09-13) – May 22, 2004 (2004-05-22) | ||
The ninth season of Mad TV, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on the Fox Network between September 13, 2003, and May 22, 2004.
Contents
Summary
After Debra Wilson left the show at the end of season 8, season 9 became the first season without any of the original cast members from season one. Former featured players Ike Barinholtz, Josh Meyers, Ron Pederson, and Paul Vogt were upgraded to repertory status.
Among season 9's new cast members was Daniele Gaither, a member of The Groundlings who was trained by Michael McDonald, was on the short-lived WB sketch show Hype, and appeared on a Mad TV sketch before becoming a cast member (Gaither appeared on a season two sketch as one of "Bob Dolemite's" women). Her celebrity impersonations included rapper Eve, MTV VJ La La, and supermodel/talk show host Tyra Banks. The second new cast member was Nicole Parker, who became known for her impersonations of Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Renée Zellweger, and Judy Garland.
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele joined the show as featured cast members. Peele created several characters popular with the audience (such as Funkenstein) and offbeat impersonations (such as Ja Rule). Originally, FOX executives hired Key and Peele in the hopes of picking one black cast member over the other, but after Key and Peele demonstrated that they had comedic chemistry (particularly in the Superstitious Knights sketches), FOX decided to keep the both of them.
New cast members Melissa Paull and Gillian Vigman (known for celebrity impersonations including Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston, and Christina Aguilera) were introduced in the 9th season, but left at season's end.
Season 9 included the show's 200th episode. Several former cast members returned to mark the occasion. Orlando Jones appeared as Andre 3000 of Outkast performing a parody of "Hey, Ya." Nicole Sullivan reprised characters such as the Vancome Lady and Judith from "The Literally Couple", along with her impersonation of Meg Ryan. Alex Borstein made her first appearance since season seven and portrayed the beloved character Miss Swan and Dot Goddard's brainy twin sister, Karen. Will Sasso revived his impersonations of Bill Clinton and Kenny Rogers. Cast veteran Artie Lange (now a regular on The Howard Stern Show) recorded a monologue of his life since leaving Mad TV. Former original cast member Phil LaMarr also appeared during season 9 as character Kalvin Mudflap Clarke in the Real Mother****ing Talk sketch.
Season 9 introduced a recurring sketch, The Lillian Verner Game Show, with Paul Vogt playing flamboyant host Dale Priskett. This mock game show involved contestants vying for products that are spoofs of Lillian Vernon products. A recurring character, Gail Cinder (played by Stephnie Weir), would often return as the show's reigning champion. This sketch also featured Mad TV writer Michael Hitchcock as the game show's announcer, Simian Dyson (Hitchcock's only character on Mad TV).
The 7am Condo Report, a sketch about retired elderly people residing in a Florida condo, debuted; it featured Stephnie Weir as Muriel (a woman who suffers recurring strokes), Ron Pederson as Clifford (an angry, bitter old man in a motorized scooter), Daniele Gaither as Dillie Mae (an old African-American woman who is obsessed with her grandchildren and black culture), and Paul Vogt as the nurse.
Other season highlights were appearances by Jessica Alba (Honey) as pop star Jessica Simpson, Tommy Davidson and Fred Willard as the hosts of Real Mother****ing Talk, boxers and WWE wrestlers (including Gregory Helms and Trish Stratus), professional skateboarder Tony Hawk promoting his fictional restaurant, Jeff Probst hosting a celebrity edition of Survivor, Cedric the Entertainer (Johnson Family Vacation) co-starring in a blaxploitation version of Frankenstein as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Frankie Muniz (Agent Cody Banks 2) returning in a sketch with Stephnie Weir's Dr. Kylie Johnson, Tom Bergeron in a parody of his show Hollywood Squares, and Groundlings alumnus Jennifer Coolidge.
Mo Collins announced that she would leave the show at the end of the 9th season.
Opening montage
The title sequence begins with the Mad TV logo appearing above the Los Angeles skyline. The theme song, performed by the hip-hop group Heavy D & the Boyz, begins and each repertory cast member is introduced alphabetically, followed by the featured cast. The screen dissolves into three live-action clips of an individual cast member. The three screens multiply until they occupy the entire screen. A still photo of the cast member appears on the screen with a caption of his/her name superimposed on it. When all cast members and guests are introduced, the music stops and the title sequence ends with the phrase "You are now watching Mad TV".
Home releases
Season 9 of Mad TV has not been released on DVD. However, several sketches culled from this season appear on a compilation DVD called Mad TV: The Best of Seasons 8, 9, and 10 (first released on October 25, 2005).