Mad #375 (Nick Meglin and John Ficarra) - Jenny McCarthy Issue - November 1998

Frank Jacobs delivers 26 more obscure personalities in volume two of "The ABCs of 15 Minutes of Fame."  However, he seems to have underestimated the star-power of Jenny McCarthy.  Although her television show was cancelled after 17 episodes in 1998, Ms. McCarthy has made approximately 200 television appearances and has performed in 25 bad movies in the 15 years after her "15 minutes."  And now, the former Playmate of the Year has landed a job as a daytime talk show commentator on the very popular chick-flick-esque The View [Isn't this a great country?] replacing Elizabeth (wrong on every issue) Hasselbeck who has moved over to FOX where she has always belonged.   Although Jacobs was wrong about the fame of Jenny McCarthy, artist Drew Friedman perfectly captured the source of her fame. 

Dick DeBartolo's ad parody ("Uncle Sleeze's House of Beepers and Cell Phones") shows how quickly technology moves in our electronic times.  A 17-pound beeper with a fruit & vegetable blender feature was funny in 1998 but who wears a beeper today?  Al Jaffee brought four other Mad artists (Drucker, Torres, Viviano and Mejia) together for the first of many Mad jokes about the miracle drug, Viagra.  And, too much ink was devoted to an animated series (Dr. Katz) that was cancelled in 2002. [JAM 7/16/2013]

Editors Meglin and Ficarra are scouts from the porno industry. (page 35)

Departments:
Oh My God - They Analyzed Kenny! - Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist Moves to South Park
Lolli-Gag - One Fine Day at the Candy Store
Altered Egos - Mad Morphs
Revises Do Little - Updating Classic Toys
Angster's Paradise - Monroe & ... Halloween
We Bring You Fleetings - The ABCs of 15 Minutes of Fame Volume II
A Sworded Affair - Duck Edwing Takes Off the Mask of Zorro
An Embarrassment of Richard's - Uncle Sleeze's House of Beepers and Cell Phones
Assail to the Chief - Proposed Features of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library
The Schmucks Stop Here - Melvin and Jenkins' Guide to the Rules of the Road
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Readin', Riotin' & 'Rithmetic - Tipoffs That You Go to a Really Tough School
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Dentists
The Truth is in There - Instant Movie Reviews: The Sequel
Great Balls of Dire - Ahm-A-Gettin' (The Hell Outta Here!)
Grieving Las Vegas - Mad's Celebrity Cause-of-Death Betting Odds

Fold-In - Viagra