M-m-m-mad Movies
January 8, 2014 4:18 PM   Subscribe

Mad Movies originally aired on television between 1985-1986, and in reruns on Nick at Nite from 1987-1989. Every episode is a spoof of a classic movie where the video is the original (although edited to fit the show’s half-hour format) but all the dialogue is overdubbed with humorous dialogue.

If you were a ten-year old in the late 1980s with cable TV and an intractable case of insomnia brought on by a book of symbolist ghost stories (hypothetically speaking), you probably knew and loved Mad Movies, just as you would go on to know and love MST3K.

The theme song and intros are now cringe-inducingly dated, but some of the bits (and apparently the concept) are timeless. A lot of the original videos are available on YouTube or in the LA Connection's own vault.

Some favorite moments, selected by a sleep-deprived ten-year old:

From the Exorcist-inspired version of The Little Princess - "Does that mean I have to stay?" "Well, you can try to leave if you like, but we'll pick you off from a guard tower." ("I'm an excellent shot.")

From A Star is Born - "Uh listen, is there someplace private I can undress? I'm kind of shy." "Here, next to the hot water heater." "Okay, but don't look." "Oh don't worry, you go ahead and get ready, I'll be in in a minute. It's just, I...[picking up a steak earlier dropped on the floor]...Oh no, it's all burnt and dirty!" "HEY I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOOK."

From The Outlaw - [a bird, standing quietly in a windowsill] "SHUT UP, QUIET, YOU'RE MAKING TOO MUCH NOISE"

From The Inspector General - "And now, The Doobie Brothers!"
posted by Ouisch (21 comments total) 51 users marked this as a favorite
 
So they made a TV show out of What's Up Tiger Lily?

SIGN ME THE HELL UP.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 4:25 PM on January 8, 2014 [4 favorites]


Loved this show during it's run on Nick at Nite (back when Nick at Nite was good).
posted by davros42 at 4:27 PM on January 8, 2014


I've always liked to believe that Greek Choruses occasionally narrated an entirely different play just for the hell of it.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:31 PM on January 8, 2014 [3 favorites]


THANK YOU for remembering this. I was in fact ten and I adored it.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:37 PM on January 8, 2014 [2 favorites]


I don't remember much of these except one gag where someone pulled up a chair for a doctor and said "here's that stool sample you asked for". And I remember liking them. So I guess I need to watch more!
posted by aubilenon at 4:43 PM on January 8, 2014 [2 favorites]


I never watched this, but I remember the commercial vividly: "Here's that stool sample you ordered." *offers bar stool*
posted by clavicle at 4:44 PM on January 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


OMG JINX
posted by clavicle at 4:44 PM on January 8, 2014


Oh man the Doobie Brothers bit was the single funniest thing I thought I had ever seen. At least until Mel Brooks movies entered my life.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:45 PM on January 8, 2014 [3 favorites]


Oh my god, as soon as I saw this post title I flashed back to my grandparents' back bedroom.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 4:49 PM on January 8, 2014


I adored this show. Thanks for this! The Little Princess episode, in which all of Shirley Temple's many hugs are turned into vicious cannibalistic attacks, is particularly hilarious.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:51 PM on January 8, 2014


I remember these! I had to watch them all alone because the rest of my family thought they weren't as funny as Ernest.

(see: my entire childhood).
posted by emjaybee at 5:30 PM on January 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


My family loved this show - i may still have a very worn VHS of it somewhere. I've been checking every few years to see if they were available on DVD - i just i'll just have to waste an evening or two watching them online.
posted by nightwood at 5:32 PM on January 8, 2014




I had completely forgotten about this. You've made my day. Thank you!
posted by the_royal_we at 7:39 PM on January 8, 2014


Along the same lines, Hercules Returns.
posted by dg at 7:51 PM on January 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


OH MY GOD. I was just searching for this a year or so ago.

I remember the stool sample bit and a cat being given a saucer of milk: "Here, kitty." "I can't digest milk!"
posted by Lardmitten at 8:51 PM on January 8, 2014


Send those evil spirits back to Cleveland.
posted by azpenguin at 9:04 PM on January 8, 2014


I loved this show so damn much as a kid. It was on late enough that staying up to watch it felt like I was getting away with something, and maybe I was. My favorite episode was Night of the Living Dead, which IIRC they turned into a wild all-night surprise birthday party for Barbara, who wanted nothing to do with it. To this day when watching undead flicks, I still mumble "Surpriiiiise... happy birrrrrthdaaay..." whenever zombies start busting through windows and doors.
posted by Spatch at 10:19 PM on January 8, 2014 [2 favorites]


My favorite part is the letter-reading/dance scene they turned into a demon-summoning ritual. I can't find the video right now, but it's something like:

"Walk like a jerk across the floor;
This will summon the demon Lenore.
Look in the mirror and straighten your tie--
Not too tight or you will die.
Now jump around and give a yell:
'Evil spirits go back to Cleveland.'"
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:28 AM on January 9, 2014 [2 favorites]


Holy cow, I had completely forgotten that this show even existed! Thanks so much for posting about it!
posted by zarq at 6:29 AM on January 9, 2014


YES! I have been quoting the Shirley Temple episode for nigh on twenty-odd years now, waiting for someone else to recognize it...

"Isn't there anything else I can do to satisfy your heathen blood thirst?"
"I'll take a cheese danish and cup of coffee."
posted by 1f2frfbf at 5:32 PM on January 9, 2014


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