[MADtv] Mid-season awards...

[koolboee cdmo87]

While we're stuck waiting a couple weeks until the new episode, how about we give some awards for what we've seen so far this season?

Add any amount of categories if you want! Here's mine..

And you must give an explanation for each award, except when you say which episodes are the best, for fear of being too repetitive.

BEST CAST MEMBER: Stephnie Weir - The star of the season! She kicked off the season with her awesome Anna Nicole Smith impression in episode #801, and has stayed consistant ever since. She has the impressions, the characters, can play the straight woman roles excellently, and carries one-off sketches very well.
WEAKEST CAST MEMBER: Aries Spears - Aries is still a good cast member, don't get me wrong. Well, he wasn't good in his first three seasons, but he improved in season six. In fact, he was the best male cast member in season seven. He's still good this season, but he's put in less memorable roles than anyone else. Plus, he's used that horrible Shaquille O'Neal impression twice this season. Again, he's not bad, which is why I said "weakest" instead of "worst".
BEST FEATURED PLAYER: Josh Meyers - An excellent addition to the cast! He's very versatile in every role he's in. In fact, I think he's the best male cast member on the show this season, and the third-best overall cast member. Hopefully he'll be staying.
WORST FEATURED PLAYER: Paul Vogt - Okay, it's a little unfair after seeing him in only one episode, but he really annoyed me. He did the Epstein Brothers sketch real well, but was extremely annoying in all the other sketches he was in. He really brought down the Politically Correct Office and Ruthy sketches because of his horrible acting, which otherwise would've been perfect skits. In my opinion, he was hired not because of his talent, but because he's big and fat, and they're trying to find a replacement for Will Sasso.

TOP 3 BEST EPISODES: (including the ratings each episode received)
3. #804 (10/10)
2. #808 (10/10)
1. #802 (10/10)

TOP 3 WORST EPISODES: (including the ratings each episode received)
3. #810 (8/10)
2. #807 (7/10)
1. #806 (6/10)

BEST MUSIC VIDEO PARODY: "Like I Am You" by Justin Timberlake (starring Josh Meyers, Jill-Michelle Melean, and Aries Spears), episode #809 - A very sharp music video parody. Josh in particular really shines here, but Jill also imitated Michael Jackson well, and Aries was great too.
WORST MUSIC VIDEO PARODY: "Hot Up Herre" by Father Kelly (starring Michael McDonald, Bobby Lee, Ike Barinholtz, and Josh Meyers), episode #803 - The premise here is very funny, and it's not a bad video. It's just weak compared to the other ones. Plus, it's never a good thing to see Ike and Bobby in their underwear

BEST OPENING SEGMENT: The Koppels (starring Frank Caliendo, Stephnie Weir, and Mo Collins), episode #802 - This was a creative idea, and had very sharp writing and very strong performances from all three (especially Frank). Several parts here were very funny.
WORST OPENING SEGMENT: Epstein Brother Christmas Commercial (starring Paul Vogt and Simon Helberg), episode #810 - This wasn't bad, but it was very strange. But Paul (for once) and Simon both gave strong performances here. Still, the premise and the writing was too weird.

BEST CLOSING SEGMENT: Insomnia Talk (starring Frank Caliendo), episode #803 - Frank's talents with his impressions shine here. Both impressions are very funny and very accurate, especially the Robin Williams one - if you were only hearing his voice, you would swear it was the real guy. A very funny closing, and it has the strongest writing.
WORST CLOSING SEGMENT: Bobby Loves the Audience (starring Bobby Lee), episode #805 - This one was picked as the worst, because it didn't have writing, and the only other closing without writing this season (Ike in #809), was much funnier. Still, Bobby was amusing.

TOP 3 BEST MUSICAL PERFORMANCES:
3. Xzibit, "Multiply" (#804) - This had a great beat, and the two rappers here do their job well, and the lyrics are pretty clever.
2. Shaggy, "Strength of a Woman" (#805) - Shaggy's voice is interesting to hear because of his strong accent, but I thought the use of violins here was very entertaining.
1. Sum41, "Still Waiting" (#808) - I expected this to be bad, but it was actually listenable. The music here is very catchy, and it's funny watching the lead singer's face, he gets really into the song.

TOP 3 WORST MUSICAL PERFORMANCES:
3. Kelly Osbourne, "Shut Up" (#807) - Kelly isn't a very good performer, she doesn't have a good voice and she didn't do anything except stand there and keep doing this weird eye-rolling expression. But the song itself is pretty catchy, and the band did a good job.
2. Puddle of Mudd, "She Hates Me" (#809) - The performance itself isn't bad, but the song is very boring.
1. The Strokes (#806) - One of the worst musical performances in the show's history, and that's really saying something. The song is awful, the singing is pathetic, and I can't stand that doped expression on the lead singer's face that never leaves. What's even worse, they let them perform TWICE! Dear God!

TOP 3 BEST GUEST STARS:
3. Wilmer Valderrama (#807) - I find him very funny, he was the best performer in the "CHiPs 2002 2" sketch.
2. Sum41 (#808) - They actually contributed well to the Smartypants sketch, and did great jobs portraying nerds. And they had some funny lines too.
1. Xzibit and WC (#804) - They really helped out the Real Motherƒucking Talk sketch, they were very good in their roles, they delivered their lines really well too.

