MADtv recurring characters

This article contains synopses for many of the more noteworthy recurring characters that have appeared on the sketch comedy television series MADtv.

Current

Tank

Tank is an Asian-American "Street Tuner" character in the style of the The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift movie, played by actor Bobby Lee. Tank drives a tricked-out Daewoo and has his cousin sit in the back of his car making it bounce, play music and turn on underglow lights when he shouts commands. Bouncers don't admit him into nightclubs, so he tries to pick up girls outside the clubs and impress them with his car.

Many Shows! With Johnny Gan and Pongo

Xing Lao "Johnny" Gan (Bobby Lee), is a Thaiwanese millionaire known for his desire to do women "hard and sloppy, the Johnny Gan way." He and his friend Pongo (???) host the show on Thailand public access channel 43-C. The segments on the show include parodies of Jackass, Dancing With the Stars, cooking shows, among others.

Twenty Four With Bobby Lee

Bobby Lee as himself, recounts the occurrences of a day in his life, a parody of 24. They often start with Bobby sleeping for two or three hours, then someone using pain to wake him up (When John Cho was a guest star on the show, he used firecrackers to wake him up. Jordan Peele shot him in the [...] with a BB gun.) The events that occur range from Bobby getting ready to go to work, to going to get a physical.

Stuart Douglas Larkin

Stuart Larkin, arguably the most recognized character from MADtv, is a hyperactive little boy played by Michael McDonald. He is almost always accompanied by his borderline alcoholic mother, Doreen (Mo Collins), who scolds him for his various acts of childhood mischief. For example, he is often seen eating different junk foods, and when his mother inquires about them, he simply replies that he found them on the floor. His face is pale, and he often stares vacantly at nothing, possibly because of constantly-hinted-at childhood traumas, such as his dad leaving them. He hates going to his dad's house. Once, he said to his mother, "Mommy, Daddy called," and his mother, quavering, replies, "What did he say?" and Stuart replies, "He said he's glad to be out of this hellhole." It was said that Stuart's father left them on a Tuesday for an Asian woman whom he had met on the Internet. No matter when the sketch takes place, Stuart's dad has always left that previous Tuesday. It was also reported that he didn't pay child support because she wanted a home in Studio City. Stuart is known for his catchphrases, specifically "Look what I can do" (and his subsequent break into an awkward, spasm-like flourish, once referred to as a dipsy-doodle), and "Let me do it!" when an adult attempts to assist him with something. (He often follows this up with "Dooooon't" when said adult tries again.) He occasionally refers to his genital area as his "danger zone", or referring to the genitals directly as his "googoo." When pushed too far, his boyish falsetto is replaced by a deep demonic voice. On that same note, in some skits, Stuart is seen entering his "dark place" a play off of the popular children's "happy place"; this is used to show Stuart's dark inner toils. Many times in the skits, it is often said that he should not have sugar, or otherwise he will become "crazy." Many skits focused on him annoying their neighbor Harvey Makenthaler (Paul Vogt) during the seasons he was on the show). His original name was "Scott". His middle name is Douglas.

The Stuart sketch is so far the only sketch to continue after the departure of an sketch-important cast member. Due to the departure of Mo Collins from the show, only one Stuart sketch is seen per season.

Luann Lockhart

Crista Flanagan plays Luann Lockhart, a stand up comedienne. She is notorious for her poor delivery, lack of punch lines and frequent bouts of crying. Her material includes bits about her abusive ex-boyfriend and terribly unfunny observations about everyday life. Luann's jokeless routine is mostly made up of nervous laughter and long pauses.

Sketches

  • episode 1016 Luann Lockhart: Stand Up Comedienne (Frank Caliendo- Himself, Tami Sagher- Herself)
  • episode 1112 Luann Lockhart: Warm Up Act #1-2
  • episode 1209 Luann Lockhart: Christmas Luann (Ike Barinholtz- Himself)
  • episode 1214 Luann Lockhart: Laundromat #1-2 (Nicole Randall Johnson - Mrs. Bell)

Catchphrases

  • "Wait, I have impressions!"
  • "I'm only fooling!"
  • "But seriously..."
  • "Now, let's go to the audience."
  • "Let's not get started on men."
  • "Let me tell you about my ex-boyfriend."

Inside Looking Out

Pat-Beth Lamontruse (Nicole Parker) and Dontell Lamontruse (Jordan Peele) are an interracial couple who sing and preach against bigotry, despite the fact that Pat-Beth, unintentionally, is racist. They seem to love each other very deeply despite Pat-Beth's racist comments. In later skits, Dontell realizes what Pat-Beth is really saying and tries to correct her or, failing that, shut her up.

Coach Sandoval Hines

Coach Sandoval "Sandy" Hines, played by Keegan-Michael Key, is a short-tempered Catholic school gym teacher and basketball coach who threatens to kill and injure his students, such as saying he's going to set one of them on fire or cut off their head. His character is hypocritical in that he easily becomes ill-tempered by disruptive behavior from students during various types of school events and threatens them with various violent punishments, however, he is far more disruptive than the students he threatens. For example, in one sketch he repeatedly interrupted his team's basketball game with violent tirades and the sketch ended with him getting beaten by a nun, as most do. Most of the time has to deal with students Jeff deChaser (Ike Barinholtz) and Joseph Yamanashi (Bobby Lee).

