Hello, MAD fans, this is Concernedalien11780. I was a fan of Mad Magazine ever since I was old enough to truly understand satire (about age twelve), and then a fan of the show for as much of its run as I was not at a theraputic boarding school for. It was my favorite show on Cartoon Network in the early 2010s because of what appeared to be its sharper satirical edge than the other eleven-minute comedies airing at the time. One of my roommates at that boarding school thought the show was bad because it didn't have the political satire of the magazine, but most of us know that it didn't need to be to be funny, and besides, it was on a kids' network. Kids can't be expected to know all about American and global political systems unless they've got a REALLY good education. Granted, the intended audience for Cartoon Network at that time was ages ten and up, but even that's pretty young to expect adequate political knowledge from your kids. Besides, in this day and age, I think it takes more intelligence and wit to be non-political than political with your comedy. It's easy to tell jokes that boast the superiority of one particular ideology over another (yes, Mad Magazine is well-known for making fun of anyone and everyone in the political spectrum even while leaning slightly more to the left, but that's not the point). Why else are The Daily and Nightly Shows produced on a, well, daily and/or nightly basis? Because you can crank "humor" out fast when you apply a litmus to it. That's the sad price to pay when you want "smart" comedy that takes a hard look at the issues facing this world and tries to help change it- the actual comedy gets lost somewhere in the shuffle. In an ideal world, all comedians of color, female comedians, and LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM comedians would have to be is funny, and I am a firm believer in the idea that it's the joke itself and not the type of person telling it that makes a joke funny (because of the very contentious "are women funny" debate, which I don't think a blanket statement should be made for all of them, but, yes, many have the capability to be funny if they have the right kind of brain and set of experiences for it), but unfortunately, the socio-political climate requires them to be voices for the downtrodden as well. It takes truly comedically talented minds to tell jokes that everyone can find funny regardless of race, gender, orientation, identity, belief, or political creed. Fortunately, those at MAD- both the magazine and all versions of the TV show- seem to be those kind of people and know how to poke fun at either everyone or no one- even if they don't want you to believe that. The show had some sketches with plenty of references that kids probably wouldn't get, like in The Fresh Prawn of Bel-Air, a crossover between The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a 90s sitcom from Will Smith's rapper days, and District 9, a hard-R-rated social-sci-fi-action-drama, which may have contributed to its cancellation in 2013. That, or Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, the developers of Teen Titans Go, have huge inheritance funds that they use to pay Ted Turner to keep their show on the air at the expense of its good shows. Regardless, I'm glad that MAD was on the air for as long as it was, and I hope that Warner Bros. Television will make a new show based on the magazine at some point, regardless of whether it's animated or live-action or targeted at kids or adults. Sorry for the tangent earlier, but I can assure you that's not my worst one. You should see what I put on the Steven Universe community blog if you want scathing commentary. Send me a message if you want to talk, and I'll see you on the wiki.
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