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.

Andrew Daly and Nicole Randall Johnson (who will be playing "Shanice") will appear in the upcoming comedy "School for Scoundrels". From IMDB:

Jon Heder plays an unlucky meter reader who enrolls in a confidence-building class so he can win the love of the girl of his dreams. The class turns out to be something quite different when it becomes clear to the young man that his professor (Billy Bob Thorton), has his sights set on the same girl. The film is set for release on 14th July, 2006.

Andrew will also be playing "Wayne" in another comedy, "What Is Love" which is scheduled to air later this year.

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.

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!

Mo Collins and Gillian Vigman will both have small roles in the upcoming comedy film "The 40 Year Old Virgin" written and directed by Judd Apatow. Here's a plot summary of the movie from www.up4u.net:

The film follows Andy Stitzer (Carell) who lives alone in North Hollywood, rides his bicycle to work at Circuit City in the San Fernando Valley, and has a pleasant enough life. He's a nice guy, shy, considerate, polite, has a pristine collection of action figures, is pathologically nervous around women. He's our 40 year-old virgin. When three of his co-workers discover this about him, they make it their mission to get him laid. He reluctantly goes along with their plan, finding himself in some ridiculous situations along the way, until he meets Trish (Keener), a single mother of three, who changes everything.

Once again, we thank Scorpiogrrl2003 for this news. Here's part of the e-mail that was sent to her directly from Mo:

"Just spent the last 2 days shooting a tiny part in a very funny Judd Appetow film called "The 40 Year Old Virgin" Got to improvise my entire role. HAD A BLAST!!!!!! Worked with Gillian Vigman as well. She was hella funny....."

IMDb has the movie scheduled for an August 19th release date for this year. Even though they're small parts, I look forward to seeing these two in this movie.

EDIT: Nicole Randall Johnson also makes a brief appearance in this film.