Jorge

Jorge (Keegan-Michael Key) is a short-tempered Mexican man who works at a Mexican fast food restaurant, presumably modeled after Taco Bell. Disgusted by the meal choices and cooking procedures at the restaurant, Jorge often recites long, overly dramatic soliloquies about his Mexican heritage. Whenever the customers order an unauthentic meal choice from the menu, Jorge assaults them, either verbally or physically. For example, when a customer orders "cinnatwists" from the menu, Jorge brandishes a knife from his boot and angrily stabs the customer's hand while it rests on the counter. His supervisor is an overly-tired black woman with herpes (played by Daniele Gaither) who yells "Jorge!" whenever Jorge does something inhumane or wrong, which is often.

Bae Sung

Bae Sung is played by Bobby Lee and is an Asian man who has had a number of jobs mostly as a translator. His major problem is that no one can understand him since he speaks the language of "Dumbass." His recurring phrase that is used in every one of his skits is "Uh-oh, hot dog!" On one occasion, he was tackled by a man in a hot dog suit. In later sketches, most of them involving Ike Barinholtz, Bae Sung would go through a series of questions which he answered in gibberish until the final instance where he was able to follow it with his catch phrase.

The character appeared to be killed off in season 11 in a sketch involving the Taiwanese Triads and the cast of The Sopranos. He was then ground up into hamburger meat by Paulie Walnuts (Barinholtz) and Silvio Dante (Frank Caeti) and was consumed by Bobby Lee who promptly got sick and defecated Bae Sung into a toilet. The final scene shows Bae Sung swirling around and going down the drain. However, he reappeared in an episode in season 12, in a parody of Medium, acting as a translator for a future (Korean) [...] victim. Allison DuBois, would be unable to save this victim, due to Bae Sung's bad translating. The coroner, also played by Bobby Lee and also named Bae Sung, spoke perfect English.

Superstitious Knights

Carl Hall (Keegan-Michael Key) and Ty Gray (Jordan Peele) are two individuals who are heavily superstitious, and quite well-educated in traditional bad-luck omens. When an accident occurs that is believed to be or cause bad luck, they "man up" and attempt break the curse by doing long, very well choreographed, dance routines.

Eugene Struthers

Eugene Struthers is played by Keegan-Michael Key. This repeating skit involves Eugene as a water delivery man who discovers and accosts unsuspecting guests backstage. His "common man" dialect brings honesty and hilarity to the character. His catchphrase "taking it to a 'hole, 'notha, level" has become part of the American lexicon. 1

The Depressed Persian Tow Truck Man

Played By Michael McDonald. The skits would involve the depressed Persian truck driver towing someone who thinks they are having about a bad day, he says "Oh, Please," and describes his worse life, inadvertently making them feel better about themselves. Topics he complains about usually involve his life in a one room apartment with 19 noisy family members, his nagging kids, his cruel and violent parents, his grotesque, unfaithful wife, his evil mother in law, and lousy job. Most complaints are Horrible things and ends with "always" or "never, always." He refers to his mother-in-law as his "Osama Bin Law." He speaks poor English, often searching for words with his catch phrase "Uhh, how you sayyy?", and using his native words "hella, hella, hella" for "testicles," and "kraimenech" for "vulva".

Former

Antonia

Antonia Timmens was a character played by Nicole Sullivan. Antonia spoke with a noticeable lisp; it was implied that she may have been mildly [...]. She found everyday activities and normal conversations challenging.

Skits featuring Antonia usually involved her attempting to perform a variety of jobs clearly beyond her limited abilities, such as answering a [...] hotline or piloting an aircraft. She also teamed up with James Brown, Jr. (played by Aries Spears) and became a bank robber. The source of the comedy came from the other characters becoming increasingly frustrated by her, particularly when she would respond with an inane comment, "I have a cat named C.C." Or with her catchphrases "It is possible!" and "I don't know?".

Antonia overall made 18 appearances:

  • Antonia: Free Pizza
  • Antonia: Trainee
  • Antonia on Lowered Expectations
  • Antonia and Word Associations
  • Antonia on Lowered Expectations (Part 2)
  • Antonia & James
  • Antonia meets Santa
  • Antonia [...] Hotline
  • Swantonia (in which she met up with Miss Swan)
  • Antoniaplane
  • Antonia Goes Trick or Treating
  • Heart Attack Antonia
  • Antonia Switched at Birth
  • Antonia: Referee
  • Perfume Antonia
  • Antonia and Pottery
  • Antonia: Guard
  • Antonia: Help Wanted, Apply Within

Jack/Jaq, The UBS Guy

Phil LaMarr played the hyperactive Delivery Man for UBS (an interpretation of UPS). The UBS Guy loved his job but also was involved in sketches outside of his job.

