Mad TV: The Complete First Season

Finally, redemption! After years of waiting, we’re fondly reminded of snarky ’90s pop culture with the DVD release of Mad TV. Like its namesake magazine, the show mastered the art of satirical parody. The sketch ”Gump Fiction” slyly smashed Forrest Gump with Pulp Fiction, while ”P.R.,” based on ER, showed a crack publicity firm reviving Gary Coleman’s career, thanks to Adam West’s need for a new sidekick in his quest to play Batman ”one last time.” Their take on the Budweiser frogs featured amphibian guts everywhere, while their remake of the risqué teen ”porn” ads involved a nun and a pizza guy. Alums include The King of Queens’ Nicole Sullivan, Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange, and Mary Scheer, a producer of the hilarious series, MXC.

EXTRAS Unfortunately, the discs are commentary-free. All we get are unaired sketches (unaired for good reason, since they’re mostly bland), the ”lacking most of season 1’s cast but we’ll still call it a reunion” 200th episode (from 2003), and a sampling of the best skits from the first nine years. But the bloopers are Mad fun.