| Bgcolour: |
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| Num Episodes: | 25 |
| Network: | Fox |
| Prev Season: | Season 2 |
| Next Season: | Season 4 |
| Episode List: | List of Mad TV episodes |
The third season of Mad TV, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on the Fox Network between September 20, 1997, and May 16, 1998.
At the start of season three, one fourth of the original cast (Bryan Callen, Orlando Jones and Artie Lange [who left midway through [[Mad TV season 2|season 2]] due to his cocaine addiction] and featured player Pablo Francisco) was replaced by newcomers Alex Borstein (who would later do voicework and writing work on FOX's Family Guy and have a supporting role on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Chris Hogan, Pat Kilbane, Lisa Kushell, Will Sasso, and Aries Spears.
This was the last season to feature original cast members David Herman (who went on to do voice acting work and appear in such Mike Judge projects as King of the Hill and Idiocracy) and Mary Scheer (who quit show business temporarily to be a full-time mother).
This was the last season Fax Bahr and Adam Small would produce Mad TV with Quincy Jones and David Salzman, although Barr and Small are still credited as "executive consultants". They went on to create Blue Collar TV, a similar sketch show that ran from 2004 to 2006 on the WB.
This was the last season Alfred E. Neuman and the bomb sequence was seen in the opening credits. However, Neuman's image still appeared on the Mad TV stage in the fourth season. There were reruns of Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts in this season as well as the fourth and fifth seasons since the last episodes starring them were in the second season.
Spy vs Spy pictures were appeared on cameo idle on this season.
This was the first season in which Mad TV showed "classics", i.e. reruns of sketches from previous seasons.
This was also the final season to feature a guest host for each episode.
The title sequence begins with several fingers pointing at a bomb. Then the bomb explodes and a picture of Alfred E. Neuman and a brain appears on a purple screen followed by the Mad TV logo. The theme song, which is performed by the hip-hop group Heavy D & the Boyz, begins. Cast members are introduced alphabetically with their names appearing in caption over black-and-white still photos of them. When the last cast member is introduced, the music stops and the title sequence ends with the phrase "You are now watching Mad TV."
See also: List of Mad TV episodes.
Shout! Factory released the third season on DVD on June 25, 2013.
On the HBO Max release, episodes 1, 4, 9, 11, and 22 are missing.