List of Sketches:

  • UBS Guy: Pick up and Delivery
  • UBS Guy: Promotion
  • The UBS Guy Goes to a Wake
  • The UBS Guy On a Date
  • The UBS Guy Watches The Super Bowl
  • Charity UBS Guy
  • The UBS Strike
  • The UBS Guy: Answering Machine
  • The UBS Christmas Party
  • The UBS Guy at the Dentist
  • UBStud
  • The UBS Guy Opens the Show
  • The UBS Guy: Thanksgiving
  • UBS: Video Store
  • The UBS Files

In a season three sketch, the UBS Guy also met up with the Vancome Lady... He replaced her position and became God.

CLOPS

CLOPS was a MADtv parody of the Fox show COPS done entirely in claymation. It typically featured police officers pursuing and arresting (and sometimes mistreating) popular cartoon characters or toys for "bad" things. They have arrested characters such as Gumby for robbing a convenience store, GI Joe and Barbie for a domestic dispute and disturbing the peace, Santa Claus for driving drunk and smuggling [...], the Rock-Em, Sock-Em Robots for brawling, Wallace from "Wallace and Gromit" for animal abuse (of Gromit), Mr. Potato Head for drunkenness in public, and Paddington Bear for indecent exposure. A crazed Pillsbury Doughboy was shot at repeatedly but to no effect on his doughy body, so he was pushed into an oven and cooked. Mr. Peanut was holding other nuts hostage with a nut cracker and when the police confronted him, he cracked some hostages and then turned it on himself. Other characters include the Energizer Bunny, Furbies, a California Raisin, Teletubbies, the M&M Candies, the Budweiser Lizard, and the Budweiser Frogs.

Dot

Penelope "Dot" Goddard is an attention-deprived and extremely hyperactive seven year old portrayed by Stephanie Weir who obsesses about chewing gum, wearing gloves, and wearing her hair in pigtails. Dot's sister Karen (played by Alex Borstein) is a child genius. The parents idolize and dote upon the genius sister, but barely tolerate the hyperactive Dot. The treatment of Dot by her parents goes beyond just favoring one child over the other, and indicates her parents feel outright resentment and utter hatred for Dot. When all four cast members (Alex Borstein as the genius sister, Stephanie Weir as Dot, Michael McDonald as her father, and Dot and Karen's mother) were still on the show, a typical skit consisted of Karen giving a nationally televised interview, accepting a prestigious award or otherwise involved in some sort of prestigious ceremony, with Dot along behaving in an exaggeratedly childish manner and disrupting the occasion; Dot's parents would attempt to ignore her, hush her, and typically progressed all too quickly into threats and outright physical violence. In several skits, her father became so angry he would just utter "I hate you" and "I'm going to [...] you," (even when Karen was being interviewed on a nationally televised show and there were cameras and microphones present that could record his words and actions.) Despite her genius and ability to perform advanced scientific procedures, Karen appeared to genuinely care deeply for her twin sister and to enjoy spending time with her in childish activities, and never seemed to notice the hostility and utter cruelty her parents directed towards Dot. After Alex Borstein departed the show, some skits with Dot occurred, typically with one or the other of Dot's parents present wearing a shirt that said "My Other Child Is a Genius." Over Stephnie Weir's career on MADtv, Dot appeared in a number of skits including:

  • Appearing on the Oprah show.
  • As a Contestant in the "Little Miss Petite Pageant"
  • On a science show similar to that of Bill Nye.
  • Visiting a retirement home on Valentine's Day.
  • Going into her dryer to find the glove that was lost during laundry.
  • As an ear of corn in her school's Thanksgiving Play
  • Interrupting a news interview about Karen Goddard's performance with Homeschooling.
  • Singing with Lorraine, Melina, and Bunny Swan in "Lady MadTV", a parody of Lady Marmalade.
  • As a contestant in a spelling bee contest

Rusty Miller

Rusty Miller, played by Michael McDonald, is a college student at Cal State-Fullerton with a public access show. Originally, the skits involving the character focused on his college life and his attempts to fit with his fellow peers at college, in spite of his often nerdy behavior (most notably his love for Zima over other forms of alcoholic beverages) and annoying tendencies. This was dropped and instead the character was revamped as a host of a public access television show, with Rusty interviewing numerous celebrities such as Drew Barrymore, David Boreanaz and Mandy Moore. The show is called "This and That with Rusty". His show is broadcast on the Cal State-Fullerton campus and parts of Yorba Linda. A couple of sketches mention the fact he has extremely large genitals. The lyrics to "This And That With Rusty" theme are: Look at this! Look at that! Now it's time to sit and chat! About this! About that! It's this and that with Rusty!

