Mad Magazine Goes Prime Time
By Sergio Aragones for TV Guide Magazine
It's a MAD world for Kevin Shinick, producer of a new animated series — based on the iconic humor mag that has been skewering pop culture since 1952. When asked if he feels at all daunted by the task of putting his own spin on the influential and beloved publication, Shinick takes a "What? Me Worry?" approach: "There's not so much apprehension or intimidation as there is 'I want to do it justice' for the fan in me — I'm going to be my biggest critic because I love the magazine."
Shinick compares the new series to Adult Swim's Robot Chicken: a chaotic mix of animation styles and off-the-wall sketches designed to capture even the shortest attention spans. And the spoofs will be aplenty. MAD will take aim at Avatar, Star Trek, iCarly, the Kardashians and Justin Bieber's hair, just to name a few.
The series will also honor the magazine's most classic benchmarks, including Spy vs. Spy, cartoons by artists Don Martin and Sergio Aragones (who created the artwork above exclusively for TV Guide Magazine) and, of course, Alfred E. Neuman. "It's an ugly face," says Shinick, "but it's just so good to see that face again!"
Mad premieres Monday, Sept. 6, 8:30/7:30c on Cartoon Network.
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