Cracked.com
Encyclopedia
Cracked.com is a humor website that was spun off the last attempt to revive Cracked magazine. It began in its current form in 2007.
sold the magazine to a group of Arab, Asian, and American investors who announced plans to revive Cracked with a new editorial focus and redesign. Its first steps included naming entrepreneur Monty Sarhan
as both CEO and publisher. Sarhan also announced ambitious plans to expand the Cracked brand into other media.
A flurry of new staff announcements followed, including former Marvel Comics promotions chief Sven Larsen as associate publisher, and Justin Droms and former Marvel editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco
as editors. Hollywood
producer Thom Mount
joined the company's board of directors, and Zena Tsarfin
, former managing editor of the hip-hop
magazine XXL
, was named to that position at Cracked. Named as contributing editors were comics Darren Kane and Jesse Falcon
, former Spy staffer Jonathan Yevin
, and former Cracked Editor-in-Chief Mort Todd
. Michael Hobson
, the former publisher of Marvel Comics
and Scholastic Books, was named a senior advisor, and Neal Pollack
was named an "Editor-at-Large." In 2005, Geoff Wolinetz
, Nick Jezarian and Josh Abraham
, co-founders of a "literary whimsicality" site, YankeePotRoast.org, were named as contributing editors, and Jack O'Brien and former National Lampoon managing editor Jay Pinkerton
joined as full-time editors. In 2006, actor-comedian Michael Ian Black
was also named as another "Editor-at-Large."
about low pay rates and work-for-hire issues of copyright
. Todd complained, "With each visit to the offices I got more dispirited as I saw the direction the magazine was taking. As has been well publicized, Cracked was, instead of ripping off MAD, going to rip off Maxim
... A lot of 'revolutionary' humor ideas they've come up with are ones that have been overplayed for decades and ones I rejected for good reason 20 years ago [as Cracked' s editor]".
Sarhan wrote in part:
On August 15, 2006, the revamped Cracked Magazine finally appeared. The first issue was a significant departure from Cracked
, Stuff
and FHM
, although the media website Gawker.com
wrote, "Very little remains of the old Cracked – a Mad ripoff that had tread water in various incarnations for almost half a century. Much was made of the new direction now ripping off Maxim instead, but aside from a "look and feel" resemblance in terms of layout, the much more obvious (attempted) homage runs to Spy
."
The Washington Post
's Peter Carlson harshly reviewed the debut, listing some of the issue's contents and then adding, "Are you chuckling yet? Me neither." Later, Carlson quoted Crackeds Michael J. Nelson
, who'd contributed a short guide to the worst comedy movies ever. Wrote Nelson in his article, "Bad comedies are worse than anything else in the whole of human history." Added Carlson, "Reading Cracked, you understand exactly what he means."
The new Cracked had hoped to position itself as a publication that covers the world of comedy, as well as providing its own comedic content. The debut cover featured a Photoshop-manipulated image of actor Tom Cruise
as the title character from the hit comedy film The 40-Year-Old Virgin
.
However, after just three poor-selling issues, the failing magazine was canceled in February 2007. Citing distribution problems for its demise, editor Jay Pinkerton claimed that the remaining staff would be focusing its energies toward the Cracked website, as well as unspecified book projects. The company's website, Cracked.com, continues.
in June 2007 and has been edited by Jack O'Brien since its debut in 2006. David Wong was added as an associate editor later that year; his Pointless Waste Of Time site and its fora were absorbed into Cracked.com. Oren Katzeff became Cracked.com's General Manager in November, 2007. The Cracked site is best known for its humorous lists and compilations, for example, "The 9 Most Obnoxious Memes to Ever Escape the Web", or "The 6 Most Insane Game Shows From Around the World". The Cracked site also includes a blog, videos, forums, a writer's workshop, a weekly Image Manipulation contest, called photoplasty, and a daily "Craptions" contest where users add captions to odd photographs. The site includes columns by Sean "Seanbaby" Reiley
, Daniel O'Brien
, Robert Brockway, Cody Johnston, Soren Bowie, Chris Bucholz, host and writer of the web series "Hate By Numbers" Gladstone, John Cheese, Christina Hsu, and head writer and performer of the sketch comedy group "Those Aren't Muskets!
" Michael Swaim. Cracked.com is frequently included on eBizMBA's calculated list of the Internet's "20 Most Popular Funny Sites. In 2010, the web series "Agents of Cracked" featuring O'Brien and Swaim won the Audience Choice Award at the second annual Streamys
.
Cracked.com released its first book, You Might Be A Zombie And Other Bad News, in 2010. Published by the Penguin Group's Plume division, the book features twenty articles that had previously appeared on the website, and eighteen that are new to the book. It peaked at #9 on the New York Times' secondary "Paperback Advice & Misc." best sellers list in January 2011.
