The Mad Magazine TV Special 1974

[@jimmyarmijo792]

I was 14 in 1974, I've never seen this. In 2022, I still collect MAD Mags from the 70s.

[@deborahchesser7375]

Man I was 8 but still remember it clearly, the cousins I hung around with were 4-6 years older than me so I loved this kind of satire. Must have been super cool at 14 in 74’, dirt bikes were how all the pre driving age/ too old for bicycles age kids got around in my area. Most muscle cars were still less than 10 years old and still everywhere, CB’s were our cellphones and always had service be it only 10 miles lol I’d go back in a heartbeat damn all the new conveniences. Sorry I ramble I just miss it.

[@cuda426hemi]

@Zolar Czakl Born in '53 - I remember "25¢ Cheap" in the 60s; also when Sgt Fury was a white cigar chompin' Nazi killin' WWII guy & his Howling Commandos were multi-ethnic bad asses; I have no CLUE what and why Sgt Fury is what he is today-but I digress. These Mort Drucker characters in the car bit (Walter Cronkite) and Oddfather are genius. 📺

[@idx1941]

no one ever saw it...the description says that it was never aired.

[@hentendo310]

That's the thing, this special is really neat because it never actually aired officially; no network would take it. You can see this in the special actually because there's a couple seconds of silence in the opening where they would've mentioned the sponsors, had there been any. Though I'm not sure how it ended up online. Maybe someone involved still had a copy laying around? Regardless, I think it's super cool that we have lost media like this that we never could've known about otherwise.

[@Izumi-sp6fp]

I was 14 in 1974 and would have killed for this! Now I'm watching it here and seeing all the greats. Geo Woodbridge, right off the bat! Remember Mad's "Cradle to Grave Primer" ? This goes straight into favs!

[@anonyarena]

Since this was never picked up nor aired anywhere it's kind of remarkable that a copy of it still even exists at all. Would love to know the backstory of how this old tape was re-discovered.

[@animemangafan1987]

ABC originally going to air the special but the network decided not to do it due to adult themes

[@hemidart7]

I saw this on tv in the 80s so whachew talkin' bout Willis

[@NathanTarantlawriter]

I hope the backstory involves smuggling.

[@presidentevil9951]

@@animemangafan1987 I think it was aired on prime time

[@mumblesbadly7708]

@@animemangafan1987 Ford execs probably screamed bloody murder and threatened to pull all of its ads if ABC aired this show.

[@robmclaughjr]

Really a historic treasure. A lot of fun and the animation is a lot better than average for 1974 television. PLUS: Full Satire of Godfather I and II ! Good one

[@rogerzimet]

Being from Panama in Latin America, I just want to say that I learned English so fast as I wanted to understand the reading of Mad Magazines. That movie is a treasure today. Thanks for sharing it.

[@TJWhite-pl6gt]

Mad's first attempt at TV crashed and burned yet one year later, the rival National Lampoon magazine would spawn Saturday Night Live which was pretty much Mad magazine on TV.

[@linjicakonikon7666]

No, SNL isn't anything like MAD. MADTV is VERY close to the humor of the magazine, and so superior to SNL

[@DC-iu7gn]

​@@linjicakonikon7666superior because you say so and it must be the absolute and total truth.

[@CorpsmanUP87]

"This was a pilot that never aired. Network executives deemed the humor too crude and adult to air on television." -My, how much changes in two decades.

[@phantomzone2725]

But that was the MAD humor everyone grew up since the 1940s. Are the exectives dumber? What did they expect? That's why the CN version sucked, they had to tone down the humor, making it lame to amuse the kids

[@spy4863]

It was pulled mainly because of the “MAD’s Auto Manufacturer Of The Year” segment which was a blatant parody of Ford who was one of the main sponsors. Anyone remember the Edsel and the Pinto?

[@spacepatrolman]

Italians didnt like the take off on THE GODFATHER

[@spacepatrolman]

14:24

[@theALTF4]

my oh my...how time have RE-changed since your comment

[@reminicrush9016]

Mad Magazine & Cracked were my babysitters when I was growing up. I even saw Mad Magazines’ Up The Academy, in theaters. It was the greatest time to be a kid ….😂

[@matthewkelly6997]

This is cool. That's where I could be found as a kid, at the grocery store magazine rack while mom shopped. Love me some Mad. Was a different Era. Before smart phones and web. There were dozens of magazines. I never saw this show. Was a real treat. Thank you.

[@mikemdp1965]

This aired on the East Coast. I watched it when I was 9.

