Mad TV

aka: MTV
Moby ID: 2831
DOS Specs

Description official description

Mad TV sets you in the role of Archie (though that can be fixed...), an average guy watching some television late at night, when you see a woman you absolutely must meet. The next day, as you wander around the television station looking for her, you run into the boss of Mad TV. Having just fired his executive producer, he hires you. (You're not limited to Mad TV, however; you can also hire yourself in one of the competing stations, Fun TV or Sun TV.)

Your objective in this game is to push your ratings to the top by buying and selling movies and features, choosing the news, and even producing your own shows. You must also earn money by putting in commercials. Be careful, if you don't show commercials by their due date, you'll end up owing, instead of earning. And all this while trying to impress the woman you saw on TV.

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Credits (DOS version)

16 People

Programming
Graphics
Cover Design
Music
Project Manager
Idea
Programming PC Version
Additional Programming
Sound PC Version
Testing
English Translation
French Translation
Spanish translation
Manual and Cover Design
  • schaffMEISTER...!; Düsseldorf
Cover Artwork
  • International Top Artists; Dollnstein

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 10 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 46 ratings with 2 reviews)

A nice, unique business simulation

The Good
Well... despite the quirky name, and silly graphics on some places (like those notable 'useless' rooms in the building) there is nothing 'mad' about this except for the fact that they're 'mad' about making it very realistic! The game is hard, challenging, yet very interesting game featuring a very good simulation of managing a TV station while at the same time giving it a nice touch by giving the main character (by the default name of Arnie) a love interest who is passionate about her shows... yet they bring no great deal of ratings, a dilemma that would make any lovestruck Real Life TV station manager smile... by putting her shows on, she'll like you more, but your station might take a financial hit since your ratings would drop and people might not want to air commercials on your station.

Other than that, one thing that is so good is handling the expansion of your station after you've gotten enough money. have either the option of getting satellite coverage, as well as setting up more stations with a smaller range... but might cover areas that even satellite would not cover, leaving you with a total of over... 291 million potential viewers! Of course since it's nearly impossible to get everyone to look over at your station, it's a challenge to put in the stuff that would be found likable by everyone and get enough ratings for every single business in the country to want to air their stuff on your channel.

Another great thing is the selection of the movies and series that you can put on your station... they're all real TV shows and real movies! How cool is that? I found myself playing the game and keeping the IMDB on another webpage in order to look up information on those shows. It's a nice touch, but not only do they include real movies, but much of news that you can put on in the air usually has some kind of relation to TV and sound strangely... relevant, even though the game was released over 18 years ago!

Also the other great thing you can do is to make your own shows if you find out that you don't like whatever other shows that up for sale... but there's a catch, miscast your actors and put in too small a budget, and your show could tank. There's even an equivalent of the Emmy's in it for various accomplishments.

The game is hard, since it does require some very real thinking as to what to put on, when to put it on, and able to still make enough money to pay back the loans you would take from your own boss, and get the girl to like you more than the other station managers who're competing both against you and for her affections. Making for a nice strategic challenge.

The Bad
The only bad thing I find about the game is simply that there aren't that many English Language TV management simulation games out there. I did manage to find another, more recent game, but it was in French. At any rate, games in this genre are rare and I think it is a shame that not more others like it exist.

The Bottom Line
Well... since you can change the name of the station to anything you want, you could change it to 'U62' pretend to be Weird Al Yankovic's character from the cult classic 'UHF' and run it accordingly. ;) It'll make the game that much more interesting.

DOS · by Salim Farhat (69) · 2009

Great Game for Movie-Freaks

The Good
Everything! The game is very funny - nevertheless it is a really hard business-simulation. You can produce tv-series, shows and other things. But the most funny thing is to plan the program of your tv-station. Buying real-named movies is also a great aspect in this classic. And - don't forget the sabotage. Summary: This game is one of my all time favorite.

The Bad
Sometimes the game crashes down.

The Bottom Line
Everyone who loves movies must play this game. A MUST HAVE!

DOS · by Rantanplan (1705) · 2002

Trivia

Cancelled Atari ST version

A version for the Atari ST was in development, or at least in the planning stages, but it was cancelled very early in the process. The manual of the released versions still has loading instructions and credits for the ST version.

Freeware release

There are some doubts on the GOG.com forums (English and German) whether Mad TV is really freeware, or only its successor is. A news item from PC-WELT seems to settle it though, considering there is also a separate item for the second game. See the Related Web Sites section for a download link.

Information also contributed by Terok Nor.

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  • MobyGames ID: 2831
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Narf!.

Amiga added by Xoleras.

Additional contributors: -Chris, Indra was here, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger.

Game added December 29, 2000. Last modified January 22, 2024.