[MADtv] Writers Listing Thread

[Miss Information]

The following is a list of writers who have been credited for their contributions to sketch writing on MADtv. The list is in alphabetical (within chronological) order.

• Season 1:
  
  Jonathan Aibel
  Fax Bahr
  Sean Beam
  Glenn Berger
  Blaine Capatch
  Rob Cohen
  Leonard Dick
  Brian Fraser
  Spencer Green
  Dave Hanson
  Steve Lookner
  Patton Oswalt
  Paul Slansky
  Adam Small
  Mary Elizabeth Williams
  
  
  
• Season 2:
  
  Fax Bahr
  Stuart Blumberg
  Gary Campbell
  Blaine Capatch
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Chris Finn
  Spencer Green
  Tim Hightower
  Brad Kaaya
  Patton Oswalt
  Adam Small
  Mary Elizabeth Williams
  
  
  
• Season 3:
  
  Fax Bahr
  Blaine Capatch
  Garry Campbell
  Lauren Dombrowksi
  Spencer Green
  Scott King
  Lanier Laney
  Wiley Roberts
  Adam Small
  Terry Sweeney
  Mary Elizabeth Williams
  
  
  
• Season 4:
  
  Fax Bahr
  Dick Blasucci
  Garry Campbell
  Blaine Capatch
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Sandy Frank
  Brian Hartt
  Jenna Jolovitz
  Scott King
  Lanier Laney
  Gary Pearson
  Devon Shepard
  Adam Small
  Terry Sweeney
  David Wain
  
  
  
• Season 5:
  
  Bryan Adams
  Dick Blasucci
  Garry Campbell
  Greg Cohen
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Brian Hartt
  Michael Hitchcock
  Scott King
  Michael Koman
  Lanier Laney
  Bruce McCoy
  Devon Shepard
  Emily Spivey
  Terry Sweeney
  
  
  
• Season 6:
  
  Bryan Adams
  Dick Blasucci
  Jeff Bushell
  Garry Campbell
  Xavier Cook
  Steven Cragg
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Michael Hitchcock
  Jennifer Joyce
  Michael Koman
  Bruce McCoy
  J.J. Philbin
  Devon Shepard
  Emily Spivey
  
  
  
• Season 7:
  
  Bryan Adams
  Dick Blasucci
  Garry Campbell
  Chris Cluess
  Steven Cragg
  John Crane
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Michael Hitchcock
  Jennifer Joyce
  Kevin Kataoka
  Scott King
  Bruce McCoy
  Tami Sagher
  Devon Shepard
  Rich Talarico
  Bryan Tucker
  Mike Upchurch
  
  
  
• Season 8:
  
  Bryan Adams
  Dick Blasucci
  Kal Clarke
  Chris Cluess
  Steven Cragg
  John Crane
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Michael Hitchcock
  Jennifer Joyce
  Bill Kelley
  Scott King
  Bruce McCoy
  Sultan Pepper
  David Salzman
  Tami Sagher
  Dino Stamatopoulos
  Maiya Williams
  Jim Wise
  
  
• Season 9:
  
  Bryan Adams
  Dick Blasucci
  Chris Cluess
  Steven Cragg
  John Crane
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Michael Hitchcock
  Jennifer Joyce
  Scott King (Head Writer)
  Jason Kordelos
  Brooks McBeth
  Bruce McCoy
  Rick Najera
  Tami Sagher
  David Salzman
  Rich Talarico
  Maiya Williams
  Jim Wise
  
  
  
• Season 10:
  
  Bryan Adams
  Dick Blasucci
  Chris Cluess
  Steven Cragg
  John Crane
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Michael Hitchcock
  Jennifer Joyce
  Scott King (Head Writer)
  Jason Kordelos
  Bruce McCoy
  Tami Sagher
  David Salzman
  Maiya Williams
  Jim Wise
  
  
  
• Season 11:
  
  Bryan Adams
  Dick Blasucci
  Chris Cluess
  Xavier Cook
  Steven Cragg
  John Crane (Head Writer)
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Josh Gardener
  Michael Hitchcock
  Jennifer Joyce
  Jason Kordelos (2005)
  Bruce McCoy
  Tami Sagher
  David Salzman
  Rich Talarico
  Maiya Williams
  Vic Wilson
  Jim Wise
  
  
  
• Season 12:
  
  Bryan Adams
  Dick Blasucci
  Brian D. Bradley
  Steven Cragg
  John Crane (Head Writer)
  Katie Dippold
  Lauren Dombrowski
  Colton Dunn
  Michael Hitchcock
  Jennifer Joyce
  Bruce Leddy
  Bruce McCoy
  Toby Morton
  David Salzman
  Ryan Smith
  Guy Stevenson
  Jim Wise
  
