Mad TV alumni Aries Spears, Mo Collins, Bobby Lee and Debra Wilson reunited on Lee’s podcast TigerBelly
The quartet discussed their post-Mad TV careers and disappointments
The conversation also led them to reveal how much money they made during the series, and which of them earned more
Some of the stars of Mad TV are looking back at their long careers and the twists and turns they’ve taken since they’ve left the show.
Former castmates Aries Spears, Mo Collins and Debra Wilson appeared on the May 1 TigerBelly podcast hosted by Mad TV alumnus Bobby Lee alongside his best friend Khalyla.
During the wide-ranging chat, the foursome talked about some of their career disappointments. Collins, 59, was a Mad TV cast member from 1998 to 2004, and though she’s worked regularly since, she said she had to “accept” the “journey” she’s on. “I doesn’t mean I stopped doing and being, and having the talent that I have, but there’s a certain level of acceptance after f—— decades, you know?” she said. “You have to just go, this is my journey. This is what my journey’s gonna be, not what I thought it was gonna be.”
Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Aries Spears as James Brown on ‘Mad TV’ in the 1990s
Wilson, 63, who appeared on the show’s first eight seasons, from 1995 to 2003, said that though she also hasn’t found superstardom, she’s “happier than a motherf—– in a mansion.” Wilson’s career has included widespread work as a voice actress in TV shows and video games.
But Spears, 50, has not been as zen. “I want to be the motherf—– with the mansion,” he said. “It’s just always been my dream since I was a kid that I want be that dude. I want be as big as Kevin Hart.” Spears was on Mad TV from 1997 to 2005, making him the show’s second-longest tenured cast member.
Wilson told Spears that he’ll “never be satisfied” if he keeps chasing money and success. Even if he finds that fame, she said, “some other motherf—–” will eventually surpass him, she added. She told him he’s “bankrupt” inside and he needs to focus on being a “good man.”
Lee, 53, shared his own career disappointments. The actor, who was on Mad TV from 2001 to 2009, said that he tried to audition for The Hangover, The Interview and Crazy Rich Asians, and the producers didn’t even want to see him.
Then, he said of his friends who have done big movies or are series regulars on TV shows, “No one knows their name. They don’t make any money. They make less than what we made on Mad, which was the lowest that you can make.”
Tessa Viles/FOX
Bobby Lee on ‘Mad TV’ in 2008
Collins then asked Lee what he made on the show. “In the beginning? Yeah. $4,000 an episode,” he said, and the others confirmed that they made the same. Collins asked him where his salary ended up by his final season, but he asked her to answer first. She shared by the end of her tenure, she was making $15,000 an episode.
Lee said he ended up at $20,000 an episode. “F— my life!” Collins joked. Wilson and Spears were also surprised he ended up at $20,000, each revealing they also topped out at $15,000.
“I don’t know why, my agents just did it. I didn’t ask for it,” Lee said. Collins joked, “Really? You didn’t have to try? What’s it like, to not have to try?” Lee added that it was only his seventh and eighth year, after the others had all left the series, that he made that much.
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“I know, and I haven’t seen that much money since,” Collins said, noting how salaries across the industry have gone “way down.”
Spears added that he’s not “sitting back” waiting for his next opportunity. “I’m putting some s— together myself,” he said.
Mad TV ran for 14 seasons from 1995 to 2009. Other famous alumni from the series include Alex Borstein, Taran Killam, Ike Barinholtz, Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key.
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