This past January, The CW aired a 20th anniversary special taking a look back at the former Fox sketch comedy series MADtv. It was an odd programming move for the network at the time, but now it sound like it might have been a test to see if there was still interest in the show that aired from 1995 to 2009. Why? Because The CW has just announced that MADtv will be returning to television with new episodes.
Find out more details about MADtv coming back to television after the jump.
The CW made the announcement about the return of MADtv yesterday with an initial order of eight one-hour episodes that will air during primetime as opposed to the late night time slot that Fox gave the show during its heyday. What’s interesting is that in addition to starting from scratch with a whole new cast of rising comedy stars, it will also have appearances from returning cast members from the original run of the show as the hosts of each episode.
This will likely also serve as a test for The CW to see if a revival of MADtv is something their audience is interested in. While the programming doesn’t seem like something that fits in with the network’s brand, The CW did previously bring back Whose Line Is It Anyway? for new episodes, and the show has stuck around there for a few years now. When the network brought back the improv comedy series, they ordered 12 initial episodes, waited to see how it performed in the ratings, and then decided to keep it around. We can expect the same approach to MADtv, so only time will tell if the revival will stick around.
The CW hasn’t revealed which cast members will come back to host episodes, or if those cast members will reprise characters from their time on the show. But the anniversary episode featured Family Guy star Alex Borstein, Neighbors and The Mindy Project star Ike Barinholtz, Emmy nominee Keegan-Michael Key and Futurama star Phil LaMarr, and they would make great hosts. Other possibilities include Mo Collins, Crista Flanagan, Anjelah Johnson, Nicole Randall Johnson, Artie Lange, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Arden Myrin, Nicole Parker, Eric Price, Will Sasso, Aries Spears, Nicole Sullivan, Stephnie Weir and Debra Wilson.
As of now, there’s no indication as to when the new MADtv will premiere or on which night it will air. But since The CW is bringing the show into primetime, don’t expect it to air on Saturday nights as it did in its original series run. That means it won’t be competing directly with Saturday Night Live like it used to, but that also means it will have plenty of other competition than it used to have.
If you’d rather just watch the old episodes of MADtv, you can watch some of them on CW Seed, the network’s digital network.
The post ‘MADtv’ Coming Back With New Episodes on The CW appeared first on /Film.
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