Well, boys and girls, the confirmation train just pulled into the station.

Here is your final Season 13 cast:

Returning: Crista Flanagan, Keegan-Michael Key, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Arden Myrin, Nicole Parker, Jordan Peele
Joining: Anjelah Johnson, Dan Oster, Johnny Sanchez
Departing: Ike Barinholtz, Frank Caeti, Lisa Donovan, Nicole Randall Johnson

Because we had the vast majority of this nailed down as early as June, there's only one real surprise here: Boom Chicago's Dan Oster is our final new cast member. Here's what we know about him at this stage:

• He's a Los Angeles native.
• He wears glasses.
• He has performed with Ultimate Improv and Boom Chicago.
• He doesn't have an IMDb profile.
• He *does* have a YouTube profile.
• He was signed as either a featured player or a series regular.
• His first name is Dan.
• His last name is Oster.
• He, apparently, is a human male between the ages of 18 and 40.

Stretching a little, I know. Dan: If you're reading this, please drop us a line! We need more information!

With casting now wrapped up like a mummy in Jeffrey Dahmer's freezer, let's move on to the show itself. Over the course of the past five updates, we've painted a near-complete picture of what to expect from MADtv's upcoming season. To summarize (and to add a few new tidbits):

• Season 13 premieres on September 15th. The first episode will be #1301.
• If history is any indication, expect three new episodes to air (September 15th, 22nd, and 29th) before baseball season commences. Because shooting doesn't begin until October, these episodes will be comprised of S12 holdover sketches.
• Barring a shooting schedule change, don't expect to see Anjelah, Johnny, or Dan before November.
• While 18 episodes will be shot this season, it's believed that 22 will air when all is said and done. Unfortunately, this cannot be definitively confirmed one way or the other until the season finale date is announced.
• Shooting has been moved to the Henry Fonda Music Box Theater in Hollywood, which, supposedly, "will enhance [MADtv's] live-event feeling". Sadly, pre-taping your episodes will then nullify said enhancement. Better luck next time, boys!
• Because the show's budget has once again been slashed, remotes will be utilized in greater numbers this season. For those who aren't aware, a "remote" is a segment shot on location (out-on-the-town sketches, red carpets, etc.). As I'm sure you can imagine, no costumes and few to no props = muchos savings!
• The landmark 300th episode will air on November 17th. No further details are known at this point.
• Former executive producer Dick Blasucci has been sent packing, and replacing him are head writer John Crane and director Bruce Leddy. These two will join forces with long-time executive producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones to form the ultimate cast-hushing, information-withholding, uber-authoritarian dream team!
• On the topic of the new season, David Salzman has stated: "Our plan is to preserve the fast-paced, cutting-edge pop culture parodies and audience-favorite characters while adding more topicality, fresh new elements and a real theater setting." Fresh new elements, eh? Oh, David -- you're so mysterious!

So, there you have it -- the full scoop on S13 almost two whole months before the premiere! To our many sources both inside and out, we thank you for making all of this possible. Beyond that, a big wet one goes out to those who provided exclusive information. We couldn't have done this without you, and for that, you have my eternal gratitude! For those who are keeping score, I'd like to note that we were once again right on every single account. First and second rules of Planet MADtv: do NOT question Planet MADtv!

After hearing Frank Caliendo's comments about the show recieving a revamp this season, I decided to try and find out what this meant for myself. Here's what I got from an undoubtedly reliable source:

1. There will be no new castmembers. This season, MADtv is sticking with a smaller group of 10 so that everyone gets fair air time, and nobody gets "forgotten" like Frank and Daniele did last year. This doesn't mean there won't be any new featured players joining the show later in the season, but for now, there are none.
2. Speaking of Frank and Daniele, they are the only castmembers leaving (apart from Stephnie). Frank Caeti and Nicole Randall Johnson have been promoted, and Arden is retaining her position as a regular. That gives us a cast consisting of Ike Barinholtz, Frank Caeti, Crista Flanagan, Keegan-Michael Key, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Arden Myrin, Nicole Parker, Jordan Peele and Nicole Randall Johnson.
3. As with last year, there is going to be more of a push for shorter sketches, and therefore more sketches per show. In addition, there will be more location shooting, which was noticeable last season and provided some variety. I just hope it doesn't mean an "adventure" sketch every episode.
4. Shooting starts tomorrow, August 21st.

I should be able to get the #1201 episode description from FOX in a week or two. Until then, this is all I got.

Thanks to my super-secret source for the information.

Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key will be appearing together on an upcoming episode in the eighth season of "Celebrity Poker Showdown". If you're not familiar with the show, Nicole Sullivan competed in and won the first season in 2003, donating her $100,000 winnings to Ally Cat Allies.

Keegan and Jordan will be playing in Game 4, which premieres on Wednesday, June 21st at 9:00pm, ET/PT on Bravo. Their competitors will be Mario Cantone, Jenna Fischer and Rocco Dispirito. With two of them competing in the same round, that gives the MADtv team a 40% chance of winning. That is, if both of them don't suck.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, the 2006 Chicago Improv Festival will feature current MADtv castmembers Ike Barinholtz, Keegan-Michael Key, Nicole Parker and Jordan Peele, and will also feature the "MADtv Writers On Hiatus" and Tami Sagher's show "Tami Sagher Is Not In A Good Place."