  
• Season 13:
  Bernie Ancheta
  Brian D Bradley
  Steven Cragg
  John Crane (Head Writer)
  Katie Dippold
  Colton Dunn
  Melanie Graham
  Michael Hitchcock
  Chris Kula
  Bruce Leddy
  David Salzman
  Ryan Smith
  Guy Stevenson
  Jim Wise
  
  
• Season 14:
  Brian D. Bradley
  John Crane
  Katie Dippold
  Colton Dunn
  Scott King
  Chris Kula
  Regan Lee
  Kate Purdy
  Bruce Leddy
  David Salzman
  Ryan Smith
  Guy Stevenson
  Jim Wise (Head Writer)
  
  
• Season 15
  Jon Barinholtz
  Brett Greenberg
  Scott King
  Bruce Leddy
  Carol Leifer
  David Salzman
  Guy Stevenson
  Maiya Williams
  Jim Wise
  
  
• Contributing Writers:
  
  Karen Maruyama
  808 Average Asian
  905 Average Asian: Angry Asian
  921 Average Asian: Dating
  1005 Average Asian: Expert Ping-Pong Asian
  1023 Average Asian: Birthday Party
  
  Greg Unger
  1017 Party Girl

[Princess PeachC]

I got bored :

**See above post**

[ef_7]

Thanks, Leach!

[MysterE]

I was thinking that maybe we could add pics of these guys for any that we find. Here's a link to a story w/a pic of Bob Smith. It says he has written for MADtv, but he's not in any of the credits listed above, so I dunno.

EDIT: I found one of his sketches: "The Zapruder Films" http://www.outmedia.org/comedy/BobSmith.htm

...this link he says he's written many sketches... http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:s...ad+tv%22&hl=en

.... I guess taking one closing credit from one episode of one season doesn't cut it to make a list.

[Dartanian]

The writers for season 10 are basically the same as last season, with a few changes, Scott King (I'm pretty sure he was the Head Writer for the last few seasons) is gone and Vic Wilson, Josh Gardener and Xavier Cook (who we have listed as a writer for season 6 only) have been added.

Bryan Adams
Dick Blasucci
Chris Cluess
Xavier Cook
Steven Cragg
John Crane
Lauren Dombrowski
Josh Gardener
Michael Hitchcock
Jennifer Joyce
Jason Kordelos
Bruce McCoy
Tami Sagher
David Salzman
Maiya Williams
Vic Wilson
Jim Wise

Also, I think it's important for a contributing writers category to be added to each season. This won't just include cast members who are writers for that season, as there have been other people who have written sketches that are neither writers nor castmembers. Examples being Karen Maruyama (Average Asian - S8 & S9) and Greg Unger (Party Girl - S11) among others.

[ef_7]

SOunds good to me... I haven't noticed any of these "guest writers" but if people point them out to me I'll gladly add them

Originally posted by Dartanian
Also, I think it's important for a contributing writers category to be added to each season. This won't just include cast members who are writers for that season, as there have been other people who have written sketches that are neither writers nor castmembers. Examples being Karen Maruyama (Average Asian - S8 & S9) and Greg Unger (Party Girl - S11) among others.

[MysterE]

November 17, 2005

Sue Pascoe , Post Contributor

Playing straight man is never easy, but to be in that position when interviewing three comedy writers is nearly impossible: it's hard to write while laughing.

Palisadians Maiya Williams, Chris Cluess and Dick Blasucci all work on "MAD TV," a one-hour sketch comedy show which airs Saturday night at 11 on Fox. They sat down at Mort's Deli one Wednesday morning to discuss the show'well, almost discuss the show, which is in its 11th year. After sausage jokes, caffeine references, flying barbs and witty repartee, the three stopped just long enough so that I could get some facts about them and the show.

Blasucci, one of the executive producers, has been with the show for eight years. Cluess and Williams are writing supervisors and have been with the show five years and four years, respectively. All three have extensive writing credits including "Night Court," "SCTV," "Charlie & Company," "Fresh Prince," "Newhart," "Tracy Ullman" and "Rock."

Sketches include political satires, commercial spoofs, pop culture set-ups and parodies of film and television. Although not every sketch is a winner, the show is worth watching because the writing is intelligent and has an edge. Some of the humor is scatological, but sketches and jokes are not done for shock value.

At times, the variety of topics the show spoofs, the amazing ensemble cast and the inspired moments are pure brilliance. TV Guide named MAD's parody of "Felicity" one of the 50 funniest moments in TV history.

"It's become an alternative to Saturday Night Live for many baby boomers," Blasucci said. "We're starting to gear it so it's not just for teenagers."

"We write for ourselves," Cluess said. "If it makes us laugh, it gets on."

Williams explained there's a large group of writers for the show, with a lot of different backgrounds. "Everyone has his own type of humor," he said, "which means the sketches reflect those types: political, gross-out, smart."

