Where Are These Classic MadTV Cast Members Now?
Originally inspired by Mad magazine, the Fox comedy series ran from 1995 until 2009. The show paved the way for many talented sketch comedians, stand-up performers, and impressionists. In 2016, an eight-episode revival was ordered by the CW Network, which included some original cast members.
But, what happened to the other actors and actresses who came and went? Some have gone on to glory, disappeared out of the limelight, or went on to win an Oscar.
Dan Oster
After his time at Boom Chicago, Oster joined the cast in 2007. In the thirteenth season, he was a featured performer, becoming the fifth cast member of Boom Chicago to join the show. After impersonating actors such as Mark Walberg and Ryan Seacrest, Oster continued to act after the show ended.
In 2010, he launched a sketch comedy website called Titled Sketch Project. It features independent material created by writers and actors from MadTV. His impressions include John C. Reilly and Jeff Bridges.
Chris Hogan
Hogan joined the cast in 1997 as a repertory performer in the third season. His characters included Miguel O'Reilly (News at Six), Vonda Parker, who infamously says "You ain't gettin' none a' this and especially none of THIS!" and public accountant Milton Caldwell.
After one season on the show, the stand-up comedian left at the end of season three. Since MadTV, Hogan has made numerous television appearances. He played the character of Aubrey Pitman, one of Dick Solomon's students on 3rd Rock from the Sun.
Christina Moore
Christina Moore proved her comedic chops on the shows Pasadena and Unhappily Ever After before Mad came calling. She joined the cast of the sketch comedy show in 2002 during the eighth season as a featured performer. She received praise for her impressions of Shannon Elizabeth, Brittany Murphy, and Christina Aguilera.
Moore is one of the few former members of the cast to join the cast of That 70s Show. After leaving the show for a season, she became the founding member of an all-female sketch group. Plus, she was a screenwriter for the drama Running Wild.
Craig Anton
Anton is one of the original cast members on the sketch comedy television series. His most enduring character was Clorox from the Star Trek: Deep Stain Nine sketches. In addition, he impersonated Dennis Miller and Nate Richert before leaving the show in 1998 at the end of the third season.
Since leaving the show, Anton developed an extensive resume on television. Some of his acting credits include the role of Lloyd Duffy on Phil of the Future and a guest role on Mad Men.
Anjelah Johnson
After receiving some attention of her YouTube video impersonating a Vietnamese nail salon employee, Johnson was cast to the show. Due to the writers strike in 2007, she was only given a few lines in the scripts during her tenure.
Nevertheless, her character Bon Qui Qui, a fast food employee who treats customers badly, was well-received and gained a large following on the video-sharing website. In 2009, she was given her own one-hour Comedy Central special Anjelah Johnson: That's How We Do It. Johnson married Group 1 Crew member Manwell Reyes in 2011.
Josh Meyers
The actor and comedian is the younger brother of former SNL cast member Seth Meyers. What's interesting is that Josh's appearances on MadTV aired directly opposite of his brother's appearances on SNL.
Josh joined the cast of the Fox series in 2002, with impersonations spanning from Eminem and Owen Wilson to various members of N'Sync. When Topher Grace left That 70's Show in 2006, Meyers was hired as the replacement for the actor. Plus, he made an appearance in the film Date Movie, playing the role of Napoleon Dynamite.
Ron Pederson
The Canadian gained attention from Hollywood in 2002 while performing at The Second City. When he was offered the role on Mad TV, he was forced to turn down another offer from Toronto's Second City main stage cast.
Pederson worked on the show for three seasons, and his work on the show's tenth season earned him a nomination for Best Television Performance at the Canadian Comedy Awards. After leaving the show, he became a founding member and co-director for the Canadian Comedy Award-winning improv theater company The National Theatre of the World.
David Herman
When the series debuted in 1995, Herman was one of the nine original cast members. A repertory performer for two and a half seasons, Herman lampooned celebrities such as Tim Allen, Nicolas Cage, and David Duchovny.
In 1997, he left the show to do other projects, one of them being the role of Michael Bolton in Mike Judge's cult hit classic Office Space. In addition to that role, he was known for his work as a voice actor. Herman provided his voice for King of the Hill and Futurama.
Orlando Jones
After hosting Sound FX in 1994, Jones was quick to join the cast of the comedy show. Throughout the first two seasons, Jones portrayed characters including Cabana Chat band leader Dexter St. Croix and Reverend LaMont Nixon. His impressions included Thomas Mikal Ford, Eddie Griffin, and Ice Cube.
Aside from being a member of MadTV, the stand-up comedian made many other television appearances. Jones was the spokesperson for 7Up for two years, and FX gave him his own late-night talk show The Orlando Jones Show.
