Mad (magazine)

MAD magazine is a satirical publication that began in 1952, and is currently published through DC Comics. The Muppets and Sesame Street have been spoofed many times in the magazine's pages.
MAD contributors Jack Davis and Al Jaffee illustrated some of the early Sesame Street merchandise in 1970, and Harvey Kurtzman contributed designs for animated inserts on the series in 1972. Dick DeBartolo contributed an E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial spoof for the premiere issue of Muppet Magazine. In 1980, MAD sponsored a feature film, Up the Academy (later requesting removal from the credits), which was written by Jay Tarses and Tom Patchett.
The magazine also spawned two TV series, MADtv and Mad.
==References==
* In the Sam and Friends episode "Sam for President: Part 2," Kermit informs Harry the Hipster that one of Sam's opponents in his run for President of the United States is the "Mad" party's candidate, Alfred E. Neuman.
* Alfred E. Neuman is among a number of things Limbo lists as ideas that have already been done in The Idea Man.
* In one edition of Monster Clubhouse, the monsters receive a letter from one "Alfreda Newman," a pun on the magazine's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman. 
==Muppet Mentions==
===1952-2018===
Picture	Issue/Date 	Description
 	Issue #146(October 1971) 	Sesame Street was parodied as "Reality Street," a television show designed to "prepare the youth for what really lies ahead." The parody featured Gorgon (Gordon), Dirty Bird (Big Bird), Curt and Ornery (Bert and Ernie, though at one point, the latter is mistaken with the former), Ookie (Oscar the Grouch), Cake Monster (Cookie Monster), and Scary Monster (Herry Monster). Grover, Susan, Mr. Hooper, Roosevelt Franklin, Betty Lou, and Little Bird, all of whom are unnamed in this parody, also appear, Susan being dressed like and depicted as a stereotypical streetwalker. Scenes include Ornery teaching Curt how to tell time, Ornery showing his toy phone to Scary Monster, Gorgon teaching about the number 5 and the letter P, and Ookie moving into a trash heap across the street. Ultimately, an overweight construction worker arrives to tear down the set of “Reality Street” so that a munitions development plant can be built over it. It was reprinted in the book Mad About the Seventies, and colorized for the April 2020 issue.
 	Issue #150(April 1972) 	In the article "When TV Makes Full Use of Howard Cosell," Howard Cosell appears on Sesame Street explaining the letter T to Ernie, who gets bored and falls asleep.
 	Issue #196(January 1978) 	Oscar the Grouch makes a brief cameo appearance in the Star Wars parody Star Roars. This was reprinted in the books Mad About the Seventies and Mad About Star Wars.
 	Issue #203(December 1978) 	Kermit appears in the Star Wars parody "The Force and I: The Mad Star Wars Musical," seen among the chorus of Stormtroopers singing "Darth Vader" to the tune of "Maria." The same issue features a Sesame Street parody entitled "If Sesame Street Branched Out Into Specialized Avenues of Education." Areas explored are "Mafia Street," "Medical Street," and "Athlete Street."
 	Issue #209(September 1979) 	A parody of Mork & Mindy, Shmork and Windy, begins with Big Bird laying the giant egg that Smork hatches out of. This was reprinted in the book Mad About the Seventies.
 	Issue #217(September 1980) 	The cover promoted Alfred E. Neuman running for president, with various letters making up his face, which listed people who would make better presidents than Alfred. Among those are Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog. This was reprinted in the books Mad About the Eighties and Mad About Star Wars.
 	Issue #219(December 1980) 	Images of Kermit and Miss Piggy appear at the start of the article "Those Wonderful Seventies! A Year 2000 Backward Look at a Warm and Wonderful Decade."
 	Issue #220 (January 1981) 	In a parody of The Empire Strikes Back, called The Empire Strikes Out, Yoda wears a pin that reads, "Miss Piggy Fan Club." This was reprinted in the books Mad About the Eighties and Mad About Star Wars.
