Now as we all know it is the holidays and it has been a tough holiday. With the cancellation of the show and the episodes counting down there is very little cheery things to talk about, well if you’re looking for cheery, stuff these cast appearances under your tree!

Let's start off with a small piece cast member. This cast member is Anjelah Johnson? Who is coming back to television, well at least the cable part of that television. According to this Anjelah has been hired to a new untitled show starring fat to fabulous Jenny Craig star Valerie Bertinelli coming to TBS. I do not know when, but it should be soon. The plot of the show is Valerie plays Claire, a recent divorcee who works at a lumber business. Anjelah may be playing the daughter Claire. I don't know how old this daughter is suppose to be but for the Anjelah fans, what does it matter, she is back on TV. Let's hope this role lasts longer than 4 episodes.

Looking for some more sweets under the tree, may I suggest a candy key hanging off the Christmas tree. A Keegan-Michael Key. There is some information about him, and a movie role. Looking for a movie to see this weekend, well why not get your MAD on with the new movie Role Models, not only does this movie have former ghetto nails castmember Nicole Randall Johnson is also has a small appearance from Mr. Key as well. The appearance by what I have heard is only about 20 seconds long with barely any lines, but as Horton of Horton Hears a Who would say if he was a big, well mediocre movie producer, a role is a role no matter how small. It may be a 20 second scene now, but who knows, that could balloon, to 40, 80, and then maybe a movie for Mr. Key. Let's hope that this role is the beginning of many, as this appearance may bring Keegan's career to a Ho Nava Laval.

What's that, you all want MOre. Well I do have some Mo for you. Mo Collins that is. After taking a bit of a break from television Mo is hitting the television screen hard. Along with a web series called Road to the MLS Cup in which she takes Major League Soccar players and the trophy across country to the finals in Los Angeles, she has also appeared on an episode of the show. Pushing Daisies playing a nun who tragically dies after falling out a window, and now has a recurring role on the long too long running of the show According to Jim playing Emily, a 2-time wife with 2 kids who is going to be marrying main character Jim's best friend Andy. With all these roles it's only a matter of time before we find Mo Collins on her own show under the television Christmas tree.

Now, here's a possible gift from a Christmas past in the form of Barack Obama. It looks as if former cast member and Funkenstine walker Jordan Peele is trying to stay on the sketch comedy train. He is one of 4 people who are competing to be the new Obama on MADtv rival Saturday Night Live Does he have the stuff that Keegan has to make it, or will this be just a fun experiment of his. Only time will tell, but you can see for yourself here.

Now here's a present you already know but you love to hear about. This present is filled with a light and sweet inner core. That inner core is MADtv alum Nicole Sullivan. The outside, a wonderful show called Rita Rocks. After years of supporting roles and failed shows, Nicole may have finally latched onto a winner. The show premiered back in August on the Lifetime Network and is doing great in the ratings. After its 8 episode trial, Lifetime has picked it up for a full season order to bring the shows first season up to 20 episodes. 7 years after leaving MADtv, it finally seems like Nicole may have found her most desired Christmas gift of all. A starring role in a successful show.

Ever have a Christmas present that you loved but did not last as long as you wanted it to? Well that is a good segway into another active former MADtv star Nicole Randall Johnson. After being let go for reasons this day we still don't understand, Nicole seems to have found her groove outside of the show. She had a small role in the previously mentioned Role Models, a guest appearance on the new NBC show Kath and Kim, and an appearance on the hit cult kids show Hannah Montana. It may be soon time that she herself gets her own show.

Now, here's a present that has its problems, but you still love it. This gift is Artie Lange who, after another stint in rehab in September is back on the scene and with a new book Too Fat to Fish. You wouldn't think Artie would be that much of a writer but his book has gone to #1 on the New York Times best sellers list in only its first few weeks. Artie gives hope to the many of us, and proves that even a fat, drug-addicted, drunk can make a bestselling book. If he can do this, maybe there is hope for the world after all.

