And it's...OK I guess. In my Gen-X childhood, CRACKED was always the "nicer," "cleaner" alternative to MAD, funnier than CRAZY but mostly unmemorable. And that's what this parody is, down to the title that is pronounced but not spelled the same as canon. The illustrations by John Severn (who, if I recall correctly, had a stint at MAD in the 10-cent comic book days) are more flattering than Torres's caricatures and therefore blander. The writing is that of someone (uncredited) who seems to have seen at least a couple episodes or at least read a couple articles. (He, I'm assuming a male writer, at least gets a few awkward hello-entrances in.)
Character breakdown: no Frank! Two panels of "Mrs. Blabberish," ironically referencing her lack of stuff to do. "Carbine" makes it onto the last page, presumably for the purposes of rounding out the cast, since he's given even less to do than Edna. At least Boo Boo Kitty is very present.
As in MAD, it's mostly about the Core Four. This time, the "plot" is that Shurley has inherited two million, but not dollars, two million parakeet mirrors. Don't hurt your knee slapping it too hard! Anyway, before the big reveal, the boys want in on the action (the financial action, this is the sexless world of CRACKED, not gritty MAD), so they come up with a stupid but potentially money-making scheme involving "the Linty-Squiggly Automatic Sock Putter-Oner." (Needs more hyphens.) This is somewhat in character but has no real pay-off.
The shipping notes are as random as everything else. Carmine is just a "friend" to Shurley, and to the extent that there's any pairing, it is Leverne/Squiggly (he puts his head on her shoulder to be read to, which I can't imagine him doing with anyone but maybe Lenny) and Shurley/Linty (he proposes to the heiress, while Squiggly just wants her to loan them ten bucks).
This is not a tough show to parody, People! And by the fifth season, there was a lot to work with. Dare I even try to find CRAZY's version? (It's probably called "Lavoline & Surely.")
I hope you will!
ReplyDeleteI'll stand on the other end of the divide and say I love John Severin's art for this - it's dead on for both the boys and the girls and I like it even if it's too flattering for parody's sake?
"I know I ain't said anything about it before, but would you marry me?" I somehow a very Lenny line.
Ouch at that dig at cindy's acting tho.
I definitely don't hate the art, or even the meh writing. And yeah, that was Lennyish, but that page really messes with my ships! Cindy's acting was fine, sometimes amazing.
ReplyDeleteSAME! I was surprised the writers didn't pick up on the usual show dynamics.
DeleteEXACTLY! I was dying at the dig in the comic tho.
It was just basically "the boys are goofy and annoying but harmless."
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think I'll be doing a CRAZY review, yikes! https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Magazine-Tackles-Travolta-Marshall/dp/B082VH5Z6W
$100?! Good lord!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it doesn't even look like a full parody, just one of many shows they satirize.
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