[@midnightkitty8172]

Mad Magazine was a staple for me, I had a huge collection. Thanks for posting this!

[@neverjethot]

Wow, I was 14 in 1974,,, I would have loved this.

[@darwinblinks]

Damn I never heard of this till right now (2021) I read Mad constantly in 1974, I would've loved this show.

[@eartant]

Same here.

[@jimfinigan1681]

I discovered Mad magazine in 1973. My mom wouldn't let me get it, so I would read it in the magazine aisle while she did her grocery shopping. Mad magazine was THE SHIZNIT back then! When I got older and started making my own money, I bought it for myself.

[@michaelfitzmichael3226]

this show would have been huge!

[@michaelp.9921]

What a treasure! Thanks so much for sharing! (This is one of many aspects that makes KZbin so great! - - for us to be able to see this, finally! I was 9 in 1974, but my whole family would have laughed our asses off if we had seen this at that time! (It's too late for my mom and dad, but I'll make sure my brothers see this!) And the animation is superb!

[@AFanofThings1]

they've GOT to make this show happen! i mean, who doesnt wanna see a magazine practically come to life!?

[@BenjaminWirtz]

Well, Madtv ran from 1995-2009 (they revived it for one season in 2016 but it wasn't very good) although it drifted more and more from the magazine after about the 3rd season. They also made the animated show Mad following that. Also, if ti weren't for Madtv we might not know who Key and Peele are.

[@patrickhicks9880]

thank you for putting this up i'd never heard of this before

[@xaenon]

Incidentally, the 'Oddfather' bit was taken virtually line for line from the magazine parody.

[@snarkus63]

xaenon Well,an edited version,anyway....and the Gene Hackman and Steve McQueen cameos,amazingly,weren't in the original article.

[@ArmpitStudios]

@@snarkus63 All of these were from the magazine.

[@francescaa8331]

Interesting

[@maxi-me]

Ahhh, the good old days- 8 years ago. When no one abused the word _literally_

[@BLUEOHIO]

My dad use to work on a trash truck in the 70's and use to find Mad madazines and other comic books and some was scary like the comic book ''The Witching Hour'' and other scary comics and comics like Casper and other great comic book and me and my dad use to read comics books after he worked all day and me and my dad went fishing on Sundays and my dad with God now and I miss him so much we was poor but he had a roof over our heads and food in our bellies and todays comics books sucks and maybe that why everyone after the older comic that was better then todays comics!!

[@nakbearevalo]

Sorry for your loss

[@Cjnw]

+ Chayson_Dam LOL, it seems that the uploader, +experson , lost the hearing in his right ear; so I'm sorry for *his* loss!!!

[@Cjnw]

I saw a recent American trash truck recently - it said " TRUMP - Make America great again " on its side!!!

[@fintanoclery2698]

Ed Camp I know it's been three years since you wrote this but what a wonderful comment, you were a lucky boy to have a dad like that. Sorry for your loss.

[@Channel-rh7lh]

Ed Camp In my opinion, comics are still good these days. I'm sorry for your loss. 😭

[@Jal8919536]

BART SIMPSON: "Wow! I'll never wash these eyes again!"

[@Channel-rh7lh]

Jeannie Lindley kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5vPdXeQoKyChNU

[@TJWhite-pl6gt]

Yeah, its pretty much all material taken from the magazine instead of original stuff but still....its awesome!!!! What MADtv should've been!!

[@jacobj3933]

5 years old ik, but in the "reboot" called MAD that aired on Cartoon Network, they used many of the sketches or animated segments from this adaptation. Heck even some scenes of Spy vs Spy were re-used and even slightly rewritten. A scene like the Duck was used in Cartoon Network's MAD

[@michaellinner7772]

This is the first time I'm seeing this. I absolutely loved MAD and was 11 years old when this was made. I was always drawn to (pun intended) Al Jaffe's work. It was just so "out there" and disregarded realism in a way that made it cool 😎.

[@charitysghost1207]

This is exciting! 😄 I love Mad Magazine, and I was born in '74.

[@kurtboesen5173]

Ditto lmao

[@snarkus63]

If this had been picked up,it would've predated Saturday Night Live by a year.

[@patricksullivan5037]

It's great I love it. Too bad you didn't make more... 😊

[@poetrychurch]

I was that one oddball kid who always preferred Sick to Mad, but nonetheless this may be the single greatest gift KZbin has ever bestowed upon humanity.

