Mad #446 (John Ficarra) - Bad Television Issue - October 2004

Cheap-to-produce reality shows and copycat drama & sitcoms dominated the network programming in 2004.  There were so many bad shows airing at the same time, the Mad editors and writers could not keep up with them.  So, they dumped as many as they could in this one issue.  Arnie Kogen, Scott Maiko and Al Jaffee skewered 15 of those awful shows (Without a Trace, Cold Case, Fear Factor, Father of the Pride, Lost, The Swan, The O.C., The Contender, Extreme Makeover, Listen Up, Average Joe, The Bachelor, CSI: NY, Joey and The Apprentice).  Not much has changed on television in the next ten years.  It is no wonder that non-network outlets like HBO and Netflix are now dominating award shows.  [JAM 7/12/2014]

Color Pages: 40 of 56 pages (71%)
Humorous Content: 46 of 56 pages (82%)

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages  [Celebrity Cause-of Death Betting Odds - Michael Moore]
The Web Zinger - Spider-Sham Too
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Paparazzi
Papa Don't Teach - The Downside of Home Schooling
Kevin Can Wait - Five Degrees of Bacon
Between Iraq And Jihad Place - George W. Bush's 10-Point Plan for Fighting Terrorism
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
The Bashin' of the Christ - The Bush Campaign's TV Commercial if He Was Running Against Jesus
The Not Ready for Crime Time Players - Without a Trace of Interest/Old Case
Bias Beware - Your Candidate and My Candidate
Angster's Paradise - Monroe and ... Europe Part Three
The Passion of the Mice - If Mel Gibson Had Directed Stuart Little  [fake department]
Slack to the Future - The Underachiever's Timeline
Show-Floppers - Mad's Fall TV Preview

Fold-In - Donald Trump