Now the best of all on Christmas is the gift that keeps on giving, that gift that keeps on giving are 2 shows in which hiring former castmembers for guest appearances seems to be as custom for the show as turkey in the Christmas meal. One show is Chocolate News, a satirical news show from a black perspective that has already had Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, and Mo Collins. Another show hiring MAD members is a show by a former MAD member. That former member is Frank Caliendo and his show FrankTV. The roles Frank's show is giving the former castmembers are all roles that they perfected on MADtv. These include Aries Spears as Shaquille O'Neal, Mo Collins as Mary Tyler Moore, and even Pat Kilbane (who wasn't even on the show when Frank was there) as Howard Stern. The cancellation of MADtv is sad, but with shows like CN and Frank, MADtv may live silently in Hollywood for the next few years with its wonderful actors helping to keep the shows memory alive.

Now, for appearances in Hollywood, the presents have been a plenty. So many that it would take till next Christmas to tell them all, so let’s just summarize the other appearances in short points which I will call stocking stuffers.

Ike Barinholtz: Guest starring role on Rita Rocks last month.

Lisa Donovan: Worked backstage at Youtube Live last month.

Kathryn Fiore: Did Pizza Hut commercials in the summer.

Michael McDonald: Guest starred on Hannah Montana this month.

Eric Price: Will be in a new internet web show called Action Auto. Starting this January.

Will Sasso: On an episode of How I Met your Mother this month.

Mary Scheer: Is appearing on the show iCarly as one of the child’s mothers.

Taran Killam is going to be a new member of Scrubs starting in January.

Well, that is all I know as of now. If these were all presents and stocking stuffers, it would be a very generous Christmas, let's hope the actual holidays for everyone else is this good. MADrry Chri- holidays to all and to all good... Late year holidays.

Oops, he did it again! Apparently, Britney is not the only Spears who is vying for bad publicity these days. Alas, the personal troubles for our dear Aries Spears continue as he is arrested in New York early this morning on a misdemeanor charge of forcible touching. An excerpt from this article spells out the details of both the incident and Aries' release:

"NYPD received a 911 call shortly after midnight [EST] after a woman claimed that Spears had fondled her at the Comix Comedy Club in Manhattan, where Spears had earlier performed. He was arrested just before 1:00am [EST] and taken to the station and booked. He received a desk appearance ticket and was released on his own recognizance."

Frankly, I don't know which of the following I find more disturbing: the news of Aries' arrest or the horrid mug shot featured in the aforementioned article. At any rate, while Aries struggles to learn the meaning of the word boundaries, Planet MADtv would like to thank newt007 for the heads-up on this unfortunate story. We will keep you posted (literally) as further updates surface. Let the hearty outcry of support for everyone's favorite "MADtv" cast member begin!

UPDATE (03/05): Yesterday was Aries' day in court, or his first day, at least. Apparently, the Manhattan Supreme Court loves Aries so much that it has scheduled him to return for another hearing on Wednesday, April 16th. After his initial arraignment on the aforementioned sexual abuse charge, Aries now faces up to ninety days in prison. For more information, as well as Aries' latest Kodak moment, check out this article.

UPDATE (04/21): According to this article, Aries Spears appeared in court this past Wednesday (April 16th). After he pleaded guilty to the aforementioned "forcible touching" charges, the judge rewarded him with a lovely fifteen-day suspended sentence. Aries will wait one year before serving the actual sentence, during which time he must behave himself like a good breast-obsessed comedian. The lesson here, as spelled out by District Attorney Elizabeth Pederson, is simple yet painful: "You can't high-five a woman's breast." Great! Now what am I supposed to do with my Friday nights?

Those wild and crazy "MADtv" cast members are just popping up everywhere these days! Never fear, for "Rapid-Fire Appearances" is here to bring you up to speed.