 	Issue #223(June 1981) 	Featured a parody of Dallas, called Dullus. In the first panel, J.D. Pewing (the parody's version of J.R. Ewing) introduces himself, stating "My downright nastiness has made me the most popular character on TV, except for maybe Miss Piggy!" This parody was reprinted in the book Mad About TV.
 	Issue #239(June 1983) 	Featured a spread titled "A MAD Look at Big-Time TV" by Peter Paul Porges. One of the panels featured a cleaning woman doing laundry, with multiple Muppets seen in the machine and bins, titled "Cleanup Time for the Muppet Show." Other shows spoofed within the spread include The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Wide World of Sports, Hollywood Squares, Charlie's Angels, 60 Minutes, Family Feud, and outside of where Don Rickles is performing.
 	Issue #240(July 1983) 	Featured a parody of The Dark Crystal.
 	Issue #242(October 1983) 	Featured a parody of Return of the Jedi, Star Bores: Re-hash of the Jeti. The opening cast intro page features Kermit and Fozzie Bear (standing in for Ewoks and other critters) and Cookie Monster hanging out behind Luke on the first page. Miss Piggy is on a TV monitor worn by Darth Vader. Big Bird, wearing a tie, can be seen in the background of a panel later in the parody, behind Jabba the Hutt. This was reprinted in the books Mad About the Eighties and Mad About Star Wars.
 	Issue #246(April 1984) 	A parody of Trading Places, Trading Races, features a picture of Big Bird in a newspaper and a picture of Miss Piggy on a wall. It was reprinted in the book Mad About the Eighties.
 	Issue #247(June 1984) 	One issue features an article called "Additions to the Dictionary," featuring meanings for words named after celebrities. In this piece, the definition for the word Henson is "To manipulate (He couldn't control himself because he was hensoned.)" Another word is Kermit, which means "High on the hog." This was reprinted in the book Mad About the Eighties.
 	Issue #267(December 1986) 	Features a parody of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood titled "Mr. Jolly Rogers' Neighborhood Visits a Local Bank" in which Bert and Ernie cameo, both holding rejected loan applications for PBS funding.
 	Issue #272(July 1987) 	A parody of ALF, called "ARFul," has a scene where the father gets a six-page subpoena from Jim Henson, and at the end of the parody, Kermit the Frog, Gonzo, and Janice all appear. This was reprinted in the book Mad About the Eighties.
 	Issue #295(June 1990) 	A "Mad Switcheroos" feature by Al Jaffee claims that Kermit craves a "Pig in the Sack."
 	Issue #298(October 1990) 	Features a parody of the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, called "Teen-Rage Moola Nitwit Turtles." In one panel, Splinter has a sticker on him that says, "Henson Associates." This was reprinted in the book Mad About Super Heroes.
 	Issue #326(March/April 1994) 	A piece called "The MAD Guide to Doing Well/Not Doing Well On TV Talk Shows." For the show Opera, to do well is to weep openly for the full hour. Members of the audience in this panel include Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Gonzo, Janice, and Mildred. This was reprinted in the book Mad About Television.
 	Issue #340(October/November 1995) 	Featured an article called "When Sesame Street Caves in to The Radical Right," with segments such as Guy Smiley covering a court case against the letter P, Count von Count counting obscene books, Big Bird being forced to wear clothes, and Kermit interviewing a congressman with seven wives and forty-nine children. This was reprinted in the book Mad About Television.
 	Issue #342(January/February 1996) 	Fozzie Bear, Zoe, Kermit, and Miss Piggy appear in the article "When Sweeps Weeks Comes to PBS."
 	Issue #362(October 1997) 	Featured an article called "When Other TV Shows Finally Come Out of the Closet." The first show is Sesame Street, which pictures Grover, Big Bird, Ernie, and Bert in bed together, saying that Sesame Street has been brought to you by the letters G, A, Y, and the colors pink and lavender. This was reprinted in the book Mad About Television.
 	Issue #367(March 1998) 	The Count appears in the parody "Busty the Vampire Spayer."
 	Mad About TV(1999) 	The cover for the MAD magazine book Mad About TV featured several TV sets with images of famous TV characters, and one of those TV sets features Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Herry Monster (miscolored as green), and Betty Lou.