Lorraine Swanson

Lorraine Swanson, played by Mo Collins is a confused, middle-aged woman from Fridley, Minnesota who fails to comply with many people's instructions. Lorraine wears high, elastic-waist jeans into which she tucks her shirt. Lorraine also wears an unbuttoned knit sweater (usually red) and huge, thick glasses. In one scene she displays she has a huge family with many dogs, children and her overweight husband, Carl (played by Paul Vogt in later seasons), and her equally overweight son, Carl Jr., who both videotape her crazy exploits into the real world. She, as well as other MADtv recurring characters, has certain catchphrases such as; "Heh?!" (usually before someone is done talking), "Gaaaaawd, thats/you're cute," "Uh-huh-huh-huh!" Every sketch has a certain word she cannot pronounce; she repeatedly interrupts the other character's correct pronunciation several times before going "Uh-huh-huh-huh!" She was last seen taking a camping trip with her family who all seem to have the same traits that she has like her cough and glasses. She said "I'm going to get retired in Florida to get pickled on pina coladas!" Like many other characters on MADtv, Lorraine became increasingly antagonistic toward others as her character developed, at one point requiring three days to answer the $100 question on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? despite having the answer given to her by the host. Her kids are Carl Jr., A.J., [...], Li'l [...], Bobbi, and Muhammad. Her grandson's name (Muhammad's child) is Li'l Moe. She is also one of four characters that performed in "Lady Mad Tv" a parody of the world hit Lady Marmalade. She apparently took the role of Lil Kim with a rap segment, performing along with Melina, Dot, and Ms Swan.

Hoppy Potty

Hoppy Potty was a Scandinavian pop group. It featured five members; Gunter (Will Sasso), Yarl (Michael McDonald), Elka (Mo Collins), Inga (Nicole Sullivan), and Schtein (Pat Kilbane). The group was based on ABBA, and was an accented pronuncian of "Happy Party."2 It debuted in the video "Meet Hoppy Potty."

Ms. Bunny Swan

Bunny Swan, more commonly known as "Ms. Swan," is one of the most well known and most prominent characters on MADtv. She is portrayed by actress Alex Borstein and appeared on the show until Borstein's departure (and one last time when Borstein made a guest star appearance). She was born on November 25, 1966 (as revealed on her driver's license when she goes to the DMV) making her 41 years old. It was also revealed that she has brown eyes, is 5'2", and weighs 145 pounds. She began as little more than a character based on stereotype. She is portrayed as an Asian woman who works as a manicurist at the Gorgeous Pretty Beauty Nail Salon (which she mispronounces as "Goja Pitty Booty Nay Salon" every time she says it). She has been a controversial character and had been at odds with many Asian-American groups, who found the character as nothing more then a demeaning character created to stereotype Asians. In one sketch it is revealed that Miss Swan is from the fictional country of Kuvaria, near the North Pole, and home of Santa Claus. It was said that her home Country Was created to brush off criticism from Asian groups. MADtv creators have also insisted that character was based on singer Björk. (One sketch with an automated teller machine shows her being fluent in the Spanish language.) Eventually the other character in the scene would become fed up with her and storm off in a rage. Early on, her catch phrase "Okee, I tell you eh-we-ting: he look-a like a man!" would catch on, stemming from a sketch in which she was unable to identify a thief because of her inability to describe him. In all but a few episodes, Miss Swan would purse her lips precociously which has, henceforth, been known as another symbol for the famous character. As the sketches progressed, Miss Swan would be put into more absurd situations and locations (such as a drag queen club) and it became increasingly established that she was intentionally agitating those with whom she interacted. It was revealed that she spoke perfect English and simply found it entertaining to pretend to be a cultural illiterate, which was a new source of comedy for the bits. Miss Swan would also make a cameo appearance on an episode of Family Guy, on which Alex Borstein is also a cast member. She is also one of four characters that performed in "Lady Mad Tv" a parody of the world hit Lady Marmalade. She was a parody of Christina Aguilera where she portrayed Christina's imfamous cotton candy wig, she was casted along with Melina, Loraine Swanson, and Dot.

Situations featuring Miss Swan include:

  • Being an eyewitness to a robbery.
  • Identifying a thief at the police station.
  • Appearing on "Lowered Expectations", a dating service.
  • Being on "The Ex Files"
  • Auditioning for the Spice Girls
  • As a witness to the Lewinsky Scandal.
  • Singing the MADtv Theme Song
  • Renting a movie.
  • Christmas shopping at "The Sharpest Image"
  • Trying to get money from an ATM.
  • Annoying people in line at the movie concession stand, and then later in the movie theatre.
  • On an airplane, harassing the stewardess and the man in front of her.
  • Blondie "plagiarizes" her song.
  • Meeting her father (Mark Hammil), who attempts to kill her.
  • In a taxi, after her father attempts to kill her.
  • Going through customs after her airplane flight.
  • Appearing on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, as Bunny The Vampire Slayer.
  • Trying to find someone to watch her salon.
  • At the drive through at McRonalds.
  • At the DMV trying to get her license renewed.
  • Meeting a man at a bar, and later going on a double date with her twin sister Kitty.
  • At a gay club singing Dancing Queen.
  • As a Phone [...] Operator.
  • Trying to get coffee at Starbucks.
  • Buying candy in a store on Valentine's Day.
  • Being interviewed by a roommate on Fidelity.
  • Submitting a movie to be filmed (Swan: The Movie)
  • Making a commercial for the Gorgeous Pretty Beauty Nail Salon.

