The Lillian Verner Game Show is a popular recurring skit on MADtv and is considered to be a show-within-a-show, which is probably the reason for its popularity. The sketches spoof television game shows as well as the Lillian Vernon catalog. Every show begins with the Lillian Verner theme music. The show's setup has a host, announcer and three contestants behind podiums. The show is "sponsored" by the fake Lillian Verner Catalogue, a catalog full of cheap, useless novelties, many are actual items. The contestants must identify ridiculously mundane items out of the catalog, as well as ring in their answers with various Lillian Verner products, such as the Lillian Verner Talking Cheech and Chong Salt and Pepper Shakers, that spurt such phrases as, "I'm high as the clouds", and, "You kids ever see a dead body".
Hosts and announcers
For all Lillian Verner sketches, MADtv writer Michael Hitchcock plays the uncredited announcer Simeon Dyson. Simeon, who closely resembles Richard Simmons, is admittedly on several drugs, such as Zoloft, NyQuil, and Vicodin, but it is also implied that he is also on illegal drugs, such as ecstasy and cocaine. Most likely due to this fact, Simeon has a very bipolar personality. He is usually seen as overly energetic and enthusiastic, but can switch to an angry, violent mood in an instant. Simeon, whose eyes never blink, usually wears out-of-style clothes like sweaters, and could be considered somewhat spastic, attributed to certain sudden movements, facial expressions and comments. For most of the shows, Paul Vogt plays the host, Dale Briskett. Also observed as enthusiastic, he is much more normal and calm than Simeon. He is known to greet and interject with old-fashioned cliches, such as "Holy cannoli, let's do it!", "Fiddlesticks, no," and "Bibbity-bobbity-bop...no!" He wears Lillan Verner t-shirts with such sayings as "If a cow laughed real hard, would milk come out of its nose?" and "My wife doesn't do mornings", and sometimes finds a way to insult his wife with the sayings. Simeon usually disagrees, angrily. Sometimes in conjunction, Simeon will angrily insult Dale by implying that he's gay. For example, when Dale Briskett wore the "My wife doesn't do mornings" T-shirt, Simeon replied, "And you [Dale Briskett] don't do women!" Since Vogt's departure from MADtv, there have been four "guest" hosts on the show, including America's Funniest Home Videos Tom Bergeron, Breaking Bonaduce's Danny Bonaduce, Survivor's Jeff Probst and Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin as new host "Hank Whitley." Like Dale, Hank wore a Lillian Verner t-shirt, and it read "New host, same crap."
Characters
There are also several recurring contestants. The most often recurring character is Gail Cinder, played by Stephnie Weir. Gail is a homemaker from Odessa, Texas, and always wears a shirt with a pun regarding cats, such as "Cat-itude" or "Pussy Lover." She also usually mentions her many cats at home, each one named after a celebrity or pop culture title, such as "Kitty Kitty Bang Bang" or "Cat-erine Hepburn", "Purr-is Hilton", and even "Kitty Couric." She is apparently single and lonely, and at times seems to annoy Dale or even be stalking him. Other recurring characters include Dominic Sandy, a giant played by Michael McDonald, including other non-Lillian Verner skits; Annetta Bussley, a bad ventriloquist with a vulgar dummy named Miss Tickles that looks like her, played by Nicole Parker); Rudolph Poozer, a Smurf lover who was initially thought to speak too close to the microphone, but actually speaks unclearly; played by Keegan-Michael Key) and Carol Finney, a chinless woman who loves to roll nickels, played by Mo Collins.
Episode List
- MADtv Episode: #910 - 12/13/2003
Contestants: Gail Cinder (Stephnie Weir), Carol Finney, Stan Clayton (Ike Barinholtz)
- MADtv Episode: #915 - 2/14/2004 - Valentine's Day Edition
Contestants: Gail Cinder, Honey Desko (Daniele Gaither), Dominic Sandy
- MADtv Episode: #923 - 5/8/2004 - Mother's Day Edition
Contestants: Dana Briskett (Peter Vogt, Paul's twin brother), Simone Dyson (Nicole Parker), Gail Cinder
- MADtv Episode: #1008 - 12/11/2004
Contestants: Gail Cinder, Annetta Bussley, Rudolph Poozer
- MADtv Episode: #1014 - 2/19/2005
Contestants: Gail Cinder, Broccoli Top (Jordan Peele), Carol Finney
- MADtv Episode: #1020 - 4/30/2005 - "At Gunpoint"
Contestants: Gail Cinder, Kirby Bogel/Snickerdoodle the Tit-mouse (Michael McDonald), Bernardo Calout (Ike Barinholtz)
- MADtv Episode: #1108 - 12/10/2005 - Host Jeff Garlin
Contestants: Gail Cinder, Jeff Goldblum (Frank Caliendo), Joe Hoon (Bobby Lee)
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- Characters were using Segways.
- MADtv Episode: #1114 - 2/18/2006 - Host Jeff Probst
Contestants: Rudolph Poozer, Annetta Bussley, Dominic Sandy
- MADtv Episode: #1215 - 2/24/2007 - Oscar Edition w/ Host Danny Bonaduce
Contestants: Renée Zellweger (Nicole Parker), Morgan Freeman (Jordan Peele), "the kid from The Grudge" (Bobby Lee)
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- This was the first episode not to feature returning characters.
- MADtv Episode: #1218 - 4/7/2007 - College Edition w/ Host Tom Bergeron
Contestants: Jeffery LaBeuff (Ike Barinholtz), Paco Puente (Efren Ramirez), Tara Summerhill (Arden Myrin)
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| Current cast | Crista Flanagan • Daheli Hall • Anjelah Johnson • Keegan-Michael Key • Bobby Lee • Michael McDonald • Arden Myrin • Dan Oster • Nicole Parker • Jordan Peele • Johnny A. Sanchez |
| Seasons | One • Two • Three • Four • Five • Six • Seven • Eight • Nine • Ten • Eleven • Twelve • Thirteen |
| History | 1995–2000 • 2000–2005 • 2005–present |
| Recurring Sketches | The Lillian Verner Game Show • Oprah • Spishak • Real **********ing Talk • Jenny Jones Back in Time • Stuart Larkin MADtv recurring characters |
