The classic sketch comedy series returns, but we're not sure why.
Note: this is a mostly spoiler-free review of the Season 15 premiere of MADtv, which will premiere tonight on The CW at 9pm EST.
One could argue The CW picked the perfect time to revive MADtv (which lasted an impressive 14 seasons on Fox between 1995 and 2009). Rival sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live is not only off the air for the summer, that show has been stuck in one of its mediocre phases for a while now. And with every minute of the current election cycle begging to be lampooned and South Park not returning until September, someone has to carry the torch for quality satire, right? Well, don't expect this series to get the job done. While the new MADtv is more revival than reboot, it fails to recapture any of the show's old spark.
Original executive producer David Salzman returns for this new season, joined by fellow EPs John R. Montgomery and Mark Teitelbaum. The basic format of the show remains more or less unchanged, mixing live sketches and pre-taped bits that lampoon various aspects of pop culture and politics. The idea is to bring in some of the old guard in guest star roles (with Will Sasso and Nicole Sullivan appearing this week) but to emphasize a new crew of up-and-coming comedians who will anchor the show going forward. That crew includes Carlie Craig (Todrick), Chelsea Davison (@Midnight), Jeremy D. Howard (Hollywood Street), Amir K (Last Comic Standing), Lyric Lewis (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Piotr Michael (The Howard Stern Show), Michelle Ortiz (CBS Diversity Showcase) and Adam Ray (The Heat).
Theoretically, that approach should yield a comfortable blend of old and new elements. MADtv has always been the young, scrappy upstart to SNL's elder statesman brand of sketch comedy. Surely bringing back the likes of Sasso and Sullivan and allowing them to play off this younger generation of comics should result in a few laughs, right?
Nope. I'm disappointed to say I barely even cracked a smile over the course of the entire hour. Whatever bite MADtv had back in the days when Sasso and Sullivan were routinely joined by the likes of Mo Collins and Alex Borstein, or later on when Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were cutting their teeth, is completely gone now. No longer is the show the edgier cousin of SNL. Now it seems content to reach for easy targets and settle for a simplistic, toothless brand of humor.
It's clear things are going wrong from the very first sketch, which features Ray playing CNN anchorman Wolf Blitzer hosting the Clintons and Trumps in a round of "The Trulywed Game." This basically plays like the MADtv version of SNL's recurring Celebrity Jeopardy skits, except far less entertaining. That comparison is all but impossible to ignore given that Ray plays Blitzer so much like Will Ferrell's chronically exasperated Alex Trebek. But what this sketch lacks in originality it should still be able to make up for in humor. Who needs Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery when you have Donald Trump on stage?
A new group of comics for a new MADtv.
Unfortunately, while Michael's Trump impression is pretty spot-on from a technical standpoint, the sketch fails to find a fun or interesting new angle on the Donald. You've heard it all before - the small hands, the massive ego, the tendency to say "Yuuuuge" a lot. Nor do Sasso and Sullivan bring anything new to the roles of Bill and Hillary Clinton, characters they played ad nauseum back in the '90s. Both actors generally seem to be going through the motions rather than actually having fun reprising their old characters.
That basically sets the tone for the rest of the episode. The various sketches hit very familiar, broad targets and explore them in extremely superficial fashion. There's a sketch making fun of the fact that Game of Thrones has a lot of characters. There's an overlong parody of ABC's The Bachelor. There's an adult-flavored take on Dora the Explorer, which might have been more timely last time the show was on the air. Only one sketch actually features an original storyline and characters rather than focusing on pop culture spoofs, and it basically consists of a mildly amusing punchline stretched out over several minutes.
To be fair, it seems like the material is more at fault than the actors themselves. Michael proves himself to be a solid impressionist (particularly his eerily accurate Steve Buscemi) and quickly cements his status as the show's new Frank Caliendo. Davison isn't bad on that front either (her Lena Dunham impression being another standout). And Ortiz brings a lot of giddy energy to the screen whenever she takes center stage. But with writing this broad and formulaic, there just isn't enough incentive to laugh at these tepid sketches.
The lousy production values don't particularly help. The old MADtv was never exactly a visual tour de force, but it got the job done. Here, too many sketches consist of the cast standing against a crude green screen backdrop and miming along. Even those sketches that do take place on actual sets feel small, cheap and claustrophobic. Whether in terms of writing or budget, the series is hard-pressed to compete even with the YouTube realm.
But perhaps the worst mistake this premiere makes is including a clip from an older MADtv sketch featuring the dynamic duo of Key and Peele. That sketch - its energy, its choreography, its hilarious performances - absolutely destroys everything that precedes it. It reminds viewers of what this series used to be capable of even so late in its lifespan. But maybe it also serves as an example of what this new season has to strive for if it's going to be worthy of the "MADtv" name.
The Verdict
The time is ripe for the return of MADtv. That's why it's so disappointing that the long-delayed Season 15 captures so little of what made the show work in its heyday. The new cast shows some potential, but the bland writing and safe, boring humor do nothing to showcase their comedic abilities. Even bringing Sasso and Sullivan back into the fold fails to recapture the old magic. The most fans can hope is that there's nowhere for Season 15 to go but up now.
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