Frank Caliendo
The impressionist made his television debut on the sketch comedy series Hype. Later on, he would gain exposure on Fox's comedy show. From 2001 to 2006, Caliendo was best known for his football impersonations, including John Madden and Jon Gruden.
After MadTV, he performed his impressions on his own show, Frank TV. Outside of comedy, Caliendo appeared on Fox NFL Sunday from 2003 to 2012. Caliendo is a recurring guest on the popular podcast, Pardon My Take, from Barstool Sports.
Will Sasso
By the end of the second season, MadTV experienced a big cast turnover. Sasso was one of the replacements, who became known for his quirky characters. Some of them include accident-prone handyman Paul Timberman and singer Michael McCloud.
One of our favorite sketches came when the Canadian impersonated Steven Seagal. Since leaving Fox's comedy show, Sasso appeared in Entourage and played Curly Howard in The Three Stooges movie. In 2018, Sasso played Mountie Archambault in Super Troopers 2.
Taran Killam
Killam was a featured player during the show's seventh season from 2001 to 2002. He would only appear in 13 episodes out of the 25 that aired. The youngest cast member of MadTV was only nineteen years old when he was hired.
He was also a regular cast member on the third and fourth seasons of Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out. From 2010 to 2016, the comedian made his way to becoming a cast member on SNL. Killam is married to actress Cobie Smulders and the couple has two daughters.
Nicole Parker
In 2003, Parker appeared for just one year during the ninth season. Her most notable characters include Pat-Beth LaMontrose and the Disney girl. She even impersonated many singers such as Britney Spears and Ashlee and Jessica Simpson.
From July 2006 to January 2007, Parked performed in the comedy musical Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. Eventually, she would replace Marcie Dodd in the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production of the musical Wicked.
Andy Daly
During the late nineties, Daly lent his voice to Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse cartoons on SNL. In 2000, he would join the cast of the Fox sketch comedy show as a featured player for one season.
Afterward, Daly would appear in the Comedy Central parody news show Crossballs and Reno 911! He appeared as a Benjamin Franklin impersonator in The Office episode "Ben Franklin." In 2014, he began hosting The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project, which continued in 2018.
Michael McDonald
In 1998, McDonald joined the cast, eventually becoming the longest-standing cast member in the show's history. Much like Darrell Hammond, Phil Hartman, and Dan Akyroyd, McDonald was the one cast member who had an endless list of impersonations.
These impressions included Larry David, Joe Rogan, and Criss Angel. After a decade of Mad, McDonald left the cast but was a contributing writer and director for the final season. McDonald would serve as a writer, director, and producer of the ABC comedy series Cougar Town.
Simon Helberg
One of the actor's earliest jobs in television was joining the cast of MadTV for a season in 2002. Afterward, Helberg appeared in the films Van Wilder as well as Old School. In 2005, he had a role on Arrested Developmentas Jeff, an employee of the film studio where Maeby worked.
In 2007, he would be cast as Howard Wolowitz in the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory. While working on the show, Helberg starred alongside Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins.
Artie Lange
Lange was fired from the show following a drug possession arrest in 1997. But, after leaving rehab and resuming stand up gigs, he became a member of The Howard Stern Show until 2009.
During that time, he would pursue various projects as he released two comedy albums while co-writing, producing, and starring in his own feature film, Artie Lange's Beer League. Lange would release his first book Too Fat To Fish, which became a New York Times Best Seller. Since 2017, he's starred in the comedy series Crashing.
Phil LaMar
Unlike most of the cast members, LaMar had an extensive resume. Before being on the sketch comedy show, he played the role of Marvin in Pulp Fiction. During his time on Mad, his impressions included Morgan Freeman, Don King, Chris Rock, and Prince.
Since his run ended, LaMar has been more known for his voice-over credits. His major roles included Hermes Conrad on Futurama and Carver Descartes on The Weekenders. As for Family Guy, he lends his voice for weatherman Ollie Williams.
Crista Flannagan
Flanagan officially joined the cast in 2005 as a featured performer. Her frequent impressions include Alex Hooser, Ellen Pompeo, Heidi Klum, and Patricia Arquette. After MadTV, her most notable television role was the recurring role of Lois Sadler on Mad Men. A role that she dedicated three years of her life to.
She also appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Practice, ER, and had a recurring role on You've Got A Friend. In Disaster Movie, she played a parody of Juno and Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus.
Aries Spears
During the third season of the show, Spears joined the cast and left at the end of the tenth season in 2005. He created characters such as Belma Buttons, Dollar Bill Montgomery, and James Brown Jr. Meanwhile, his impersonations included Snoop Dogg, Sisqo, and Denzel Washington.
