MAD TV

[tim just tim]

i'm not a big fan (seen it only once or twice) so maybe you can enlighten me. what's the deal with that "asian" lady?

[angrykitty]

believe it or not, but the creators of that charachter have stated that she's not asian. she has been a point of contention with asian media watch dog groups for quite a while now.

[stinky]

i really like this show. sometimes the skits are a lil silly but this weeks had some funny shit. bobby lee's blind kung fu master was great.

[SweetArse]

It's better than SNL.

[Salami Swami]

Originally posted by SweetArse
It's better than SNL.
That ain't sayin' much.

[35ft6]

Originally posted by angrykitty
believe it or not, but the creators of that charachter have stated that she's not asian. she has been a point of contention with asian media watch dog groups for quite a while now. Fuck that shit. Swan ain't Asian!? Bullshit.

[puppy fields]

Originally posted by 35ft6
Fuck that shit. Swan ain't Asian!? Bullshit.

I could be wrong but I think they claimed she was from iceland.

[35ft6]

Originally posted by puppy fields


I could be wrong but I think they claimed she was from iceland. You mean the iceland full of tall white people who don't speak with Asian accents? Damage control, straight up. She even squints her eyes and had eye makeup to create little slants on them. If trying to compare her to Bjork was the only defense they could come up with then they just need new lawyers. It's like Al Jolson claiming his blackface character was supposed to be Dutch.

[puppy fields]

I don't know what accent icelanders have.

Elves come from Iceland.

I dunno...I think you're thinking of swedish people.

...

Hey...I don't even watch the show. So what do I care?

[35ft6]

I can never tell when you're joking/being provocative just for shits and giggles, but no, I'm not thinking about Swedish people. Iceland is on my short list of countries I'm dying to visit. It's full of very tall, good looking white people. They have one of the most self-contained gene pools on the planet. Tarantino's been talking a lot about Iceland recently also.

[puppy fields]

Originally posted by 35ft6
I can never tell when you're joking/being provocative just for shits and giggles, but no, I'm not thinking about Swedish people. Iceland is on my short list of countries I'm dying to visit. It's full of very tall, good looking white people. They have one of the most self-contained gene pools on the planet. Tarantino's been talking a lot about Iceland recently also.


didn't mean to accuse you of anything, i was just making a guess.

i'm not disagreeing with any points you have made.

but yeah, when i see images of bjork or Miss Iceland 2005 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051210/lf_afp/afplifestylemissworld). I wonder if Madtv has a point.

[35ft6]

^ Just saying that Iceland is full of very northern European-like white people.

Mad TV should just admit Swan was based on an Asian woman.

[puppy fields]

Originally posted by 35ft6
^ Just saying that Iceland is full of very northern European-like white people.

Mad TV should just admit Swan was based on an Asian woman.

I am neither here nor there.

MadTV's iceland comment was most likely a joke.

wikie seems to have traced the history of the character;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MADtv_recurring_characters#Bunny_Swan

Bunny Swan, more commonly known as "Miss Swan," was a recurring character from the American television program MADtv. The character was portrayed by actress Alex Borstein and appeared on the show until Borstein's departure. She is arguably the most well-known character from the program. She began as little more than a character based on stereotype. She is portrayed as an older Asian woman who works as a manicurist and owns the Gorgeous Pretty Beauty Nail Salon. An episode also states that she is Icelandic. 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. In the same sketch she says her date of birth is 3-15-98, which would have made her two years old in the year 2000, which is highly unlikely, despite her claims that, 'I turn three on the fifteen (sic)'. And in another sketch she says that she is over 100 years old, whether this is comedic coincidence or a well developed character background, is unknown. The comic situations she would get into usually arose from her inability to communicate with others due to a language barrier. Eventually the other character in the scene would become fed up with her and storm off in a rage. Early on her catch phrase "Oh, okay, I tell you everything: 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.

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.

[herrokitty]

The stereotype of the Icelandic nail shop owner is very pervasive.

[puppy fields]

Originally posted by herrokitty
The stereotype of the Icelandic nail shop owner is very pervasive.

yeah, pretty much the same as the stereotype of the asian nail shop owner...at least on TV.

[herrokitty]

you're batting a thousand, here.

[puppy fields]

Originally posted by herrokitty
you're batting a thousand, here.

no worries.

like i said. i don't even watch the show.

[montyburnz]

Originally posted by stinky
i really like this show. sometimes the skits are a lil silly but this weeks had some funny shit. bobby lee's blind kung fu master was great.

I don't usually give MAD TV a chance, but I caught a few sketches from this week (blind kung fu master and the two guys from the 'hood in a casino for the first time) and they surprised me how good they were.

Has the writing on the show changed recently or it's always been like this?

[stinky]

i think the last couple seasons have improved. they seem to not rely so much on reoccuring characters as much as they used to which keeps the writing fresh. i think i have seen stewart once this season. he is still one of my favorite characters but moderation is paying off. plus the woman who played his mother left the show.

[montyburnz]

Aries Spears is underrated and I'm basing it off a radio appearance he did years ago. He killed so I can only imagine how he did on MAD TV.

[stinky]

he did a great shaq. the new guy does a morgan freeman that's really good.

[Asharak]

The Ms. Swan character sucks, but I do like a lot of the other Mad TV skits, especially the celebrity impersonations (Will Sasso's Kenny Rogers and Bobby Lee's Connie Chung are two of my favorites).

It still doesn't beat the magazine, though.

[lakeside resort]

Hahaha.

[CaptainPajamaShark]

this had me in tears lastnight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZqoh2aUW7g&feature=related