Let's kick things off with the golden lady herself, Nicole Sullivan. Not even married life can hold back our gal, who will appear in a star-studded episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" in January 2008. Because the storyline for this "CSI" episode revolves around a rodeo, it's only fitting that professional cowboy Ty Murray be one of the guest stars, along with his girlfriend, singer and occasional actress Jewel. In the ultimate act of "yee-haw" showbiz nepotism, the episode will also feature Brendan Wayne (grandson of John) and Shooter Jennings (son of Waylon and Jessi Colter). Although we do not yet have further details on exactly how Nicole's character will fit into this whole, crazy scheme, feel free to read this article for more information, partner.

Do you have DirecTV? Neither do I, but subscribers may want to catch Aries Spears and Jeff Richards together in an upcoming episode of "The Supreme Court of Comedy." The series, which will air on DirecTV's general entertaiment network, the 101, has quite an unusual premise:

"'The Supreme Court of Comedy,' exec produced by Jonathan Murray, features real cases originally brought before small claims courts in California that will now be presided over by comedian Dom Irrera at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. The 'counselors' representing the plaintiffs and defendants will be alternating comedians.

Matchups include Sinbad vs. Tom Arnold, Tom Papa vs. Victoria Jackson, Jamie Kennedy vs. Aries Spears and Jeff Richards, and Tommy Davidson vs. Paul Rodriguez. Ten episodes have been ordered."

Although there is no word yet on when Aries and Jeff's episode will air, we will keep an eagle eye out for details. Will these "MADtv" alumni win their "case"? Will anyone without DirecTV give a rat's patootie? Drama ensues!

It's official: Orlando Jones never sleeps. In 2008, the Big O will add director R.A. White's comedy film Ye Olde Times to his mile-long resume. The film's plot involves two rival Renaissance fairs -- one cheesy, one priding itself on "serious productions of real Shakespeare." (Orlando's character belongs to the latter.) Jack Black, David Arquette, and Matthew Lillard will also join in "ye olde" fun. Curiously enough, no actresses are listed in the credits so far. The author of this article speculates on the possibility of man-love among the characters; however, the most likely scenario is the other she mentions: the old-school theater practice of having the male actors play both the male and female roles, thus negating the need for female actors. Oh, Orlando, what delectably daffy projects await your fans in the near future?

Finally, Phil LaMarr will appear in the 2008 Jonathan Fahn film Old Dogs, which centers around three men in their seventies who mistakenly pick up a bag of cocaine and find themselves caught between the police and the mob. Logic, as well as respect for the forty-something Phil, tells us immediately that his character, Joe, is not one of the three old men mentioned in the movie's title; however, at least from what we can gather, Phil does appear to have a sizable role in the comedy/drama, which stars John Saxon, Basil Hoffman, and Larry Gelman as the "old dogs." Can you teach an old "MADtv" cast member new tricks? Check out Phil at a theater near you to find out.

It appears that the nonviolent, rapid-fire gun is out of blanks for the time being. Do not be dismayed, though, because before you know it, the bullet chamber will once again be loaded with information on "MADtv" cast members' film and television appearances. Now that I have extended this unnecessary metaphor well past its target, all that is left to say is the following: stay tuned for more "Rapid-Fire Appearances"!

UPDATE (01/10): Nicole Sullivan's "CSI" episode debuts tonight at 9:00pm EST on CBS. Don't miss it!

UPDATE (02/25): Thanks to this article, we can now confirm that Ye Olde Times does indeed have at least one female star. Don't get too excited; it's just Lindsey Lohan. Although we still do not have word on exactly when this Orlando Jones extravaganza will be completed, a spring release seems realistic.

MADtv alumni and all-around funny man Aries Spears is scheduled to appear tonight (or rather 12:35am EST on September 19th if you want to be a stickler about it) on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien alongside Kelsey Grammer and musical guest James Blunt. Aries is likely to discuss the recent DVD release of Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror, a collection of three urban-themed horror stories that debuted at last year's Cannes Film Festival and as part of After Dark Film's Horrorfest.

So if you can't get enough of Aries Spears' unique brand of humor, love James Blunt or are secretly hoping for Kelsey Grammer to announce that he is reprising his role as Dr. Frasier Crane, tonight's episode of Late Night mustn't be missed.