Spears would appear in an episode of Mind of Mencia, which parodied Jamie Foxx's role in Kanye West's music video for "Gold Digger." In 2011, Showtime gave the comedian his own stand-up comedy special called Aries Spears: Hollywood, Look I'm Smiling.
Bobby Lee
Lee joined the cast in 2001 and remained on the show until the series finale in 2009. During his time on the show, Lee had roles in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle and Pineapple Express. In 2016, Lee and his girlfriend, Kayla Kuhn, started a weekly podcast called Tigerbelly, which currently has over 33 million views on YouTube.
They discuss events from their lives and news topics from popular culture. While his podcast is a major success, Lee also co-stars on the ABC series Splitting Up Together.
Stephanie Weir
Weir joined the cast in 2000 as a featured performer. At the end of the tenth season in 2005, she announced she would leave the sketch comedy show, but Weir was persuaded to stay on the show until the 11th season.
Some of her most memorable characters included Angela Wright, Dr. Kylie, and Dot Goddard. In addition, she gained notoriety for her offbeat impersonation of Anna Nicole Smith. In 2012, she created the comedy series Counter Culture for ABC, but it was never picked up.
Arden Myrin
Myrin had extensive training with the Los Angeles comedy troupes The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade. After her training, she became a cast member in 2005. It was the show's 11th season. She stayed with Mad TV until it was canceled in 2009.
Long after her tenure on the show, she became the host of the Nerdist podcast Will You Accept This Rose? about The Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise. She would join the cast of Showtime's Shameless during the show's seventh season.
Debra Wilson
Wilson came into the show with a background in sketch comedy and improv. Among her characters were Latina Melina, Tovah McQueen, and Kappa Kappa Kappa sorority sister Hayden Brooks. Since her debut on Mad, Wilson has done voice acting on numerous television shows, landing recurring roles on Clone High and Family Guy.
In addition, she has made independent films, including Naked Angel and Jane White Is Sick and Twisted. On TV Guide Channel, she even hosted TV Watercooler with John Fugelsang.
Mo Collins
Collins joined the cast at the beginning of the fourth season in 1998. Doreen, the mother of the overgrown toddler Stewart, was one of her most hilarious characters. She also split sides as the odd and annoying Lorraine, and the unlucky Trina.
She has done a handful of impressions, from Pamela Anderson to Hillary Clinton to Teri Hatcher. Following her departure, Collin's most recognizable role was playing morning talk show host Joan Callamezzo on Parks and Recreation. In 2013, she married actor Alex Skuby.
Jordan Peele
In 2003, Peele joined the cast and remained on the show for five seasons. His impressions included Ja Rule, James Brown, and Montel Williams. Following his departure, Peele and friend Keegan-Michael Key starred in their own sketch comedy series Key & Peele from 2012 to 2015.
But, he began to focus on more serious projects, including a role as an FBI Agent on FX's Fargo. In addition, he would release his first film, Get Out, in 2017. It was nominated for four Academy Awards. Peele would take home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Keegan-Michael Key
Key would spend six seasons as a cast member with one of his most famous characters being Coach Hines. In addition to his great chemistry with Jordan Peele, the two were a comedic one-two punch during their time on the show.
The duo would transition into appearing in the first season of Fargo in 2014. Along with his recurring role on Parks and Recreation, he produced the comedy film Keanu. In 2017, Steve Martin cast him on Broadway in Meteor Shower.
Nicole Sullivan
During the show's first season, Sullivan proved herself. She created numerous characters, with her most popular one being the mean-spirited Vancome Lady. Her other characters included X-News Reporter Amy and country singer Darlene McBride. She was originally cast as Turanga Leela, one of the main characters on Futurama.
But, she would go on to have a recurring role on The King of Queens as Holly Shumpert. Sullivan has her own charity, Alley Cat Allies, an organization protecting and improving the lives of cats.
Ike Barinholtz
In 2002, the comedian would become a cast member as a featured performer. Barinholtz would often pair up with Bobby Lee for sketches in later seasons on the show. But, his most memorable character included Abercrombie & Fitch model Dutch and Principal Lankenstein from the Coach Hines sketches.
In 2007, he departed from the show to focus on different work. He served as a writer and played Morgan Tookers on The Mindy Project. Barinholtz would co-write the screenplay for the comedy Central Intelligence.
Alex Borstein
In 1997, Borstein became a cast member who was best known for her character Ms. Swan, and her most recognizable impersonation was portraying Rosie O'Donnell. While working on MadTV, she met Seth MacFarlane, who was preparing to launch Family Guy on Fox.
She would be cast as the voice of Lois Griffin and years later, would serve as a producer and staff writer. As a film actress, she played the school principal in the Lizzie McGuire Movie. In 2017, she began starring as Susie Myerson in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