Attempted relaunch of Cracked
In early 2005, then Cracked owner Dick KulpaDick Kulpa
Dick Kulpa is an American cartoonist best known for his work for Cracked and Weekly World News.-Early career:Dick Kulpa got his start in the cartooning business on Christmas Day in 1969 when his hometown Illinois weekly newspaper, the Loves Park Post, published his first cartoon strip, Double Eagle...
sold the magazine to a group of Arab, Asian, and American investors who announced plans to revive Cracked with a new editorial focus and redesign. Its first steps included naming entrepreneur Monty Sarhan
Monty Sarhan
Monty Sarhan is a Vice President at Viacom, where he has served in several capacities over the years . He currently works at Epix_, the premium movie channel that is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures, MGM, Lionsgate and Viacom...
as both CEO and publisher. Sarhan also announced ambitious plans to expand the Cracked brand into other media.
A flurry of new staff announcements followed, including former Marvel Comics promotions chief Sven Larsen as associate publisher, and Justin Droms and former Marvel editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well known for his association with Marvel Comics and in particular for his work with Spider-Man.-Career:...
as editors. Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
producer Thom Mount
Thom Mount
Thom Mount is the former President of Universal Pictures and one of America's well-known independent producers.In the course of his thirty-five year career in the film industry, producer and studio head Thom Mount has made an indelible mark on the American film industry. He studied film at the...
joined the company's board of directors, and Zena Tsarfin
Zena Tsarfin
Zena Tsarfin is an American editor best known as managing editor of the magazines High Times, XXL, and Cracked.-Biography:Zena Tsarfin graduated with dual degrees in journalism and political science from Brooklyn College...
, former managing editor of the hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
magazine XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
, was named to that position at Cracked. Named as contributing editors were comics Darren Kane and Jesse Falcon
Jesse Falcon
Jesse Scot Falcon is an American improv and sketch comedy performer based in New York. He attended Albion College in Albion, Michigan, graduating in 1993 with a degree in Speech, Communications, and Theatre...
, former Spy staffer Jonathan Yevin
Jonathan Yevin
Jonathan Yevin is an American humor and travel writer. Yevin is known as the youngest ever staff writer at Spy Magazine, where he worked from 1995 until it folded in 1998...
, and former Cracked Editor-in-Chief Mort Todd
Mort Todd
Mort Todd , is an American who has spent his career in comics, animation and entertainment, notably as the editor-in-chief of Cracked magazine, and later, Marvel Music...
. Michael Hobson
Michael Hobson
Michael Hobson is the former publisher of both Marvel Comics and Scholastic Books.-Career:Hobson spent his almost fifty-year career working in almost every area of publishing. A graduate of Harvard College, he began his career at Little Brown in Boston, Massachusetts...
, the former publisher of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and Scholastic Books, was named a senior advisor, and Neal Pollack
Neal Pollack
Neal Pollack is an American satirist, novelist, short story writer, and journalist. He lives in Austin, Texas. Pollack has written six books: The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, Never Mind the Pollacks, Beneath the Axis of Evil, Alternadad, Stretch, and Jewball. He is a member of...
was named an "Editor-at-Large." In 2005, Geoff Wolinetz
Geoff Wolinetz
Geoff Wolinetz is a writer and co-founder of Yankee Pot Roast, an online magazine devoted to literary and pop-culture satire. A 1998 graduate of Binghamton University, Wolinetz has written for several online publications including McSweeney's Internet Tendency , the Black Table, Flak Magazine and...
, Nick Jezarian and Josh Abraham
Josh Abraham
Josh Abraham is a Grammy-winning record producer and co-owner of Pulse Management and Check Your Pulse Publishing. He has produced songs and albums for many of the industry's most successful artists such as Velvet Revolver, 30 Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson and Courtney Love...
, co-founders of a "literary whimsicality" site, YankeePotRoast.org, were named as contributing editors, and Jack O'Brien and former National Lampoon managing editor Jay Pinkerton
Jay Pinkerton
Jay Pinkerton is a nationally published humorist and a former editor of both CRACKED.com and Cracked magazine.Prior to joining Cracked, Pinkerton served as the managing editor of NationalLampoon.com, the website of the national comedy and film brand...
joined as full-time editors. In 2006, actor-comedian Michael Ian Black
Michael Ian Black
Michael Ian Black is an American comedian, actor, writer and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State, Ed, Viva Variety, Stella and Michael & Michael Have Issues. He is also a prominent poker player, appearing on Celebrity Poker Showdown several times...
was also named as another "Editor-at-Large."
Todd vs. Sarhan
Several months after rejoining Cracked, Todd parted company with the revamped magazine, complaining to The Comics JournalThe Comics Journal
The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
about low pay rates and work-for-hire issues of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
. Todd complained, "With each visit to the offices I got more dispirited as I saw the direction the magazine was taking. As has been well publicized, Cracked was, instead of ripping off MAD, going to rip off Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
... A lot of 'revolutionary' humor ideas they've come up with are ones that have been overplayed for decades and ones I rejected for good reason 20 years ago [as Cracked
Sarhan wrote in part:
Relaunch
The company spent most of 2005 accumulating contributors for its planned relaunch. In October 2005, the company introduced Cracked.com, a website featuring humor articles, videos, comics, blogs, and a forum. Although the redesigned print magazine had originally been slated to debut in January 2006, this did not occur and the print version's launch was pushed back by several months.On August 15, 2006, the revamped Cracked Magazine finally appeared. The first issue was a significant departure from Cracked
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
, Stuff
Stuff (magazine)
Stuff is a men's magazine featuring reviews of consumer electronics, and other articles of interest to a predominantly male audience.- UK edition :...
and FHM
FHM
FHM, originally published as For Him Magazine, is an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.- History :The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994 when Emap Consumer Media bought the magazine, although the full For...
