There are quite a few new and exciting developments that have surfaced lately, but unfortunately, there isn't much information regarding them.

Former castmember Ron Pederson has landed a gig on CBS' "The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson", where he will be featured in various comedy sketches. The show airs Monday through Friday at 12:35 am.

Paul Vogt will be appearing in a production of "Hairspray" at the Luxor Las Vegas, debuting in Febuary.

Frank Caliendo once again needs your vote! Frank is a contender in Comedy Central's "Stand Up Showdown", where fans decide the pecking order of Comedy Central's top 25 stand up comedians. If I recall correctly, Frank was ranked in the top 5 last year. You can vote for Frank to be #1 here or text "CALIENDO" to 91757 to cast your vote via text messaging.

Bobby Lee will be making an appearance in a new film by Chris Chan Lee. From IMDb:

A crime drama set in LA's Koreatown, UNDOING introduces us to Samuel, who returns after a mysterious absence to reconcile the death of his best friend exactly one year ago.

Bobby's character is named Kenny, and you can view the offcial site here.

And finally, Simon Helberg has two upcoming film appearances, the first is in "The TV Set", which is the story of a TV pilot as it is being made, and "For Your Consideration" the latest comedy by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, in the tradition of "Waiting For Guffman" and "Best In Show". Christopher Guest comedies are in my opinion some of the best movies ever made, and easily my favorite comedies of all time. Will Sasso has had brief appearances in the last two, and while he hasn't been credited in the latest, Simon's appearance should be interesting nonetheless.

2005 was a great year for former and current MADtv castmembers, with almost half the show cast (past and present) getting their "big (post MADtv) break." Hopefully the success of some of Hollywoods most gifted actors and comedians will continue in the new year.

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.

I recently received an email from an anonymous tipster, detailing information on Ron's nomination for an Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award. To save myself time, I'll just post what I recieved:

"Ron Pederson has been nominated for the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Best Actor for his role in Stewart Lemoine's play "Shockers Delight!" which played in Edmonton, Alberta last summer. The awards ceremony will be held June 20th. Ron has been nominated several times and won best suporting actor in 2002 for his performance in the "Beauty Queen Of Lenanne" produced by the Citadel theatre.

Ron is returning to work on a new play by Mr. Lemoine, which will open at the Varscona Theatre in Edmonton on July 7th. The play will also star Ron's long time friend and Canadian Theatre star Jeff Haslam. The play will be produced by Teatro La Quindicina with whom Ron is an artistic associate."

If you are reading this, congratulations on the nomination Ron. We wish you the best of luck, and know that you will do well in your new production.

The MADtv cast is back a second time to do not one, but two shows at the 8th Annual Chicago Improv Festival. The entire cast will not be back, but the performance will headline five cast members: Mo Collins, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael McDonald, Ron Pederson and Paul Vogt. The cast will be the main act with an opening featuring the MADtv writers, who are also performing for the second time. Last year the annual live festival featured 120 hilarious live acts, ensembles from nine countries and more than 700 improv and sketch performers. The full list is not yet up this year, but I'm sure it will be just as impressive considering over 200 groups from around the world submitted material hoping to be picked for the show. The festival runs from April 22nd - May 1st. Here's a list of the days that feature the cast of MADtv:

Friday, April 29th - 7pm - $25

• MADtv Improv Jam
  Featuring Mo Collins, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael McDonald, Ron Pederson and Paul Vogt.
• Also featuring MADtv's Writers on Hiatus

Saturday, April 30th - 7pm - $25

• MADtv Improv Jam
  Featuring Mo Collins, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael McDonald, Ron Pederson and Paul Vogt.
• Also featuring MADtv's Writers on Hiatus

Don't forget to also check out Mo Collins' One-Woman Show, as previously announced. There may be more performances that could include MADtv cast members, they don't have the full list up yet. You may also notice that the SNL writers are having an event. For more info, visit CIF's Official Site. No ticket info is available at this time.

I can't wait, I'm definitely going again this year. Hope to see some of you guys there as well!

The MADtv cast will be "special guest stars" at the 2004 Billboard Music Awards. The show airs live Wednesday December 8th at 8/7c on FOX. Bands scheduled to perform are Evanescence, Green Day, Gwen Stefani, Keith Urban with Sheryl Crow, Nelly, Usher, Mary J. Blige and more. Be there or be square!

The cast of Fox sketch comedy series "MADtv" will be seen in spoof segments dubbed "Billboard Request Live" throughout the show. Viewers can expect comical impersonations of such celebrities as Ja Rule, Ludacris, Anna Nicole Smith and Clay Aiken, among others.

EDIT: Media can be found here.

Thanks to Raphaela for bringing this to my attention, and for also allowing me to see the segment.

On Thursday's (9/2/04) edition of E! News Live, reporter Jason Feinberg took a look behind the scenes at MADtv studios as the Season 10 cast prepared for an upcoming photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly. The 2 page spread, acknowledging MADtv's 10 year history, will hit news stand on Friday (9/3/04). Some of the featured impressions in the segment were Clay Aiken (Ron), Michael Moore (Paul), Eve (Daniele), Judy Garland (Nicole) and Rod Roddy (Frank) as well as Characters including Dot (Stephnie) and Coach Hines (Keegan).

Be sure to pick up a copy of Entertainment Weekly on Friday, and anyone who is able to scan the spread for the rest of the forum members, who perhaps can't get their hands on it, will win a special prize.

According to an article in the Futon Critic, the season 10 cast is as follows:

Returning Cast: Ike Barnholtz, Frank Caliendo, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Ron Pederson, Aries Spears, Paul Vogt and Stephnie Weir

New Regular Cast: Daniele Gaither, Keegan- Michael Key, Nicole Parker, Jordan Peele

Departing Cast: Mo Collins, Josh Meyers, Melissa Paull, Gillian Vigman

Final Cast: Ike Barinholtz, Frank Caliendo, Daniele Gaither, Keegan- Michael Key, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Nicole Parker, Ron Pederson, Jordan Peele, Aries Spears, Paul Vogt and Stephnie Weir

Tune into the Season 10 premiere on September 18th!