Previously:
Several TV shows have been set in Texas. The unique people and places of the Lone Star State make an interesting backdrop for all different types of stories from the drama of Friday Night Lights to the comedy of King of the Hill. With so much ground to cover, things can sometimes get out of hand. When that happens in TV Land we call upon the righteous boot of justice to roundhouse kick its way across bad guys' heads and into our hearts. And of course that boot is firmly on the foot of one man...
Chuck Norris is a quirky guy. Without going into his specific politics, he has a very straightforward opinion on how a TV narrative should be done: with bad bad guys and good good guys and no particular shade of grey between. Walker, Texas Ranger was a real throwback in that sense. And it seemed to work. The show was incredibly successful, hugely popular and ran for approximately 20 billion seasons.
But with fame comes criticism...and also some good natured mockery. And, as it has so many times before and since, the mockery came from the "usual gang of idiots" at Mad Magazine. So today we'll take a look at Mad's skewering of the legendary show Walker, Texas Ranger.
So we start off in the usual Mad method with the main cast introducing themselves and cracking wise about their characters and the show. Since Mad usually likes to go through the motions with their TV parodies, we get the standard Alex (the District Attorney/Walker's love interest, here called "Aleck") gets kidnapped plot.
They got the "always a car chase in every episode" jokes out of the way early on and then landed squarely on the "Chuck is a wooden actor" jokes. And they made themselves at home there.
So as the "story" goes on, Walker and his partner Whatshisface track the baddies down to their baddie hideout and Walker "dusters up."
It does get hot in Texas and I always seem to notice that Texas TV characters never seem to be drowning in sweat and completely miserable the way I am during the 8 months of summer we get here. But there's no time to sweat when there's karate chopping to do so bring on the quips...
I like that joke and wish that it had actually made it into an episode of Walker or literally any TV show. I've made a mental note to plagiarize it if/when I find myself about to attack a room full of bad guys...or maybe at an accountant's office...but I'll have to change it up a little to make it work. Regardless, Aleck/Alex was rescued and it's time for the weekly postscript at the saloon...
...where for some reason they're unveiling the Walker wax figure...cue the obvious joke. Well, we did it! We got through the Walker, Texas Ranger Mad magazine parody. This will have to hold you over until track down the issue where they really give it to Jerry Jones.