[@idj20]

The "Now wake him up and give him his sleeping pills" part at 12:55 is uncanny as it was only last night when I said a similar thing to my elderly mother who dozed off before I gave her sleeping pill! Also cool to see Don Martin's style come alive in animation form. I'm at the UK and love Martin's work.

[@AuroraBoarder1]

Actually, that happened to me, in the hospital.

[@ChrisJones-ij3xp]

The nursing home staff did that to my great-aunt too.

[@TheEggplantThatAteChicago]

Really grateful to be able to see this. That said, a far cry from the magazine. Thank you for the opportunity!

[@daviddavidson1355]

Amazing to see Mort Drucker's style in animation, he was such a master

[@Playbyplaymedia]

What makes this pilot so rich for me is how it reflects the artists and writers from Mad Magazine's heyday.

[@larspederson1451]

The auto manufacturers parody is spot on for the time 😆 🤣 😂

[@bernie472]

Wow! I never knew this even existed. Pretty cool, since I grew up reading the magazine.

[@hugosophy]

Mort Drucker's caricatures are the best!

[@rodneylewis3544]

Man I love this Mad cartoon and Magazines bring this back on TV no BS wow the memories just know by just watching this one episode OMG thank you so much for this really forgot all bout MAD love it ❤❤

[@stevejones7079]

Looks real good and humorous just like the magazine,fun and satire thanks for posting.

[@lukeshdoesntknow]

That was gold! It's a shame it never got picked up by any station

[@cherokeedonna83]

I remember when Mad Magazine would sometimes be on television. We never missed watching it. I miss this kind of stuff !

[@billthecat666]

The quality of the animation and music is fantastic.

[@bobmcalias6878]

Yet years later, we have a cartoon of it airing on Cartoon Network which has reached 100 episodes... life is funny that way!

[@soniclombax343]

But there is MADtv and Mountain Dew before Cartoon Network

[@sillydog]

Not anymore, and even the mad magazines ended as a whole.

[@mildredgabbert8132]

Maybe WB would immediately greenlight a new long-form 2d animated series for Cartoon Network, HBO max and TBS that brings some of the lamest MAD movie spoofs to life.

[@mattyancick599]

This is a great find.

[@phillip5245]

2:28 And there it is, the first Spiro Agnew reference. Boy, they really socked it to that guy.

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

Needed a 'fold-in' at the end!

[@joegahan7055]

A treasure of lost media

[@maxi-me]

@10:00 cordless phone in '74 ?!? I believe the patent was a few years away, I never saw one till '83.

[@QIKUGAMES-QIKU]

WoW so this was the only REAL MAD MAGAZINE SHOW ? Wish they did more the Artists were Absolutely Brilliant! 🍻 🐨

[@joellafargue9882]

I recognize the names of five of the animators -- John Gentilella, Frank Endres, Jim Logan, Gerry Dvorak and Gordon Whittier all did animation work for Paramount.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

A lot of East Coast talent on this as well as West Coast.

[@MasonTheOneLooneyDude]

Do you know Mark Kausler? He was a freelancing animator who did the Spy Vs. Spy sequence in this special, and there's also Dale Case, who worked with DePatie-Freleng and WB in the 60s and such.

[@MadCollecting]

Great that this video got out. I have the promo photo they created for the oddfather. I have a review video that I will release it in a few weeks.

[@danielfuentes3499]

In Brooklyn I remember on the magazine stand they where right next to the dirty mags..

[@hyacinthb.711]

I would've loved this as a kid.

[@waltersobchak7275]

That is one beautiful 😻

[@sigmasix3719]

Yeah I did

[@pepelepeau]

this brings me back!

[@Mrpastry909]

The TV CEO Edsel Lemon is a reference to the Ford Edsel, a car from the '30s or '40s that was an enormous financial failure, and the term lemon, which means a broken car.

[@agentfungus9742]

+Mrpastry909 : Edsels were manufactured for all of 3 years: 1958, '59, and '60 They were much ballyhooed by Ford, but they were just fugly window dressing (that iconic front grille was compared to a toilet seat) tacked onto old crap. Edsels were dumped and became a laughingstock of car manufacturers and the public for years. Edsels are very rare and very expensive as a collector car. They still are ugly crap, IMO.

[@the9-2-5outlawdoestech9]

Adam Roth yeah and poor Henry name the Edsel after his son that died, though the car was failure.

[@douglasjohnson2965]

Try the fifties, idiot!

[@l.salisbury1253]

0:53 - One reason this didn't air is 'cause Mad could NOT find anyone willing to sponsor it! Hence "Brought-to-you-by..............................(dead silence!)"