, although the media website Gawker.com
Gawker.com
Gawker is a newsmagazine/blog based in New York City that bills itself as "the source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip" and focuses on celebrities and the media industry....
wrote, "Very little remains of the old Cracked – a Mad ripoff that had tread water in various incarnations for almost half a century. Much was made of the new direction now ripping off Maxim instead, but aside from a "look and feel" resemblance in terms of layout, the much more obvious (attempted) homage runs to Spy
Spy (magazine)
Spy was a satirical monthly magazine founded in 1986 by Kurt Andersen and E. Graydon Carter, who served as its first editors, and Thomas L. Phillips, Jr., its first publisher. After one folding and a rebirth, it ceased publication in 1998...
."
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
's Peter Carlson harshly reviewed the debut, listing some of the issue's contents and then adding, "Are you chuckling yet? Me neither." Later, Carlson quoted Crackeds Michael J. Nelson
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
, who'd contributed a short guide to the worst comedy movies ever. Wrote Nelson in his article, "Bad comedies are worse than anything else in the whole of human history." Added Carlson, "Reading Cracked, you understand exactly what he means."
The new Cracked had hoped to position itself as a publication that covers the world of comedy, as well as providing its own comedic content. The debut cover featured a Photoshop-manipulated image of actor Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
as the title character from the hit comedy film The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 American buddy comedy film about a middle-aged man's journey to finally have sex. The film was written and directed by Judd Apatow and co-written by its lead star, Steve Carell, though the film itself features a great deal of improvised dialogue...
.
However, after just three poor-selling issues, the failing magazine was canceled in February 2007. Citing distribution problems for its demise, editor Jay Pinkerton claimed that the remaining staff would be focusing its energies toward the Cracked website, as well as unspecified book projects. The company's website, Cracked.com, continues.
Rebirth as Cracked.com
The Cracked.com site was purchased by Demand MediaDemand Media
Demand Media, Inc. is an online media company and content farm that operates online brands such as eHow, and Cracked, and is known for creating online content through its Demand Media Studios division based on a combination of measured consumer demand and predicted ROI...
in June 2007 and has been edited by Jack O'Brien since its debut in 2006. David Wong was added as an associate editor later that year; his Pointless Waste Of Time site and its fora were absorbed into Cracked.com. Oren Katzeff became Cracked.com's General Manager in November, 2007. The Cracked site is best known for its humorous lists and compilations, for example, "The 9 Most Obnoxious Memes to Ever Escape the Web", or "The 6 Most Insane Game Shows From Around the World". The Cracked site also includes a blog, videos, forums, a writer's workshop, a weekly Image Manipulation contest, called photoplasty, and a daily "Craptions" contest where users add captions to odd photographs. The site includes columns by Sean "Seanbaby" Reiley
Seanbaby
Sean Patrick Reiley , better known as Seanbaby, is an American writer best known for his comedy website and frequent contributions to video game media outlets Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1UP.com. He is also a regular contributor to the humor website Cracked.com...
, Daniel O'Brien
Daniel O'Brien (comedian)
Daniel O'Brien , also known as "DOB", is a humorist, roller blade enthusiast, and senior writer for Cracked.com. Cracked magazine has existed in print since 1958 but was relaunched in its present form in 2006...
, Robert Brockway, Cody Johnston, Soren Bowie, Chris Bucholz, host and writer of the web series "Hate By Numbers" Gladstone, John Cheese, Christina Hsu, and head writer and performer of the sketch comedy group "Those Aren't Muskets!
Those Aren't Muskets!
Those Aren't Muskets! is a sketch comedy group based in Los Angeles, California. The group consists of Michael Swaim, Abe Epperson, Brian Kelly, Ryan Ricketts, Lara Pickle and Brett Rader, though various other actors also take part in the production of their sketches.Those Aren't Muskets! started...
" Michael Swaim. Cracked.com is frequently included on eBizMBA's calculated list of the Internet's "20 Most Popular Funny Sites. In 2010, the web series "Agents of Cracked" featuring O'Brien and Swaim won the Audience Choice Award at the second annual Streamys
Streamy Awards
The Streamy Awards, popularly known as the Streamys, are presented annually by the International Academy of Web Television to recognize excellence in the arts and science of web television production, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. The formal ceremony at which the awards are...
.
Cracked.com released its first book, You Might Be A Zombie And Other Bad News, in 2010. Published by the Penguin Group's Plume division, the book features twenty articles that had previously appeared on the website, and eighteen that are new to the book. It peaked at #9 on the New York Times' secondary "Paperback Advice & Misc." best sellers list in January 2011.