Tom's Mad Blog
January 25th, 2023 | Posted in General
The Lovely Anna and I finally watched the last of the new “Wednesday” show on Netflix staring the perfectly cast Jenna Ortega as the titular character. We enjoyed it quite a bit. Tim Burton did a great job reimagining Charles Addams‘s characters and world for the show. Those people who complain that the show was too dark and that Burton “didn’t understand the characters” are mistaking this as a reboot of the 60’s TV show. It’s not. “Wednesday” is based on original Charles Addams cartoons. Same source material as the 60’s show, but a different take. In fact, Burton was far more true to the characters and the cartoon vibe than… READ MORE
January 23rd, 2023 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It’s yet another Monday, and that means yet another big, fat look back at my work for MAD magazine. This week we go dough-nuts with a peek at MAD‘s parody of the heavy-duty sitcom “Mike & Molly”, written by Arnie Kogen and first appearing in MAD #514, April 2012. Very few jobs I was given by MAD made me unhappy, but this one did. I have to say I was not much of a fan of this show, or this spoof. Both were filled with a lot of cheap fat jokes, most of which come off as mean as opposed to funny. I tried to… READ MORE
January 18th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I was never much of a “Trekkie” back in the day, but I did appreciate Star Trek and loved the original series as well as “The Next Generation” TV shows. I recognized how much of an impact Star Trek had on Science Fiction as a genre, and the shows were entertaining as well as thought provoking. My favorite character was always Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy, played in the OS by DeForest Kelley. As an aside, most people know the often-repeated Captain Kirk line “Beam me up, Scotty!” Was never actually uttered in the series. Just a common misused “quote”. Well, the “Dammit, Jim… I’m a doctor… READ MORE
January 16th, 2023 | Posted in MAD Magazine
By Oa, It takes a lot of willpower to keep doing these lame looks back at my work for MAD Magazine, but Mondays are already the worst day of the week so let’s just roll with it. This week we have a peek at another “MAD’s 20 Dumbest People, Events and Things of…” the year, this time 2011. That was the year Charlie Sheen went crazy, getting booted off his hit TV show “Two and a Half Men” and raving about tiger blood, wizards, and “winning” while looking more and more like a crackhead. MAD took notice and he made the MAD 20 with this… READ MORE
January 13th, 2023 | Posted in General
I saw that Lisa Marie Presley passed away the other day, and I remembered this theme park sample I did of her back in 2003. The gag with Elvis rolling over in his grave was about his likely disapproval of her choice in husbands and not her career path. Anyway RIP Lisa Marie… 54 is too young to go. READ MORE
January 11th, 2023 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series
This is one subject that is long overdue to be added to my “Classic Rock Stars” caricature sketch series, the great Carlos Santana! He’s been one of the greatest guitarists in rock for a long time, really ever since his band’s explosive performance at Woodstock, which took place when they were basically unknown in the U.S. and their debut album still unreleased. The band’s set was such a revelation that they were included in the Woodstock film and soundtrack album despite their unknown status amid a lineup of superstar headliners. Santana is regularly mentioned in any list of the world’s greatest guitarists. A true original. READ MORE
January 9th, 2023 | Posted in MAD Magazine
All rise! The kangaroo court is in session! It’s a new year I am still schelpping out the old crap as we continue our long and boring cross examination of the crimes against cartooning that was my work for MAD magazine. This week we look back at a video game spoof called “Punitive Damages: A Game of Supreme Justice”, written by my CLAPTRAP cohort Desmond Devlin and first appearing in MAD #512, December 2011. This piece will live in infamy with me because, all self-deprecating comments aside, I consider it the worst thing I ever did for the magazine. It had nothing to do with… READ MORE
December 21st, 2022 | Posted in General
As my Christmas gift to you, I will finally stop with the TV detective series of caricature sketches. You’re welcome! The last one is a switch to a humorous detective character from the 1970’s sitcom “Barney Miller”, Abe Vigoda as the irascible Sergeant Phil Fish. READ MORE
