MADness #74: Homeland!

It’s Monday again… or IS it? You never really know what’s real and what’s not in the shadowy world of espionage, but regardless we are going to spy out this TV parody of the Showtime series “Homeland” from MAD #523, October 2013, written by MAD editor David Shayne.

One thing I remember about doing this one was that that the MAD folks wanted me to put the spies from Spy vs. Spy in as many background cameos and gags as I could. I didn’t include them in the splash page in my initial rough so I added them in the final. They show up a LOT throughout the spoof.

In an interview for the Hollywood Reporter, series star Claire Danes had this to say about the popularity of the show:

There were parodies on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and in MAD magazine. That’s a real sign that you’ve made it… getting roasted!

Danes really laid it on thick in this show, playing an emotionally unstable CIA agent prone to overwrought meltdowns. That led to a number of exaggerated caricature expressions for her character.

When one of the main writers of the Showtime show “Homeland” saw the issue, he contacted me to ask about getting some prints of the splash page. Naturally I obliged, but I added an extra print asking for some autographs by the cast for me. This is proudly hanging up in the studio, signed by:

• Damian Lewis (Nicholas Brody)
• Claire Danes (Carrir Mathison)
• Maury Sterling (Max)
• Navid Negahban (Abu Nazir)
• Morena Baccarin (Jessica Brody)
• Mandy Patinkin (Saul Berenson)
• David Harwood (David Estes)
• Rupert Friend (Peter Quinn)

Sadly missing the signatures of the two Brody kids, Diego Klattenhoff (Mike Faber), Gen David Pataeus and former Vice President Dick Cheney… but I’ll work on those.

That’s it for another explosive Monday MADness! Toon in next week for a look back at yet another superhero movie spoof… and this one is more “Stupor” than “Super”.