El Asso Wipo

El Asso Wipo is a Mexican wrestler who was looking for wrestling work in the United States. He appeared in the show's early seasons, and was played by David Herman, Chris Hogan, and in one special guest appearance, by David Arquette. The humor of the skit lies in the fact that the talent agent is trying to tell El Asso Wipo that his name was not suitable for American viewers. Soon after, other wrestlers with bad names were introduced such as El Diablo Negro (The Black Devil), and Señor Bag of Crap (Mr. Bag of Crap). An often quoted line from El Asso Wipo is "I will break your back, like so, with my knee!" with a matching gesture.

Debra Wilson as Ms. Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson.

Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson

Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson is a character played by Debra Wilson. She is a meter maid who makes extensive use of Black English Vernacular (Ebonics) when speaking, and quickly accuses other characters' most basic assertions as motivated by racism. Her character often rapidly shifts her mood at mild stimuli (Emotional Dysregulation) for comedic effect: aggressively arguing with other characters one moment, then talking amicably and acting buddy-buddy with them seconds afterwards. She is also frequently seen gabbing on her cellphone with her unseen best friend Sonya (who was once voiced offscreen by Aries Spears). Her catchphrases include "I saaaaaaaaaaaid..." and "What'd I do?" (Where instead of saying "What'd I do she says "wharrrido" with rolled "r"s). A typical sketch would involve her being involved in some situation, where she wilfully exploited circumstances. For example, if she were standing in line at a restaurant counter, she would be loudly talking on her cell phone, making other people in line behind her wait; if someone attempted to politely ask her to order, she would loudly snap at them that she was on the phone, then loudly tell Sonya about the rude people surrounding her. She tended to be loud and demanding; whenever someone got in the way of what she wanted, no matter how rude she was being and how polite the other person was, she loudly questioned, "Why? Why do I have to [do such and such]? Because I'm BLACK?!!" An early form of this character appeared in season one, but she was more articulate and a doctor. She is not to be confused with the Hispanic female named Melina, another of Debra Wilson's characters.

Cabana Chat

"Cabana Chat" was a recurring feature of the first and second seasons of the show. The hostess was madly enthusiastic Dixie Wetsworth (Mary Scheer), apparently hopped up on diet pills, with a deep tan and wrinkled skin, and a Southern US accent spoken in country club lockjaw. She was prone to broad double-entendres, and flirtatiousness with males, especially her musical director, Dexter St. Croix (played by Orlando Jones), and Pool Boy (played by Bryan Callen). Of Pool Boy, she has said, "He's like a New York hotel: nothing much upstairs, but the lobby's fantastic." or "He's like a pair of children's scissors; colorful but not very sharp." The similarity of her persona to comedienne Phyllis Diller was underscored in one episode when Diller herself appeared in the skit with Wetsworth. Upon entering the cast in the third season, Aries Spears would join the segment as "James Brown, Jr."

Sequences aired in:

  • Episode 202 - guest Ice-T
  • Episode 204 - guest Jack Wagner
  • Episode 207 - guest Joe Rogan
  • Episode 209 - guest Harry Connick Jr.
  • Episode 212 - guest Rodney Dangerfield
  • Episode 216 - guest Pauly Shore
  • Episode 302 - guests Salt-N-Pepa
  • Episode 311 - guest Howie Long
  • Episode 312 - guest Pam Grier
  • Episode 318 - guest Phyllis Diller
  • Episode 320 - guest Anna Nicole Smith

Darlene McBride

Darlene McBride is a country singer played by Nicole Sullivan. Darlene has a big hairdo and is sings about her right wing views. These include:

  • "The lord loves the NRA he told me so the other day he spelled it out in bullets in the sky. He's sittin' up in heaven with his AK47 he's a rough and ready macho kinda guy yee-haw!"
  • "'Scuse me there mister negro, but I'd like to ask you a question. What's so bad about the back of the bus? You still got a seat like rest of us. I don't understand all the fuss 'bout you sittin' in the back of the bus."
  • (talking about America)"And now look at it, a big ugly meltin' pot just boilin' over on what used to be a nice WHITE stove."
  • "Love comes in many colors but it looks best in white (winks at the audience)."
  • "Jesus was never a Jew, forget what you've heard it's not true, The babe in the manger was no Hebrew stranger...His name was Christ not Christowitz..."

She has given her young relatives high-powered assault rifles, and when a map was shown for the path on her "Take Back America" tour, the markings created a swastika.

The Eracists

The Eracists are a group of motivational speakers who would tour community centers and schools to preach against bigotry, while unknowingly exhibiting aspects of that very behavior. The Eracists are made up of Alex Borstein (whose character was in a wheelchair), Nicole Sullivan, Phil Lamarr (later Aries Spears) and Will Sasso. Spears' character, effimentate, thought he was known for being black. Sasso's character remained unaware of his heavy weight and thought he was known for his red hair.