We have recieved word that Mo Collins will be an emcee for one of the main stage events, and in addition, Michael McDonald, Crista Flanagan, Nicole Randall Johnson and Frank Caeti will all be in attendance.

The 9th incarnation of the Chicago Imrpov Festival will run from April 24th - 30th.

Since there are so many minor appearances in movies and television shows coming up, I thought I would compile them all into a single thread for February.

Michael McDonald will appear on the February 12 episode of "Desperate Housewives", entitled "Silly People." Desperate Housewives airs 9/8C, Sunday nights on ABC.

Mary Scheer will appear in an upcoming episode of the new FOX sitcom "Free Ride". The show premieres on March 1st, after American Idol and Mary is scheduled to appear in the third episode of the season, playing "Louise" in the episode titled "Up Your Auntie." Rumor has it that Mary will also be appearing in Aaron Sorkins new NBC Comedy, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". Thanks to Knickers for the heads up regarding Free Ride.

Simon Helberg has made his mark on The Sundance Film Festival. "The Pity Card", in which he stars, premiered last week at Sundance. Originally intended to be an HBO series, writer/director Bob Odenkirk entered his idea as a film to Sundance after the network ditched the plan. An outline from Forward.com:

The film revolves around an unusual first date between a 20-something Jew, played by Simon Helberg, and a historically challenged shiksa goddess (Ange Billman). When the two visit the Holocaust Museum, she emerges devastated because she had never heard of the Holocaust. Her outrage that such a thing could happen makes her want to tell the world. Her bleats of sympathy for her companion do not help matters; he is already mortified at her ignorance.

Lisa Kushell will make an appearance on VH1's "100 Greatest Teen Stars" which starts tonight at 9 and continues all week. Thanks to Cartman2002 for the update.

Keegan-Michael Key will appear in the upcoming film "Alleyball" which is set for release later this year. Not much is known about this movie at present, but Keegan has second billing and one of his co-stars is Larry Joe Campbell, which links this production with the Second City.

Be sure to return to this thread in the future for more information regarding these appearances.

Season 11 MADtv star Keegan-Michael Key will be in Ann Arbor, MI this Friday, October 14th, to do a live improv show with his group "The 313: Heroes of Detroit Improv" at Improv Inferno. Here's the scoop from improvinferno.com:

The 313 is a long-form improv company made up of alumni from The Second City. They are Larry Joe Campbell (According to Jim), Keegan-Michael Key (MadTV), Nyima Funk (MTV's Wild 'N Out), Andy Cobb (The Family Guy), Joshua Funk (Wild 'N Out), and Marc Evan Jackson (VH-1's ILL-ustrated and BSTV). They perform on Saturday nights at The Second City-Hollywood and just finished up a month-long run at The Flamingo Las Vegas. Tickets are $15 for the 8PM show and $20 for the 10PM. Special Event - no passes or coupons will be accepted for this show.

Considering I'm an Ann Arbor native and the show is like 5 minutes from my house, I'll most likely be there. Sounds like it will be fun.

We've been waiting a long time for this, and it's finally surfaced thanks to a bit of sleuthing. The cast changes for the 11th season of MADtv are as follows:

Departing: Spencer Kayden, Ron Pederson, Aries Spears, Paul Vogt

Returning: Ike Barinholtz, Frank Caliendo, Daniele Gaither, Keegan-Michael Key, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Nicole Parker, Jordan Peele, Stephnie Weir

New Castmembers: Arden Myrin, Crista Flanagan

New Featured Players: Frank Caeti, Nicole Randall Johnson

So there you have it. Now, in addition to two Franks in the cast, we also have two Nicoles! Nicole Randall Johnson studied at the Groundlings and has made appearances in tv shows such as CSI, Reno 911!, Felicity and Monk. She also made a brief appearance in the current #1 movie in America, The 40 Year Old Virgin.

And this tiny spoiler comes from FOX.com, outlining what we can expect in the first episode:

For the momentous 11th season premiere, the late-night comedy lampoons Hugh Laurie (Michael McDonald) and the FOX hit HOUSE. The hilarity continues with parodies of Vince Vaughn (Ike Barinholtz) in “Wedding Crashers” and Morgan Freeman (Jordan Peele) in “March of the Penguins” on MADtv airing Saturday, Sept. 17 on FOX.

Don't forget to watch!

As most of you guys know by now, a number of season 10's biggest cast members will not be present for season 11. For some of them, it was a personal decision not to renew their contracts, while others were cut by the producers. Whatever the reason, this is a first glance at what the cast will look like as of right now:

Departing Cast: Ron Pederson, Aries Spears, Paul Vogt and Stephnie Weir.

Returning Cast: Ike Barinholtz, Frank Caliendo, Crista Flanagan, Daniele Gaither, Keegan-Michael Key, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Nicole Parker and Jordan Peele.

In addition to the cast mentioned above, for the first time ever on MADtv there will be two African American female cast members. When I recently spoke to Debra Wilson, she informed me that a new black female has been added to the cast for season 11. She's got an improv background like Daniele and performed with Groundlings. I'm not sure of her name yet, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. I have not heard yet if Spencer has been added to the regular cast, but we'll find out very soon I'm sure.

Thanks to forum member mrekim as well as Debra Wilson and Mo Collins for updating us with this information.