The CW’s revival of MADtv is the exact same show that left the airwaves 7 years ago. It’s neither good nor bad. It’s just meh. If you liked FOX’s original version, you will enjoy The CW’s version.
This MADtv wants to desperately walk the line between nostalgia and being for the cool kids. The writers need to give up the latter goal. It’s no longer the edgy alternative to Saturday Night Live. New MADtv runs purely on nostalgia, complete with a classic sketch, outdated references, hackneyed election jokes, and Game of Thrones jokes that have one punch line: the insanely detailed and confusing.
The highlight of the night was a sketch featuring Dora the Explorer teaching kids about rich white people, the bad part of town, and other unfortunate lessons with her blackpack, her black backpack friend. The second best sketch had the cast show off their skills as impressionists. While it was obviously a ploy to fit as many celebrity impersonations as possible it one sketch, all of the impressions were spot on. The actors playing Nicki Minaj, Kristen Stewart, and Tracey Morgan made a potentially boring sketch interesting with their talents.
Overall, the show’s more miss than hit, but it’s always been that way. The new MADtv is exactly the same Saturday Night Live knock-off geared toward a younger audience that it’s always been, only this time it’s a little out of touch. (No one needs another Bachelor parody.) You either love it for what it is or hate it. Of course, there’s the exception of the one sketch you found kind of funny.
During a time when the success of a show was determined by water cooler talk, the original MADtv‘s downfall was that it had what would be viral music video parodies today. Unfortunately, those were missing in the first episode.
The CW’s MADtv will benefit immensely from the online video sharing culture. Don’t tune into this show every week. Wait for pop culture journalists to tell you which sketches are worth watching. Other than diehards, no one should voluntarily waste an hour a week on MADtv. While few people wanted MADtv back and we certainly didn’t need another sketch show, it’s nice to have an old friend back, even though no one is quite sure why it was invited to The CW’s party.
Rating: 5 out of 10
MADtv airs Tuesdays at 9 PM on The CW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfsKpurSaG4