Kappa Kappa Kappa Sorority

The Kappa Kappa Kappa (KKK) sorority is a sorority house at USC filled with popular and slutty girls. Although the girls genuinely seem to mean well, their behavior tends to be unconsciously cruel or destructive. In several sketches, they attempt to "help" less popular girls, but their help is often destructive (for example, when giving a makeover to an unattractive girl, they will probably throw away her "geek stuff", such as schoolbooks, musical instruments, or even cherished family heirlooms; if they make an unpopular girl a "Kappa for a Day," they will play what they interpret as typical sorority tricks to try to make her feel welcome but which are horribly cruel, such as sneaking the girl out into public while she is asleep and leaving her outside [...].) Despite being aware of the similarity between their initials and that of the Klan (they always introduce themselves as the "Kappa Kappa Kappa, or KKK--but the GOOD kind!"), they typically wear white hooded sweatshirts with KKK written on them when going about in public to try to do good, clearly not realizing the implication. In many skits, their do-gooding often involve them using fire for some reason while dressed this way. For example, they once tried to "pass the torch of brotherhood" while dressed this way, attempting to give $100 to an African-American married couple with a baby, but, unsurprisingly, the couple ran away from them. As community outreach the girls, again dressed in their white hooded sweatshirts, cluelessly surprise an elderly black couple with a flaming cherries jubilee left on the front lawn. Their competitors are the Zeta Iota Tau or ZIT for short.

  • Daniele Gaither as Gisele
  • Debra Wilson as Hayden
  • Jill Michelle Meleán as Amber
  • Kathryn Fiore as Taylor
  • Mo Collins as Toby
  • Nicole Parker as Savannah
  • Stephnie Weir as Mackenzie
  • Guest Trish Stratus as Paris

Lida Rosario and Melina Hacinto

Lida Rosario (Nicole Sullivan) and Melina Hacinto (Debra Wilson) are two loose and bitchy Hispanic girls from Los Angeles. Their ethnicity is never stated but judging by their accents they could be Puerto Rican or Dominican. One sketch had them running a beauty salon, "Melina and Lida's Parlor Of Beauty and Stuff". But future sketches had them clerking at a convenience store, partaking as guests on the Jerry Springer Show, and competing in a beauty pageant and on MTV's Spring Break. Most sketches either revolve around or mention Rosa (previously unseen, but played in a later sketch by Mo Collins), whom they blame for being a "skanky [...]" and stealing their boyfriends. Their adventures usually involve trying to pick-up boys, usually stating "I'd do you" to any guy they like. Melina was in her first and only skit without Lida, where she portrayed singer Mýa in a parody of the world hit Lady Marmalade called "Lady MadTV"

The Vancome Lady

Arguably MADtv's first huge hit of a character, the Vancome Lady, or Kathy Wajonowski (the character's real name), is a self-absorbed, cynical, bigoted woman with heavy eyeshadow played by Nicole Sullivan (though her original appearance did not include the eyeshadow or gaudy hair or clothes). The Vancome Lady is also the very first MADtv recurring character, appearing in the second sketch of the very first episode, as well as the fourth sketch of the same episode.

The name "Vancome Lady" is a reference to the first few episodes where she worked at the Vancome (a comedic interpretation of Lancome) Makeup Center at a fashionable department store.

She crushingly insults every character she comes into contact with, her insults often resembling the jokes of insult comics in the tradition of Don Rickles or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. She has a different job in each skit because she always alienates those around her in her previous job, and when being fired, she thanks her male employer for "letting her sleep with him" (sometimes with a funny metaphor, "Well, thanks for giving me the job, aaand thanks for letting me sit on your lap" in the Christmas episode, but usually it's just "aaand thanks for letting me sleep with ya!") and exit leaving her ashamed boss behind. Her catchphrase, delivered when she disagrees with someone, is "Tcha... you know what? Uh-uh!", and another trademark is plugging her ears and saying "La La La..." repeatedly when person begins screaming at her as she pretends not to hear them. She also tends to move from town to town as seen in a Halloween Episode, when her insulting resulted with an angry mob making their way to her house. In one skit, Vancome Lady meets up with the fellow MADtv recurring character Marvin Tikvah, whom she gets into an insult fight with until they find out they have a lot in common in hurting other people's feelings with the sketch having Tikvah offer her an ideal place for her to work: Fox.

Positions she's held:

  • Vancome Makeup Counter at a Department store (The only occupational position she had twice, the 1st being her debut.)
  • Emergency Room Receptionist
  • Department Store Elf
  • Betty Ford Clinic Receptionist
  • Dealer in a Casino
  • Virgin Mary in a Christmas Play
  • Bank Employee and Hostage Negotiator
  • Contestant on The Bachelorette
  • School Counselor
  • God (in a Planet of the Apes parody, subsequently replaced by Jaq, the UBS Guy)
  • Snack Vendor at the Super Bowl
  • Rapping with Mase in the ghetto.
  • Fired from the Bachellorette
  • As a sports newscaster interviewing players in the locker room
  • Rescuing workers stranded after a plane crash
  • Stand-in for St. Peter
  • Being a guidance counselor for a high school
  • Hosting her own game show: Tcha You Know What?

