Animation wise the madtv's spy vs spy shorts where literally god tier. Plus that "he hee" hissing laugh is iconic af.

I love that it's not like Tom and Jerry where one always wins and the other always loses.

I love how the art is the perfect middle between simplistic and whatever the opposite of that is, the concept is definitely simple yet the writing is good and each episode has variety, the character design is charming, it’s not always one person winning, and you can just tell they put a lot of care into this

I love how virtually anyone regardless of age, race or language can understand and enjoy these simple yet clever little cartoons. So very few things can cross through all barriers like that.

Spy Vs. Spy was the only reason I ever even watched MadTV. I'd stick it out through incredibly bad jokes for 45 minutes to watch 30 seconds of animation. THAT is how good these are.

Honestly the animation in these are very clever and fluid.

You would think the punchline for skits like these would be super predictable, but a good number of these are actually quite creative.

16:45

It's really remarkable how well Prohias captured the essence of the Cold War in these cartoons. Full of pointless, violent oneupmanship with often shockingly low stakes and even more shocking pettiness, where intricate devices and incredible inventions are created, often overcomplicatedly, for the purpose of achieving what could be accomplished with a particularly well-thrown rock.

I like how Black Spy's episodes tend to have a bit more elaborate fake-outs, where as white spy seems more likely to just pull a gun on you and call it a day.

Best part of these is you never can tell who's going to win until the end.

I feel like these two are actually brothers, and they are intentionally screwing with one another. XD

"Hehehehe" -Black spy/ White spy

Rest in Peace Antonio Prohias. Your cartoon will always be remembered, and you did so much for Mad Magazine!

Anyone else think the Spies look like Plague Doctors? Dad saw me working on my Halloween mask and said it reminded him of the Spies. He joked that I could just tell people I was a Spy. He was referring to the comic strips and apparently didn't know there were cartoon shorts, lol.

Criminally underrated franchise

MADTV Spy vs Spy Season 1 with Episode Titles:

Who's here in 2024 for absolutely NO reason other than it just popped into your mind? Just me?

for some reason when i was a kid this cartoon used to terrify me. I would cry whenever it came on but now i love it.

I'm telling my kids that this was Unus Annus.