 	Issue #396(August 2000) 	Features a comic spoof of Angel, a television series about a vampire with a soul. In the introductory panel, The Count accompanies the lead character with a supportive comment.
 	Issue #431(July 2003) 	As a response to the introduction of Kami, the magazine ran a color photo fold-out spread of parody puppet characters engaging in gaming pimping, teen pregnancy, alcoholism, drug abuse, and Islamic terrorists in a feature called "Mad's New Sesame Street Characters That Better Reflect Today's World."
 	Issue #431(July 2003) 	In the article A MAD Peek Behind the Scenes on the Set of The Hulk, Kermit the Frog and Oscar the Grouch appear. Kermit can be seen with The Great Gazoo from The Flintstones, singing "Bein' Green".
 	Issue #459(November 2005) 	Ernie and Bert appear in "Hot Tub Confessions" in response to conservative outrage over SpongeBob SquarePants being gay.
 	Issue #465(May 2006) 	Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House can be seen in the forest in the opening panel of Barebutt Mountain, a parody of the film Brokeback Mountain. Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street can also be spotted later on in the parody.
 	Issue #510(June 2011) 	Features a Green Lantern spoof with several other famous green characters, including Kermit and Oscar.
 	Mad Presents Batman(September 2012)	Featured a small cameo by Cookie Monster on a computer screen in the comic, "The Dork Knight." A police officer theorizes that Battyman is really Cookie Monster, since both have a "growly, gravelly voice."
===2018===
Picture	Issue/Date 	Description
 	Issue #2(August 2019) 	Features a cameo by Gaffer (drawn by Jim Woodring) in "The Wisenheim Museum." In Tom Bunk Gets Stranded in Hollywood, Kermit and Miss Piggy are seen waving at a crowd. Fozzie Bear and Cookie Monster are also seen in a car driven by Darth Vader from Star Wars. There's also a page where Teague Rathbone wrote a letter to the sock in David Bowie's pants in Labyrinth.
 	issue #5(February 2019) 	A book titled There's a Chapter 11 at the End of This Book can be seen in the Re-Animated poster parody Re-Animators, focusing on Toys R Us' bankruptcy and revival.
 	issue #6(April 2019) 	Dr. Bunsen Honeydew appears in Spaghetti & Meatball in Baby Sittin. Kermit also appears in one panel of The Goodest Place, a parody of The Good Place.
 	issue #7(June 2019) 	Sweetums and Animal appear in the article MAD Predicts Avenjerks: Is This Ever Gonna End-Game? appearing in a crowd of Dizzy characters to defeat Th'anus (Thanos).
 	issue #8(August 2019) 	Bert appears in the article Necronomicon for Dummies being sacrificed by getting his stuffing out of him. A gag in Meanwhile... features a Muppet dating a marionette.
 	issue #10(December 2019)	In the article A MAD Look at Alfred Hitchcock Movies, during a parody of The Birds, Mitch Brenner opens the door and Big Bird comes in, scaring the kids. In the article The First Comedian on Mars, Yoda complains of Eddie Pepitone's jokes, "Unfunny, this one is! Fozzie Bear, my favorite comedian always will be!"
 	issue #13(June 2020) 	One of the cartoons in the "Meanwhile" page features a swiss knife and a Bowie, which is like a swiss knife, but with heads of David Bowie. One of them is Jareth from Labyrinth.
 	Issue #28(December 2022)	In a parody of The Batman called The Bathroom, Oscar the Grouch appears telling Bruce Wayne "For god's sake, cheer up!"
 	Issue #40(December 2024)	In a parody that's a mixture of The Fast & the Furious and the 2024 Election called The Fascist & the Feeblest, Ernie appears in Donald Trump's golf cart asking him not to tell him they're related.
===International===
Picture	Description
 	The German edition of issue #118 featured Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, and Samson on the cover.
 	The UK edition of issue #227 (March 1981) — published in Germany as issue #138 — featured Miss Piggy on the cover falling in love with Alfred E. Neuman.
==See also==
*Cracked
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