CW Revives `MadTV' As Primetime Series

[Ubiquitous]

EXCLUSIVE: Nine years after MadTV ended its 14-season run on Fox,
the Emmy-winning sketch comedy series is coming back. The CW has
ordered eight hourlong episodes for a primetime run. David E.
Salzman, who executive produced the original series, is back as
executive producer/showrunner. Telepictures is the studio.

CW logoLike the original series, which aired in late-night on
Saturdays, the revival will feature MadTV‘s signature pop-culture
parodies and politically incorrect humor and star up-and-coming
comedy voices. The new series also will acknowledge its past,
featuring special appearances from returning cast members of the
original series as hosts of each episode. The names of the former
cast members set to return are still TBD.

The MadTV series revival comes on the heels of the CW airing a MadTV
20th anniversary special in January, also from Salzman and
Telepictures, and its digital network Seed acquiring 75 episodes of
the original series. The hour-long anniversary special drew a solid
1.7 million viewers and a 0.6 among adults 18-49 in Live+same day.

“The MadTV franchise is as vibrant as ever thanks largely to social
and digital media appealing tomadtv logo a fan base numbering in the
millions that relates to the show’s brand of authentic and
irreverent cross-cultural comedy,” Salzman said. “We will continue
to present the hard-hitting, laugh-out-loud, wall-to-wall pop
culture parody our fans expect, but in a fresh, new way.”

Salzman is executive producing the series with Mark Teitelbaum and
John Montgomery.

Mike Darnell, President, Warner Bros. Unscripted and Alternative TV,
who oversees Telepictures, has longtime ties with MadTV going back
to the time when he was head of alternative at Fox. “I was
extraordinarily proud to be in charge of MadTV during most of its
run at Fox Broadcasting Company,” he said. “In my opinion, it was
always an underrated show that rivaled the best sketch comedy on
television. I am thrilled to see it come back to network TV — and in
primetime — thanks to The CW, and I feel lucky to have David Salzman
and his team back at the helm.”

The CW has had success with rebooting another sketch comedy
franchise, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, for which MadTV would be a
suitable companion.

The 19 returning series alumni for the 20th anniversary special on
the CW included Ike Barinholtz, Alex Borstein, Mo Collins, Crista
Flanagan, Anjelah Johnson, Nicole Randall Johnson, Keegan-Michael
Key, Phil LaMarr, Artie Lange, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Arden
Myrin, Nicole Parker, Eric Price, Will Sasso, Aries Spears, Nicole
Sullivan, Stephnie Weir and Debra Wilson.

QDE, a joint venture between Salzman and Quincy Jones, launched
MadTV on Fox in 1995, utilizing Mad magazine’s irreverent brand. The
show, originally designed as a competitor to Saturday Night Live,
was created by Fax Bahr and Adam Small, who left after the show’s
third season. It has been Fox’s most successful foray into late
night to date.

--
For the White House's "Take Your Daughters To Work Day," Sasha &
Malia golfed.