Mad for Decades: 50 Years of Forgettable Humor from MAD Magazine by "The Usual Gangs of Idiots"

My brother lent me this book: we were both big fans of MAD. I still occasionally break into a MAD song--like "Amoeba" sung to the tune of  "Maria" or "In Flight" sung to the tune of "Tonight" (both from West Side Story.)

Overall, the film and TV parodies didn't hold up. They seem to strain to find funny sounding names for the characters. The "MAD looks at..." and "The Lighter Side of..." features remained funny. I would have liked to see more of the song parodies.

The Fifties

I didn't read many of the parodies because I wasn't familiar with the originals. I did read Superduperman! and Starchie; neither was very good. The other selections were okay.

The Sixties

I liked the Hippie Magazine. I remembered some of the scenarios from "You Know You're Really a Parent When..." My favorite: you run out of glasses and have to start serving martinis in "Yogi Bear" mugs! The TV parodies were better: "The Man from A.U.N.T.I.E." and especially "Hokum's Heroes."  

The Seventies

None of the TV and movie parodies impressed me. "The Lighter Side of" was strong again. I liked "The White House Follies of 1977" featuring songs of the Carter Administration.

The Eighties

"The Mad Dictionary of Cliche Parental Terms", "Mad's They and You", and "Why 999 Shoppers Out of 1,000 Never Collect Those Manufacturers' Rebates" were good. For what it's worth, I found a continuity error in "The Empire Strikes Out". "Grossanne" was poor--a bunch of fat jokes. 

The Nineties

"The Lost Playground of Kids Your Parents Always Told You About But You've Never Seen Yourself" and "The Dysfunctional Family Circus" were highlights.