[@godozo]

I'm sure that was placed there so that actual advertisers could have a plug in the beginning, should it air.

[@jesseperrett3692]

sponsors didn't want to be spoofed

[@demetriusdillard2863]

According to Maria Reidelbach's 1991 book, "Completely Mad," a major American automobile manufacturer agreed to sponsor "The Mad Magazine Special" but unsurprisingly declined just prior to its premiere date due to the tastelessness of many of the vignettes in the special, particularly the "Automobile Manufacturer Of The Year" sketch.

[@keybyss98]

I grew up with the 2010’s Cartoon Network series, but this is honestly a lot more funnier. 😂

[@CarsandCats]

This was fantastic! I remember buying a MAD magazine at the 7-11 in the early 70's as a kid and Mom taking it away from me and saying, "You can't have that!" So, I got them from my Uncle, after he did the Fold-In of course!

[@technopoptart]

oh man, i forgot about the fold-ins! i was 7 when i did my first one and kept at it until i was 20, jeeze, time flies

[@jerryterwase9027]

This show should have been ongoing like the magazine.

[@skelter1153]

Three Years before I was Born.

[@marquelbarnes3963]

Wow I like this. I would’ve liked this better than the sketch show in the 90’s.

[@crazedcatlover]

I remember when a junior high classmate brought "It 's A Gas" to music class!! Boy, did we laugh ourselves silly!!

[@alvinjones670]

THIS IS FABULOUS, I MEAN MAGNIFICENT THANKS FOR THE UPLOAD!!!

[@hatednyc]

Wow. Fantastic quality. Ha! Did Tarzan just do a bit of White Flight after seeing a Black Man in the jungle? Thanks for uploading

[@schizoidboy]

And in Africa of all places, makes you wonder where Tarzan was living all this time.

[@crnkmnky]

It’s possible I’m missing some cultural context, but that’s what it looked like to me… 🧐

[@jackhcpa]

Would be hard to imagine any other interpretation of the bit.

[@spy4863]

I heard that the main reason this great show never aired was because of the MAD’s Auto Manufacturer Of The Year parody which directly satirizes Ford, who was one of the show’s sponsors. Seems they were a little afraid that Ford would not be pleased with the parody!

[@xaenon]

From the days when MAD magazine was FUNNY!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

And it didn't need advertisements.

[@TighelanderII]

"It never aired" Now I know why I never saw it. I remember reading the Oddfather in the magazine.

[@loanaoftheshellpeople5627]

Mort Drucker Artwork. He was great at Actor Likenesses.

[@Zero-uw7kb]

mr edsel lemon, when i was a kid i never got the jokes because i hadn't been around long enough to know anything, this is really for adults.

[@AudioPervert1]

GOLD !! still valid and real today ... 35 years on

[@CowSaysMooMoo]

Too bad your math skills are not.

[@Mrpastry909]

MAD is fantastic at misdirectional humor. Sometimes it seems that's all they do, but they do it so well.

[@THACHIEF_73]

This is Fantastic! Well Done :)

[@johnathandouglas007]

They should actually do this show... What I thought MAD TV was going to be I was pretty disappointed it wasn't more of this

[@TheBombShhh]

this is how mad tv should of been

[@canaisyoung3601]

Or the MAD sketch show that Cartoon Network aired in the early 2010s. They almost got it right.

[@nightisright1873]

Canais Young it really didn’t this feels more natural

[@michaelhull1813]

*should have

[@RemoWilliams1227]

@@michaelhull1813 thank you

[@nerimadaikon5516]

I never knew this existed. This is great!

[@realFanAngryBirds]

Go to 14:08 for the very first animated Spy VS. Spy.

[@chadangeles3856]

wow they have skin colot

[@OofusTwillip]

I'm pretty sure the networks rejected it, not because the humour was crude & adult, but because it would have caused sponsors, particularly car companies, to pull their advertising. Back then, sponsors had much more control over content, and the networks were terrified of offending them. Back then, MAD Magazine could get away with anything in print, because it very proudly refused to carry ads.

[@tammylewis2408]

And then years later, it finally became the show MAD TV.

[@davehire1433]

I remember reading about this in the TV Guide Fall Preview and being disappointed when it didn’t air. Also, “The Oddfather” was the nickname the NYC tabloids gave Vincent Gigante, the mob boss who tried to feign incompetence when he was on trial for murder.