When I said I had laughed at one of the recent sketches, Cluess was quick to jump in. "What made you laugh?" he asked, and without waiting for my reply he said, "I wrote it." Turning to Blasucci, he added, "We've got to do something on the NBA dress code; it was in the paper this morning."

Although "MAD TV" is compared to "Saturday Night Live," the resemblance has to do more with the fact that they're both sketch shows. "We're not live, which means we can take more chances," Blasucci said. "We also have time to edit and can take out things that don't work. We have more time to set up scenes."

"We also don't have to rely on a guest star," Williams said. "The sketches aren't written for stars."

"The shows are two different animals," Cluess said. "'SNL" is driven by a guest host; we feature the cast. 'MAD TV' has half the number of writers they do and we're driven by ideas."

Blasucci said that the show's 15 writers have backgrounds that include the Groundlings, Second City, and some who have sitcom experience. Many writers at "MAD TV" were actors before joining the staff.

Every week the writers work on three shows simultaneously. They put the final touches on the show that's taping that week. They write close to 25 sketches for the following week, of which approximately 10 will be chosen. They pitch new ideas that could potentially be written for sketches the week after that.

All three have high praise for the cast, calling it one of the strongest they've seen. The actors and writers are collaborative. In a pinch the writers perform on the show.

"On sitcom writing, it's the same characters you write for over and over," Williams said. "And the situation is realistic. On 'MAD' you can write about anything. If you want a scene with a chicken, you put someone in a costume."

"There was a TV show about man vs. beast," Cluess said, "where a man might race a horse."

"Chris and I wrote a parody of that show with Reba McIntyre playing ping-pong with a toad," Williams said.

"It's a very inventive form," Cluess said. "I get to write things you rarely do."

Williams is married to Patric Verrone, the newly-elected president of the Writers Guild, West. They have three children: Patric,10, Marianne, 8, and Teddy, 5. She is also a published author of "The Golden Hour," a middle grades novel that was published in 2004. Her second novel, "Hour of the Cobra," will come out next spring. She attended Harvard, where she was editor of the Harvard Lampoon for four years.

Cluess is married to Joyce and they have two children: Jessica, a junior at Northwestern University, and Meredith, a senior at Marymount. He attended Fordham University and then served four years in the Navy as a hospital corpsman. He was the editor of the National Lampoon magazine.

Blasucci is married to Beth and they have two children: Maria, a sophomore at Loyola Marymount University, and Anthony, who is working on "Family Guy" on Fox. Blasucci graduated from Southern Illinois'"The Harvard of southern Illinois," he joked. "Many people thought it was as hard as an Ivy League school."

"We all ended up in the same place on 'MAD TV,'" Williams laughed. "It shows I spent too much money to go to school."

http://www.palisadespost.com/content...?Story_ID=1554

[Dartanian]

Interesting that the guy who played "Juan" (Colton Dunn) in that opening sketch with Nicole Sullivan and Ike in #1023 is a writer now. And Guy Stevenson I recognise from Reno 911.

[Dartanian]

I came across the blog of one of the new writers on MADtv. Pretty interesting description of the first week for MADtv's 5 new staff writers.

http://blog.myspace.com/gandalfgaladriel

[Dartanian]

If you’ve been watching the new season of Fox’s Mad TV, you no doubt chuckled, if not belly-laughed, at a series of crudely animated and highly edgy animated shorts called Weekly Kids News with Toby. Animated by Toby Morton, the cartoons pretend to offer a child’s perspective on current events, though the results are very adult. In fact, you could say that Morton is getting away with murder, or at least the comedy equivalent thereof.

Morton knew a friend who knew a friend who got him a job on Comedy Central’s South Park back in 2001. He started doing production assistant duties but became known as the goofy guy who did all kinds of voices around the office. Series co-creator Trey Parker liked what he heard and asked him to come in and provide the voice of Scott Tenorman, the kid who sells Cartman his pubic hair. He did various other voices and eventually made his way into the writer’s room, working on the show until 2005. During this time, he got more serious about animation, creating his own shorts in his spare time. One of these films, featuring a character named Jo Jo, helped him land a sketch-writing gig on Mad TV.

“Jo Jo is a little, Mr. Bean meets Mr. Bill type of character, a very short, Danny DeVito-looking guy,” says Morton. “It was called Jo Jo Saves Jennifer Lopez from a Tree. It lasts like a minute and he literally has to shoot her down from the tree with his little bow and arrow.”

Around the time Morton started at Mad TV, Mel Gibson went crazy on the Pacific Coast Highway, making headlines and leading Morton to wonder how a kid might explain the drunken, anti-Semitic tirade.

