MAD #494 — October 2008

"You really shouldn't go the extra mile when you have a specific destination!" — Alfred E. Neuman

Contents

• Contents Page
  1
• Letters and Tomatoes Dept.

  Notes

  • Circuit City spoof in MAD #492 causes uproar
  2–5
• Drawn-Out Dramas

  Marginal Thinking Dept.

  Sergio Aragones
  (various places around the magazine)
• The Fundalini Pages

  Random Acts of Mindless Dept.

  Friends of Fundalini Notes

  • "Friends of Fundalini" list of contributors not originally attached to the articles in this section: Paul Coker, Jr., Dick DeBartolo, Emily Flake, Garth Gerhart, Paul Gilligan, Darren Johnson, Bob Staake — DETAILS

  • America's Least Visited Parks — Art by Bob Staake — sample
  • The Godfrey Report
  • Show Me the Monkey — writing the Republican Party platform (Paul Gilligan)
  • The Cover We Didn't Use — “Our 500th issue is just 6 issues away!”
  • Celebrity Cause-of-Death Betting Odds — Tila Tequila
  • When Cover Artists Haven't Read the Book (Emily Flake) — sample
  • Fliers Recently Found Under Windshield Wipers
  • A Presidential Candidate's Speech That Really Says Nothing! — Art by Paul Coker, Jr.
  • Bitterman — how to beat the best Halo player in school (Garth Gerhart)
  6–8
• MAD's 50 Worst Things About The Internet

  Web Slights Dept.

  Written by Charlie Kadau and Jeff Kruse / Art by Leonardo Rodriguez, Drew Friedman, Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Jose Garibaldi, Rick Tulka

  Reprinted in 5 collections

  • MAD Kids #13 — December 2008 (excerpt)
  • MAD Kids #14 — March 2009 (excerpt)
  • Certifiably MAD — 2012
  • MAD #30 — April 2023
  • MAD Treasure Trove of Trash — Vol. 5 — Apr/May 2023
  10–15
• The Eerie Similarities Between Family Guy and the Bush White House

  Griffin Accomplished Dept.

  Written by David Shayne / Art by Jack Syracuse

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Dumps on Trump and other Unlikeable Leaders! — Special Collector's Edition 2018
  16–17
• A MAD Look at Cooking Shows

  Serge-In General Dept.

  Sergio Aragones / Color by Tom Luth

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Unplugs TV — Special Collector's Edition 2015
  18–20
• Up-And-Coming Mixed Martial Arts Fighters

  Monsters Brawl Dept.

  Written by Jeff Kruse / Art by Hermann Mejia

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Hodgepodge of Humor — Vol. 4 — April 2026
  22–23
• Overheard at the Barack Obama Rally in Germany

  Heil to the Chief Dept.
  24–25
• The Darker Side of The Lighter Side

  Berg's-Eye Askew Dept.

  Dave Berg originals / uncredited altered dialogue
  26–28
• Subscription Ad — “Jeffrey Lozenge” dressed as a viking

  Written by Joe Raiola / Irving Schild photos
  29
• A Fast Food Customer Satisfaction Survey (That Tells It Like It Is)

  Give Grease a Chance Dept.

  Written by Scott Maiko / Art by Peter Bagge

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • Certifiably MAD — 2012
  30–31
• Spy vs. Spy — elastic formula

  Joke and Dagger Dept.

  Peter Kuper

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • Spy vs. Spy — Fight to the Finish — 2013
  32–33
• The Pros & Cons of Being a Polygamy Cult Kid

  The Problem is a Parent Dept.

  John Caldwell
  34–35
• Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions

  All Jaffee Dept.

  Al Jaffee / Color by Ryan Flanders

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • MAD Hodgepodge of Humor — Vol. 4 — April 2026
  36–37
• MAD Looks at a Crappy Parent's Baby Book

  And a Child Shall Read Them Dept.

  Written by Teresa Burns Parkhurst / Art by Kevin Pope
  38–39
• Unacknowledged Benefits of the War on Terror

  The Blast is Half Full Dept.

  Written by Jacob Lambert / Art by Peter Kuper
  40–41
• Ad for MAD Classics #23
  42
• Stuples Catalog (ad parody)

  Supplies Attack Dept.

  Written by Jeff Kruse / Art by Scott Bricher

  Reprinted in 3 collections

  • MAD Kids #12 — September 2008 (excerpt)
  • Intensely Dumb MAD — 2013
  • This Is Your Brain On MAD — Special Collector's Edition 2015
  43–46
• Ads for MAD Magazine Poster Book and MAD About Politics books
  47
• What The Heck is the Difference? — featuring cover MAD #11

  Observation Dreck Dept.
  48
• Fold-In — What types of increases provoke the most obsessive media scrutiny?

  Al Jaffee

  Reprinted in 1 collection

  • The MAD Fold-In Collection 1964–2010 — 2011
  C3