[@donkeydan5996]

Lol the hospital scene is hysterical

[@jennifermcbryde8887]

The Mad Magazine TV Special is brought to you by... Kellogg's! Your best choice in cereals, the best to you each morning!

[@superdoov]

The artist/animator MUST be the same person who did the DONT ANSWER ME video by Alan Parsons.

[@maximusprime3459]

Its kinda cool seeing one of their movie parodies set to animation. I always wished Mad created a TV series centered on that.

[@airforcemax]

*¡enjoyed at 5:47 am Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, 9 November 2022! - 38 years ago i graduated from Fort Benning Georgia 31905*

[@stevemchadd]

I can truly say that two publications had some influence on me as I was growing up, Mad magazine and the furry freak brothers, I ended up as an engineer for my sins, but thinking outside of the box has been my greatest ability.

[@dehydratedwater9806]

I still have a few of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers

[@michaelfitzmichael3226]

Zap Comix!

[@thomasmiller5057]

Mad magazine, especially in this form seems like a prime influence on the Simpsons

[@Ourladyrules]

saw this on tv not sure the year but mid seventies for sure

[@DonovanWert]

Awesome 😎 thanks brother !!🙏

[@tommeytommey2742]

Used to walk to King Kwik to get new copies of Mad Magazine:)

[@earlsmith7428]

Today, this would go down as family programming.

[@richsackett3423]

It wouldn't make it to air today for simply not being funny enough. Put this next to modern animated comedies and it's just shit by comparison.

[@earlsmith7428]

@@richsackett3423 Well, it does have a certain quaint charm.

[@richsackett3423]

@@earlsmith7428 without doubt.

[@the9-2-5outlawdoestech9]

And this just in... Ralph Nader crashes into a tree while test driving The 1975 Ford Pinto, and blows up on impact.

[@l.a.raustadt518]

Awesome , classic old school Mad.

[@amillionpictures]

wow ! I used to imagine animating MAD magazines,.... this would've blown my mind if I saw it back then !!!!

[@KyleThill]

Growing up, the magazine was treasured. Relative to the quality of the magazine, I can't see how the people at MAD would have allowed this to air.

[@richsackett3423]

yes, the show is crap and not really funny. Shelving it protected Mad's reputation.

[@sigmasix3719]

Utter crap you two, this show is great

[@rEdf196]

The cartoon graphics remind me of those cheesy but unforgettable 70's K-Tel commercials.

[@michaelfitzmichael3226]

totally 70's vibe here!

[@Zinwaq]

0:55 "...is brought to you by THIS GUYS CROTCH SHOT" bwwwwaaaaaahahahaha!!!!!! I miss you Mad Magazine 😭😭😭

[@ianhilmer2493]

Oddly enough, this is the only Paul Cocker animation, that isn’t a Christmas special

[@Lovethemusic385]

Mad Magazine were OBSESSED with Spiro Agnew

[@internetwonderbuilder4741]

Futurama seemed pretty interested in him also

[@TheRetroDepot]

This is interesting, never heard of it before.

[@ky-gp4sz]

R.I.P. Mad Magazine!

[@sirducksworthythe3rd842]

To cruse for today's TV yes, but back then , he'll even in the 90s this was perfectly fine for tv by the standards that was in place

[@nightisright1873]

This is what the mad magazine show on cn should have been like

[@FleaBagBoogie]

Shame they didn't give this a chance. I could never walk past a MAD Magazine.

[@felicity4711]

“Boy, they’re really socking it to that Spiro Agnew guy…he must work there or something.”

[@opnwndo]

He was vice president.

[@Perririri]

19:23 - Me, no, no, no?… I'm not Plazzo, Mr Nervous!!

[@forfluf]

Definitely not a kids show. Tarzan moving out of the neighborhood because blacks are moving in. Humor as it is suppose to be served, honest, bitter, and stingy, just how I like it.

[@the9-2-5outlawdoestech9]

forfluf haha

[@estebansteverincon7117]

Thanks For Nothing Whites aren't the ones rioting whenever one of their own resists arrest, and then gets killed for it. So _you're_ the real clowns.

[@thanksfornothing5636]

Esteban Rincon Yea but your the ones getting your ass kicked _Clown_

[@NotaPizzaGRL]

@@estebansteverincon7117 No whites just riot when their favorite team loses. Or their favorite team wins. Or a pedo enabling coach gets fired. Or they see scapegoats getting too far in this shitty world.

[@estebansteverincon7117]

@@thanksfornothing5636 Nobody kicked our asses' moron.