Comedy Central
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| Image:Comedy central logo.gif | |
| Type | Cable network (comedy) |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | National |
| Owner | MTV Networks (Viacom) |
| Key people | Tom Freston - President, MTV Networks |
| Launch | April 1, 1991 |
| Past Names | The Comedy Channel, HA! |
| Website | http://www.comedycentral.com |
Comedy Central is a cable television channel in the United States. As its name implies, the channel carries predominantly comedy programming, both original and syndicated.
Contents |
History
Comedy Central began on April Fool's Day 1991, after Home Box Office, owned by Time Warner, merged its Comedy Channel with MTV Networks' HA! comedy channel, owned by Viacom. Viacom bought Time Warner's half in April 2003 for $1.225 billion. When the merged channel first aired, it was known as Comedy TV or CTV for short, but copyright issues with the Canadian network CTV forced the name change to Comedy Central.
With the exception of cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000, the channel had a relatively small viewership until South Park premiered on the then-fledgling channel in 1997. As word of mouth spread, the number of people who requested that Comedy Central be added to their cable systems increased, and the channel became available in over 50% of American homes by 1998.
Image:Comedychannel.gif Much of Comedy Central's programming consists of 1980s through mid-1990s comedy movies and stand up comedians. Once a week, they show an unedited movie or comedy special. They call this the "Secret Stash." They advertise that it comes on Saturdays at 1 AM, though technically it airs Sunday at 1 AM, not Saturday. Comedy Central also hosts original programming, including Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, a satirical half-hour "fake news" show poking fun at modern-day media and politics.
In late 2004, it was reported that the top four rated shows on Comedy Central, in order, were South Park, Chappelle's Show, The Daily Show, and Reno 911!. Shortly thereafter, Dave Chappelle infamously backed out of the anticipated third season of Chappelle's Show; meanwhile, The Daily Show continued to climb in ratings. In October 2005, on the occasion of a new three-year contract for South Park and the launch of The Colbert Report, it was reported that South Park and The Daily Show were the two highest rated shows on Comedy Central. Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog was reported as saying that he hoped to continue to air new seasons of South Park forever; and that The Colbert Report fulfilled a long-held plan to extend the Daily Show brand.
Notable original programming
Current
- Chappelle's Show
- The Colbert Report
- Comedy Central Presents
- Crank Yankers
- The Daily Show
- Distraction (U.S. version)
- Drawn Together
- Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
- Mind of Mencia
- Reno 911!
- Stella
- The Showbiz Show with David Spade
- South Park
- Too Late with Adam Carolla
- Weekends at the D.L. (Hosted by D.L. Hughley)
Past
- 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time
- Almost Live!
- Battlebots
- Beat the Geeks
- Con
- Crossballs
- Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
- Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
- Exit 57
- The Graham Norton Effect
- The Higgins Boys and Gruber
- The Hollow Men
- Insomniac with Dave Attell
- Let's Bowl (season 2)
- The Man Show
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 (seasons 1–7)
- Night after Night with Alan Havey
- Politically Incorrect
- Premium Blend
- Short Attention Span Theater
- Shorties Watching Shorties
- Sports Monster
- Stand-Up Stand-Up
- Straight Plan for the Gay Man
- Strangers With Candy
- Strip Mall
- That's My Bush!
- Tough Crowd
- Trigger Happy TV
- TV Funhouse
- Upright Citizens Brigade
- Viva Variety
- Wanda Does It
- Win Ben Stein's Money
Notable non-original programming
- Absolutely Fabulous
- Banzai
- Beavis and Butt-head
- Blue Collar TV
- The Critic
- Dilbert
- Duckman
- Futurama — starting in 2008
- Kids in the Hall
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien (No longer syndicated)
- MADtv
- Monty Python's Flying Circus (No longer syndicated)
- Mr. Show with Bob and David
- Saturday Night Live (No longer syndicated)
- Scrubs — starting Fall 2006
- Sports Night
- The Tracey Ullman Show
- Trigger Happy TV (British version)
- Whose Line Is It Anyway? (British version)
