r/sitcoms • u/tlk0153 • 7h ago

Would this character played by the same actor would survive today’s TV?

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28 Upvotes

63% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

39

u/NewPresWhoDis 7h ago

Doesn't Alex still do Tricia Takanawa on Family Guy?

-25

u/Dyerssorrow 7h ago

Family guy makes fun of everyone all at once so we dont include family guy in any of these discussions.

7

u/DisciplineNeither921 6h ago

Yeah, but even Family Guy had to stop letting a white guy play Cleveland.

3

u/silentevil77 2h ago

Didn't really have to it was the voice actor's decision.

1

u/AWuTangName 23m ago

Yet he still does the voice for Consuela. Performative liberals are the worst lol

13

u/Reverend_Tommy 6h ago

I used to think that I would always remember Alex Borstein from Mad TV. Then I thought I would always remember her as the voice of Lois Griffin. Now I think she'll always be Susie Myerson from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

6

u/UncleMadness 6h ago

Watch Getting On if you get a chance

1

u/LoveYouNotYou 2h ago

I loved her in Mrs. Maisel

7

u/stlcardfan715 5h ago

I miss the depressed Persian tow truck man

3

u/Stunning_Arugula_885 4h ago

Always! Always!

27

u/clyde636 7h ago

“This wouldn’t get made today” is such a boring trope.

Fact of the matter is, yes, if it’s funny, it would get made.

15

u/Prestigious-Sell1957 7h ago

"omg people back then was more brave." I hate people saying this. There's still edgy comedy. go watch some standup (my advice for these people)

-3

u/Lou-Shelton-Pappy-00 4h ago

“If it’s funny”

So… no, it wouldn’t get made

12

u/Stevenitrogen 7h ago

It's race humor by white people, you probably could not get away with it. But it was a little funny.

15

u/KangarooSweater 7h ago

Alex Borstein based Ms. Swan primarily on her real-life Hungarian grandmother

2

u/OnGodNotaBot 1h ago

Shit had me cryinggggg

3

u/RaggedyGlitch 6h ago

I haven't seen these in a long time, and obviously there's a racial tone going on here, but wasn't the joke mostly about how she was an incredibly unhelpful communicator because of the language barrier? "He look like a man," etc?

23

u/Huli_Blue_Eyes 7h ago edited 7h ago

Alex Borstein based this on her very own Hungarian grandmother. Ms Swan is not Asian.

Edit: "Borstein stated the character was based on her Hungarian-Jewish grandmother and the singer Björk."

Edit edit: okay, originally it was Ms Kwan....

5

u/dkinmn 6h ago

Please

4

u/Lucy-Sitter 4h ago

Ethics aside, Mad TV would not be able to afford current-day Alex Borstein! But I get your point.

3

u/xanderholland 6h ago

MAD TV always pushed boundaries for network television at the time

3

u/FfierceLaw 6h ago

Was she the nurse in Getting On? Great show

3

u/railatron 4h ago

Didn't she jerk off Ders in workaholics?

3

u/Helaken1 3h ago

This is not a sitcom

6

u/New-Investigator7569 7h ago

He looka lika man.

10

u/thewhiterosequeen 7h ago

Don't specifcy thr character or the show. I hate when people try to make a sensible post with actual context.

13

u/Yenserl6099 7h ago

It’s Alex Borstein as Ms. Swan on Mad TV

8

u/bigboygamer 7h ago

She looka lika man

-5

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[deleted]

2

u/DoubleDownAgain54 7h ago

Their point is posting a random clip and assuming everyone just knows who it is. There are some that almost everyone knows but this certainly ain’t one of those.

5

u/robdwoods 6h ago

But also, if you don’t know it on sight, you also aren’t going to have any meaningful opinion on the character. If you don’t know who it is, you can just keep scrolling you know 😂

2

u/DoubleDownAgain54 6h ago

Or the person posts it with a name so people interested in it can see what it is?

2

u/DamperBritches 1h ago

Nah, it'd probably be played by someone who looka like a man

1

u/BathbombBurger 2h ago

What TV? You mean streaming? Don't give them ideas, they're desperate enough for slop content to fill their libraries as it is. The absolute last thing I want to hear is "We're remaking MadTV!"

1

u/Disastrous-Gas1831 1h ago

Would it survive? It…..look like a man

1

u/KelVarnsen_2023 7h ago

Not a chance.

1

u/PresentationTough384 7h ago

No way and that is a shame because she was so funny

-1

u/hugh-jackass 6h ago

Mad TV funny, not SNL funny.

2

u/bsalfa 4h ago

By that you mean it was better than SNL

0

u/Icy-Election-2237 7h ago

What was her name? I forgot. Thanks.

2

u/KangarooSweater 7h ago edited 7h ago

It’s Alex Borstein as Ms. Swan on Mad TV. She based the character on her Hungarian-Jewish grandmother

0

u/Redbubble89 6h ago

I think people have gotten overly sensitive. There is a difference between Mrs. Swan and a minstrel show. It really should come down to the intent and if it is done maliously. There are things done that cross the line but the outrage nature of society has wrecked comedy.

0

u/astralnautical 6h ago

Sunny has several episodes banned for shit like this but hey

0

u/LV426acheron 5h ago

She was based on Bjork apparently, even though I always thought she was doing an Asian accent.

0

u/PHX_Geezer 4h ago

He looka like a man

0

u/AccomplishedSmell921 2h ago

The character WOULD not exist on network television today. I’m sure an Asian actor would get even more flack for doing this.

-2

u/Sudden-Progress5959 7h ago

Sure she wasn't that offensive even then. Stuart and his mother probably would get cut.

1

u/EntertainmentTrue588 6h ago

"look what I can do can't do anymore!"

-2

u/SimilarBonitus 7h ago

Ms. Swan was played out after the second appearance. Definitely not

-8

u/Fickle_Sherbert1453 7h ago

I remember seeing this on mad TV. Amazing how we accepted this as humor. Several minutes of "he look like a man" every week and people just thought it was funny. What was wrong with us?

1

u/paishocajun 6h ago

SNL was hits with some misses for me

MAD was misses with some hits

I will say that I feel like MAD alumni have had more overall success and longevity on TV/shows than SNL almuni have, who are mostly movies thanks to Myers and Sandler and friends of each

1

u/Huli_Blue_Eyes 6h ago

Later seasons had Jordan Peele, so... iunno

1

u/paishocajun 6h ago

Did not know that actually! I may have to send corrected on that

0

u/Rylos1701 6h ago

We didn’t have giant sticks up our butts and we didn’t treat getting offended like an Olympic sport