TOP 3 WORST GUEST STARS:
3. Kelly Osbourne (#807) - While her brother Jack was actually pretty good, Kelly wasn't. She's just not a good actress. She forced her lines and always looked like she was trying to keep from laughing.
2. Kelly Clarkson (#801) - Kelly just wasn't funny at all. Plus, she starred in the worst sketch of the season, that horrible Clarkson-Koppel Interview sketch in the season premiere.
1. Brian Dunkleman and Ryan Seacrest (#801) - These two were absolutely terrible. They just weren't funny. They're very dull, and they seemed too uninterested in their sketches.

[Cat_Named_CeCe]

BEST CAST MEMBER: Debra Wilson - The only original cast member left and she keeps getting better and better. Her experience shows. With new additions such as Cloret and returning favorites such as Bunifa, now back and funnier than ever, she is shining this season more than she has in a very long time.

WEAKEST CAST MEMBER: Frank Caliendo - With a few good impressions aside, he is one of MAD's all-time most annoying. He has been called the new "funny fat guy" to replace Will Sasso, but he has had no memorable characters or memorable sketches this entire season. He is good at impressions but not well rounded enough to add a lot to the cast.

BEST FEATURED PLAYER: Josh Meyers - Although I am not a big fan of any of the featured players so far this season, he is much better than Ike and the other two have not been around long enough to judge.

WORST FEATURED PLAYER: I guess I'll go with Ike Barinholtz, because the other two haven't really been around long enough to judge. Ike is very very very annoying and hasn't added anything noteworthy to the show. I think that in season 8, there are cast members that are excellent and those that are horrible, but not much in between.

TOP 3 BEST EPISODES: (including the ratings each episode received)
3. #802
2. #808
1. #809

TOP 3 WORST EPISODES: (including the ratings each episode received)
3. #807
2. #803
1. #804

BEST MUSIC VIDEO PARODY: "Translation" by Shakira (starring Mo Collins), episode #805 - Although it wasn't as good as "Whatever, Don't Matter" I think it was still funny. The video itself wasn't great, but the idea is absolutely hillarious. My friend's younger sister has the album and most of the lyrics make absolutely no sense, such as "I eat my soup with a fork" and "Lucky my breasts are small and humble so you don't confuse them with mountains." So, a whole video about how she doesn't know a damn word of English is great. And Mo is good as Shakira.

WORST MUSIC VIDEO PARODY: "I Just Want a Gangsta" by Eve and Alicia Keys (both played by Debra Wilson), episode #804 - Debra was good as both Eve and Alicia Keys, but the song itself was not funny. With lyrics such as "The only way to get with me is if you got a felony", it just didn't work for me. Horrible lyrics, stupid concept, fairly accurate performance.

BEST OPENING SEGMENT: When Camera Crews Collide (feat. Anna Nicole Smith, The Osbournes, Jay Leno, etc.), episode #805 - The performances are all DEAD ON here, with the exception of Sharon Osbourne (Mo Collins). But Ozzy (Michael McDonald), Anna Nicole (Stephnie Weir), and Jay Leno (Frank Caliendo) all sounded exactly like the celebrity they were impersonating. Stephnie was especially good in this one. I must say though, I still miss the old opening and closing segments. These music video parodies and short skits just aren't the same as live intros with the audience.

WORST OPENING SEGMENT: Epstein Brother Christmas Commercial (starring Paul Vogt and Simon Helberg), episode #810 - Boring, annoying, lame. I don't feel like going into detail but it was insulting to the viewers' intellegence it was so stupid.

BEST CLOSING SEGMENT: Forgetting Santa (starring Michael McDonald and Stephnie Weir), episode #810 - Once again, I HATE these closing segments. They are all just mini continuations of skits or cast members being random. I miss the old closing segments. So, that said, the only reason I chose this one was because I thought it was funny when Santa (Michael) said "And now, I want you to all forget about a little show called SNL."

WORST CLOSING SEGMENT: Insomnia Talk w/ Robin Williams and Al Pacino, episode #803 - If I remember right, wasn't this just credits with Frank Caliendo doing some lame impression? I must have been half asleep by the time this came on.

TOP 3 BEST MUSICAL PERFORMANCES:
Can't comment, I usually tune out for most of these since I don't like the musicians. The only performances that struck me as amazing were not in this season. Bush, No Doubt, and Green Day were the best bands that have been on MADtv, at least in my opinion. I usually don't pay attention to most of these other acts.

TOP 3 WORST MUSICAL PERFORMANCES:
SEE ABOVE

TOP 3 BEST GUEST STARS:
I'd have to go with the Osbournes or the American Idol cast as the best, just because they actually put them in skits. But neither of those even compared to Susan Sarandon, Jerry Springer, or even someone like Mandy Moore in season 6. Overall, this season, I am not impressed with the guest stars.

TOP 3 WORST GUEST STARS:
I'd say that Jackie Chan was the worst, but again...they don't put enough of the musical guests/guest stars in skits to even evaluate them.

[MADMADMAD]

Shouldn't we wait a little longer before deciding? We're not even halfway through MADtv's schedule yet.

[Mad Dog]

NO MORE AWARDS PLEASE!!! It'll ruin the MADtv Oscars for at the end of the season!!! And me and tarzapam will be out of a job.

[Cat_Named_CeCe]

NO MORE AWARDS PLEASE!!! It'll ruin the MADtv Oscars for at the end of the season!!! And me and tarzapam will be out of a job.

Hey, I'll DEFINATLY participate in any MADtv award thread, they are fun to fill out. I really should be doing my homework, but this is so much more entertaining.

[MADMADMAD]

I'm saving my Reality Check insults for the end-of-season MADtv oscars here; I've never participated in anything like this before, but I'm still waiting.... Hee hee. I'm feelin' a Reality Check comin' up!