“I thought it would be funnier if I just had a kid draw it but I ended up just drawing it myself with crayon. I’m not an artist. I can draw, but not anything you’d look at and say ‘Wow, this guy is great!’ I think that’s what I love the most, not the fact that I can’t draw very well, but the roughness and simplicity of the drawings. That’s what I love about South Park so much, that it looks like it’s cut out and the choppiness.”

Morton’s crayon drawings are scanned into a computer and animated with Adobe AfterEffects. The animation is then exported as a Quicktime file and edited in Apple’s iMovie before going to the post technicians at Mad TV. To get the audio to sound like something recorded by a kid using a Fisher Price tape recorder, he delivers the high-pitched voiceover narration into a standard desktop computer microphone. It takes him about four days to put together an installment using this setup, which allows him to keep the comedy topical.

After mercilessly skewering Mel Gibson, our intrepid child reporter turned his attention to Major League baseball players using “needle juice” to get super strong and took time to comment on the Pope’s September 12 remarks about Islam and terrorism.

Whereas Sinead O’Connor caused outrage when she ripped up a photo of the Pope on Saturday Night Live several years ago, Morton was able to depict the pontiff getting his head cut of by sword-wielding Muslims without drawing fire from neither Catholics nor followers of Mohammad, who consequently is represented by a photo of actor Scott Baio from the ’80s.

“I was waiting for the notes on the “Pope-a-Dope” episode and the first note I got back was, ‘You know, the naked boys and the Catholic thing, can we tone that down a little bit?’ And I said, ‘Anything else?’ ‘No, it’s pretty good.’ I’m getting away with more than I thought I would. I can say that now but maybe they’ll actually start to pay attention.”

Morton tells us that other writers on the show are handing him edgy material that probably wouldn’t fly in a sketch and asking him if he can incorporate it into his animation. “You can get away with so much more in animation.”

A fourth installment of Weekly Kids News focusing on the stem cell research debate between conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Michael J. Fox is scheduled to air this Saturday during Fox’s late-night sketch comedy show. “My take on it is how the media is making more of a fuss over it than anybody else,” Morton remarks. “I have Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and CNN giving their own takes on it and it really becomes a big mess. Then I actually have a scene with, as best as I can, a baby being aborted and what they do with the dead babies. It’s not as graphic as I’m explaining it, but it’s from a kid’s point of view as he’s sitting there watching the news and going, ‘I have no idea what they’re telling me.’

Though he still write the occasional sketch, Morton has been working on the animated segments since they have become such popular part of the show. He’s also working on bringing his Jo Jo character into the mix and is developing other animated shorts, including some twisted bedtime stories and something called Bad Kitty, in which a household pet’s behavioral issues turn into a horror movie. That one will debut in a few weeks. Until then, you can look forward to a new Toby short each week.

Morton is developing several concepts that he plans to pitch to networks as animated series. “I think there’s a place for late-night animation on network, so I’m going to take a shot on a couple of ideas and see what happens. Hopefully what I’m doing here at Mad TV will give me a good reel and give them the idea that it does have a place in late-night television.”

http://www.animationmagazine.net/art...rticle_id=6131

[JeffJeff]

Sweet! I'm liking this guys potential more and more. I didn't see Kid's News this week...WTF? Please bring it back again. The other animation looks forced.

Looking forward to the Bad Kitty thing he's doing. Unless it sucks of course.

JJ

[Dartanian]

Someone care to list an update for this thread for me?

[Planned Disaster]

Season 13 was
Bernie Ancheta
Brian D Bradley
Steven Cragg
John Crane
Katie Dippold
Colton Dunn
Melanie Graham (pre-strike)
Michael Hitchcock
Chris Kula
Bruce Leddy
David Salzman
Ryan Smith
Guy Stevenson
Jim Wise

[Dartanian]

anyone have any idea who the head writer was for seasons 1 - 8?

[Planned Disaster]

season 8 was definitely Scott King and I know that Brian Hartt was head writer just before King took over

[MADfan2004]

Hey, why isn't this thread in the repository?

Anyway, here are the S14 writers:

Brian D. Bradley
John Crane
Katie Dippold
Colton Dunn
Scott King
Chris Kula
Regan Lee
Kate Purdy
Bruce Leddy
David Salzman
Ryan Smith
Guy Stevenson
Jim Wise (Head Writer)

[tvmanismadformad]

So looks like John Crane has been on here longer then everyone else, and that's only been 8 seasons. How come this is like Scott King's 3rd time he has returned to the show after being gone for a part of it?
I am also wondering, does it make me a little too much of a MADtv geek if I really care about the writing staff of the show?

[MADfan2004]

Rich Talarico was a writer in Season 11? I thought he ditched the show for SNL.

[tvmanismadformad]

Thanks to mizz moving this thread from it's innaccurate position in the General Forum, and MADfan2004 keeping his eyes open on the writers this season, this section is now updated.