http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/05/madtvs-end.html

After 14 years of Saturday night sketch comedy, "MadTV" bid farewell with a whimper.
A few of its past stars showed up for the last episode, but more often the most popular characters who made their mark on the show were represented in old clips woven into the hour. The gambit for the episode was a tired one - a telethon. And they got a guest star to be its host. It's always good to see Fred Willard, but wouldn't it have been more fitting to have a cast member do the honors on the final show?

Keegan-Michael Key returned a couple of times to do his Barack Obama, which has only improved, especially in the voice. Artie Lang submitted a tape from New York (was he really a former cast member?). Mo Collins' funny throat-clearing old lady Lorraine Swanson was back, as was Alex Borstein's Bunny Swan. Debra Skelton did a good job doing Oprah. And Will Sasso was invaluable in a number of role, although his Kenny Rogers doesn't and never did make much sense.

"MadTV" never got credit for things it did very well - political parodies of music videos, a "deleted scene" from "The Wizard of Oz." Instead, what caught on was Michael McDonald's overgrown little boy Stuart. Bobby Lee was kept to doing one character, Johnny Gans.

At least the show didn't start to get maudlin about its legacy and just about all it did to hail itself was wave for a slightly longer period of time just before the credits.