Credit goes to blackwind for submitting this story.

Not content with 8 years of MADtv as his only sketch comedy experience, formerly departed castmember Aries Spears has landed a new role "The Underground"

From Chron.com:The Underground: Daman Wayans, still smarting over the cancellation of his ABC series My Wife & Kids, proves that not all of his comedy is family-friendly in this outrageous sketch series featuring such naughtiness as "The Real Vagina Monologues" (use your imagination ... or don't) and "The World's Smallest ... ," well, we can't complete that title.

"My goal was to test myself," Wayans said. "I can't call myself an artist if all I'm doing is trying to, you know, get a network to cancel my show. That's not my goal. My goal is to see how far we can go."

The Underground premieres September 14th (2 days before Season 12 of MADtv), on Showtime.

We've been waiting a long time for this, and it's finally surfaced thanks to a bit of sleuthing. The cast changes for the 11th season of MADtv are as follows:

Departing: Spencer Kayden, Ron Pederson, Aries Spears, Paul Vogt

Returning: Ike Barinholtz, Frank Caliendo, Daniele Gaither, Keegan-Michael Key, Bobby Lee, Michael McDonald, Nicole Parker, Jordan Peele, Stephnie Weir

New Castmembers: Arden Myrin, Crista Flanagan

New Featured Players: Frank Caeti, Nicole Randall Johnson

So there you have it. Now, in addition to two Franks in the cast, we also have two Nicoles! Nicole Randall Johnson studied at the Groundlings and has made appearances in tv shows such as CSI, Reno 911!, Felicity and Monk. She also made a brief appearance in the current #1 movie in America, The 40 Year Old Virgin.

And this tiny spoiler comes from FOX.com, outlining what we can expect in the first episode:

For the momentous 11th season premiere, the late-night comedy lampoons Hugh Laurie (Michael McDonald) and the FOX hit HOUSE. The hilarity continues with parodies of Vince Vaughn (Ike Barinholtz) in “Wedding Crashers” and Morgan Freeman (Jordan Peele) in “March of the Penguins” on MADtv airing Saturday, Sept. 17 on FOX.

Don't forget to watch!

Last week, Debra Wilson was busy filming her role in a new Andy Dick film, which I am assuming is Danny Roane: First Time Director, the same film that Mo Collins will be featured in. Debra will be playing a nurse, but Andy wanted her to have complete creative freedom over the character. She gets to create the character and improv all of her lines, all that he told her was that she was a nurse. It is a small role, but she is excited to have that much creative control.

Later this month, she will be filming a whole new set of Sierra Mist advertisements. The previous ads, which premiered early this year and also featured MADtv's Aries Spears and Nicole Sullivan, were a huge success. It is rumored that not everyone was invited to return and at this time Debra doesn't know the status on Nicole and Aries being asked back. Debra and the "Mist-takes" will be filming 12-15 more commercials, which will be premiering in January 2006. If you haven't seen the first set of ads, you can view them, along with bloopers and out-takes, at mist-takes.com.

Don't forget to also check out her all new reality special in which she takes on a very haunted area, along with other celebrities. It premieres October 31st, Halloween, on MTV.

From Celebrity Justice:

It was the slap heard around Sacramento, as Aries Spears, star of FOX's "MADtv" went head to head with Mike E. Winfield, a comedian and contributor on Sacramento's KSFM world famous morning show. Aries once headlined a show that Winfield once opened. But Winfield was let go and the two never saw each other again until a heated encounter at KSFM.

We're told that Spears was unaware that Winfield would be on the show at the time he was booked. On the air, Winfield confronted Spears and asked why he was fired. And during a commercial, things got ugly. The situation escalated, coming to a head when Spears slapped Winfield across the face. Winfield tells "CJ" he is thinking about pressing charges. But was Spears set up? Winfield says no.

All I can say is that I'm thankful he is no longer on MADtv. This is pretty disgraceful, Aries should be ashamed. You can view the article, and accompanying video, here.