Noodles & Nippy

Noodles (Jordan Peele) & Nippy (Crista Flanagan) are two clowns (The Hype Jingleberries) who try to teach people the art of krumping. The two often preface their demonstrations by describing, somewhat menacingly, how krumping helps them control their urges towards criminal and violent behavior. Ironically, then, most of their demonstrations involve Nippy taking some sort of physical abuse from Noodles, such as getting shoved over or hit in the face, then allaying the audience's concerns for her safety by stating repeatedly, "that's just the krump," but still appearing to hold back tears.

Emcee Esher

Emcee Esher, played by Aries Spears, is a fictional hardcore rapper who uses constant (censored) profanity and has extremely profane, though very short, music videos, which are censored heavily on TRL. He has released 14 albums since his death in 1998, made numerous appearances on MTV TRL, and seems to be very popular. His name is a reference to M.C. Escher.

Dr. Kylie

Dr. Kylie Johnson, played by Stephnie Weir, is a doctor specializing in a variety of fields. Anyone who meets her for the first time outright refuse to believe she is a doctor, because she acts like a ditzy, alcoholic sorority girl. She constantly plays innocent practical jokes on her patients, wears belly-shirts, decorates her pencils and stethoscopes in pink fuzz, and generally never seems to take her job seriously. But despite all her joking, she is a genius in the medical profession, and her colleagues regard her as one of the best in her field. Some of her antics include having a squirt gun fight in the ER, pretending that one of her pregnant patients gave birth to a teddy bear, and recording a dating service video on a proctological camera where she ad libs.

Reality Check

Reality Check was a talk show on BET hosted by Belma Buttons (Aries Spears) and Tovah McQueen (Debra Wilson), two obese black women. The sketches feature a white guest, who gets routinely insulted by Belma and Tovah until the guest makes a witty comeback, such as Tom Ridge (Will Sasso) telling "the two of them to get four chairs and sit down." Belma and Tovah would retaliate by taking turns lashing out at the guest, then ending the show by telling the guest to "think about what we said." The only person they took a liking to was Bill Clinton, played by Will Sasso, after he insulted himself in the same way Belma and Tovah insults people. On one occasion, one episode was done entirely on a Southwest Airlines plane, evidenced when Belma said "[...], this flight makes more stops than R. Kelly's limo in a preschool parking lot" to Tovah's response of "God bless Southwest Airlines, ghetto bus of the skies".

The sketches would generally start with the phrase "You are watching the BET network, providing quality intelligent television for the African American community" which would be followed by an ad for a product based on black stereotypes, i.e., Red Kool-Aid ('cause black people LOVE the color red!) and assault rifles (when the police shoot at you, shoot them back!). Red Rooster Hot Sauce ('Cause don't everything taste better with hot sauce?)

Guests:

  1. 512: Donald Trump (played by Pat Kilbane)
  2. 516: Tommy Hilfiger (played by Pat Kilbane)
  3. 519: Charlton Heston (played by Pat Kilbane)
  4. 605: George W. Bush (played by Will Sasso)
  5. 618: Julia Stiles (played by Stephnie Weir)
  6. 622: Bill Clinton (played by Will Sasso)
  7. 711: Tom Ridge (played by Will Sasso)

Richard Simmons (played by Will Sasso) Michael Jackson Ashlee Simpson (played by Nicole Parker)

Yvoone Criddle

Played by Daniele Gaither. Known for acknowledging her evil doing but defending herself at the same time. Some of her most famous appearances include when she sued her neighbour for $10000 in a MADtv parody of The People's Court for throwing grass and leaves on her lawn. Ms. Criddle lied to police about the defendant abusing her children, and social services took away the defendant's children. This story got the judge really enraged, resulting in the defendant receiving $10000. Another episode that features her is when she tried to run a man and his children off a cliff, because the man had taken her parking spot. Ms. Criddle is arrested at the end of that skit.

Clyde and Judith (A.K.A. the Literally Duo)

Played by Michael McDonald and Nicole Sullivan, respectively. The two are a married couple without children who often attend events for the youth (Such as a little league baseball game). They would provide sarcastic and bitter commentary, and would often end their sentences with "literally" (When at a school play, Judith comments on the costume designs, claiming she "has not seen so many overly-made up fat kids since The Facts of Life went to Paris"--literally"). Clyde will make nasty comments such as "That parking lot was so busy it was seeing more traffic than Mariah Carey's vagina, literally. These comments usually lead to parents providing comments of their own. One of the sketches was so long, it was "abandoned" and aired without an ending.

Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses A.D.

Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses A.D. was a skit on MADtv that parodied low-budget sci-fi and fantasy shows with attractive but little-known actresses in the style of Xena: Warrior Princess, such as Cleopatra 2525. It featured four fictional females (a fashion model from today, a nuclear scientist from the future, and two cave women from the past), all beamed into the same period--at which point, a strange mist improbably transforms all of them into "Glamazon Huntresses," wearing very revealing tight clothing. When the opening credits identify the actresses, they always note "And Introducing Rebecca Finkleberg," who wears glasses and plays the scientist from the future, then noting that "Mr. and Mrs. Finkleberg," obviously her parents, are the creators and executive producers of the show. (Despite her presence on the show clearly stemming from nepotism, given the overall poor level of writing and acting, Rebecca Finkleberg is arguably not significantly worse or better as an actress than any of her co-stars.) The show is a jab at low-budget films and shows. Like "Spishak" commercials, the writing and acting are typically poor, and production values are so poor that filming appears to go on even when obvious errors occur; for example, when a "monster" is coming out of a cave, people are seen pushing it. In one episode, the nuclear scientist makes a ray gun of some sort, but one part keeps falling off it, so it was changed to a telephone duct-taped to a steering wheel. In another episode, a "high-tech device" was quite obviously a vacuum cleaner; to make matters worse, the name of the hotel it had been taken from was clearly visible on it. In all the episodes, one of the cave women was played by three different actors, and died frequently, but was alive in the next episode, only to be killed again in the next episode. The show also has a cheesy plot for each episode. All episodes end the same: the Prehistoric Glamazon Huntresses were being chased by or battle the Giant Red Space Ant.

Other recurring characters and celebrity impressions

Current

  • Heidi Klum, played by Crista Flanagan, although she appeared in a couple of sketches, the impression of Heidi has an extremely annoying and loud voice and a low IQ, which bothers her husband Seal, played by Jordan Peele.
  • Marvin Tikvah, a fat, coarse, Hollywood agent, played by Michael McDonald
  • Grandma Noni, played by Crista Flanagan
  • Morgan Freeman, played by Jordan Peele
  • Connie Chung, played by Bobby Lee
  • Simeon Dyson - The Lillian Verner Game Show announcer (played by MADtv writer Michael Hitchcock)
  • Snoop Dogg, played by Keegan-Michael Key
  • Jovan Muskatel, a hyperactive man wearing a shower cap, no shirt, and jogging shorts who always interrupts live newscasts (usually with Ike Barinholtz as the newscaster). In one episode, it's revealed that Jovan has come from a generation of men who interrupt newscaster (his first appearance, however, involved a series of movie "reviews", two of which he interrupted other people to give). He often comments that things are "crazy as hell!" or "pandemonium (insert year)!"
  • Al Jazeera News
  • Simon Cowell played by Michael McDonald
  • Dr.Phil played by Michael McDonald
  • Steve Cragg, a writer of MadTV who performs his own "sketches" often involving performing charitable acts that are ruined by his ignorance, such as delivering pizza to homeless people from his car because he is afraid to touch them.

Occasional and former

  • Sherri The Accidental Stripper, played by Stephnie Weir
  • Kenny Rogers Jackass - Kenny Rogers (Will Sasso and fellow jackasses perform stupid, dangerous, and painful stunts. Of about 2 sketches, usually feature breakaway baseball bats, foul censored language, censored nudity, and Kenny's excessive hard liquor consumption.
  • Abercrombie & Fitch, played by Ron Pederson, Ike Barinholtz, Josh Meyers (season 9) & Michael McDonald (season 10)
  • Michael McLoud and Jasmine Wayne-Wayne ('You Are the Love of My Life), played by Will Sasso and Alex Borstein
  • Stan McNer, The Java Man, played by Pat Kilbane
  • Spishak Spokesman, played by Pat Kilbane (early seasons) & Josh Meyers (later seasons)
  • Al Casdy, a motivational speaker, played by Bryan Callen
  • Michael Jackson, played by Phil LaMarr (early seasons) & Aries Spears (later seasons)
  • The Klumps, all of them played by Aries Spears
  • Rosie O'Donnell, played by Alex Borstein
  • Jenny Jones, played by Mo Collins
  • Oprah Winfrey, played by Debra Wilson and later by Nicole Randall Johnson
  • Desperation Lee (Funky Walker Dirty Talker)
  • Susan Whitfield
  • James Brown, Jr., played by Aries Spears
  • O.J. Simpson, played by Orlando Jones
  • Dolemite
  • Bill Clinton, played by Will Sasso
  • Rui Peranio
  • Mr. Daichai
  • Joel and Connie Linder, and their son Mark, played by David Herman, Mary Scheer and Bryan Callen respectively.
  • Kenny Rogers, played by Will Sasso
  • That's My White Mama, played by Artie Lange
  • Steven Seagal, played by Will Sasso
  • Charlotte
  • Paul Timberman, a handyman who injures himself during his demonstrations, played by Will Sasso.
  • The GAP Troll, played by Alex Borstein
  • Whitney Houston, played by Debra Wilson
  • Bobby Brown, played by Aries Spears
  • Mickey, played by Michael McDonald (characterized by his Smiley Face T-Shirt)
  • Geert, played by Josh Meyers
  • Chompy, played by Ron Pederson
  • Simon Cowell, played by Michael McDonald
  • Bible Dude, played by Michael McDonald
  • Kim Jong-il played by Bobby Lee
  • Steve Jobs, played by Michael McDonald
  • Leonna Campell, played by Stephaine Weir