Comedy Central
Ownership | |
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Owner | Comedy Partners LLC (MTV Networks/Viacom) |
Comedy Central is a cable television and satellite television channel in the United States. As its name implies, the channel carries predominantly comedy programming, both original and syndicated. While once a small cable network that few watched, in recent years it has grown to be one of the most popular cable channels, earning the praise of many entertainment-based media along the way.
History
In November of 1989, Time Warner, owners of HBO, launched The Comedy Channel as the first cable channel devoted exclusively to comedy-based programming. Five months later, Viacom (who owned MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon) launched an edgier rival channel called HA!. After two years of limited distribution, the two channels merged into one, relaunching, fittingly, on April Fool's Day 1991 as CTV: Comedy Television. However, trademark issues with the Canadian network CTV forced the merged channel to rebrand itself Comedy Central on June 1, 1991 (coincidentally, the Canadian channel The Comedy Network is owned by Bell Globemedia, which also owns the Canadian CTV, of which both names were used on the American merged network). Viacom bought out Time Warner's half in April 2003 for $1.225 billion.
From the 1980s through the mid-1990s, much of Comedy Central's, and its predecessors', programming consisted of comedy movies and stand up comedians. With the exception of the cult favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000, the channel had a relatively small viewership. A notable early success was Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, which after showing promise on Comedy Central was quickly snapped up by the ABC network. The channel made a breakthrough when South Park premiered in 1997. The first major cable show to carry the TV-MA rating for mature audiences, the show was too controversial to get picked up by a mainstream network. 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.
The success of South Park with its mature content encouraged the network to continue to push the limits on adult language. Every Saturday at midnight, a movie or comedy special is shown unedited. This is called the Secret Stash. The movies and comedy specials shown on the Secret Stash are typically those with a large amount of adult language, especially four-letter words not typically allowed on television, that would be heavily edited otherwise. Movies shown on the Secret Stash to date include South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Bad Santa, Jackass: The Movie, Clerks. , Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and also its Friars Club roasts, although on November 25th, 2006 (actually the early morning of November 26th) the channel aired Fast Times At Ridgemont High with the profanity intact but all of the nudity was excised from the film. Comedy Central also hosts original programming, including The Daily Show (currently hosted by Jon Stewart) and Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report, satirical half-hour "fake news" shows poking fun at modern-day media and politics.
Since 2003, Comedy Central has created a tradition of "roasting" comedians in tradition of the New York Friars Club roasts. During these roasts friends of the roastee, along with comedians, take turns making fun of the roastee, the other roasters and occasionally audience members. So far, the roastees have included Denis Leary, Jeff Foxworthy, Pamela Anderson, William Shatner and Rob Reiner.
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.
On April 5, 2006, in a controversial two part episode arc titled Cartoon Wars Part I and Cartoon Wars Part II, South Park touched the issue of the recent Muslim protest over the Danish comic strips depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad. The image of Muhammad did not appear in the episode. On April 13, 2006, Comedy Central issued a statement [1] which appears to confirm that the network prohibited the show's creators from airing an image of Muhammad. The statement reads, "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision." An anonymous source close to the show indicated that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were informed of the policy several weeks earlier, and wrote this story arc in protest.
Previous logos
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The Comedy Channel Logo.
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A Promo For Mystery Science Theater 3000 On CTV: The Comedy Network.
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Original Comedy Central Logo.
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Comedy Central Logo From 1992.
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Current Comedy Central Logo since 2000.
Notable original programming
Current
Animated
- Drawn Together (2004-present)
- Freak Show (2006-present)
- South Park (1997-present)
Game Shows
- Distraction (U.S. version; 2005-present)
Mockumentaries
- Dog Bites Man (2006-present)
- Reno 911! (2003-present)
Sketch Comedy
- Mind of Mencia (2005-present)
Talk Shows/Variety
- The Daily Show (1996-present)
- The Colbert Report (2005-present)
- The Showbiz Show with David Spade (2005-present)
Standup Comedy
- Comedy Central Presents (1998-present)
- Friday Night Stand Up With Greg Giraldo (2006-present), replaces Weekends at the D.L.
- Premium Blend (1997-present)
Past (on reruns)
Animated
- Bob and Margaret (1998-2001) (co-produced with Nelvana)
- Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1995-1999)
- Kid Notorious (2003)
Clip Shows
- The Higgins Boys and Gruber (1999)
- Short Attention Span Theater (1989-1994)
- Shorties Watching Shorties (2004)
- Stand-Up Sitdown with Paul Provenza
Game Shows
- Battlebots (2000-2002 returning 2012 on UPN.)
- Beat the Geeks (2001-2002 returning 2013 on UPN.)
- Don't Forget Your Toothbrush (2000 returning 2009 on UPN.)
- Let's Bowl (season 2) (2001-2002 returning 2014 on UPN.)
- Win Ben Stein's Money (1997-2003)
- VS. (game show) (hosted by Greg Proops, 1999 returning 2008 on UPN.)
Reality Shows
- Comedians of Comedy (2005)
- Con (2005 returning 2008 on UPN)
- Crossballs (2004 returning 2009 on UPN)
- I'm with Busey (2003 returning 2010 on UPN)
- Straight Plan for the Gay Man (2004 returning 2007 on UPN)
- Wanda Does It (2004)
Sitcoms
- Frank Leaves For The Orient (1999)
- Strangers With Candy (1999-2000)
- Strip Mall (2000-2001 returning 2007 on UPN.)
- That's My Bush! (2001 returning 2007 on UPN.)
Sketch Comedy
- Chappelle's Show (2003-2006 returning 2007 on UPN.)
- Crank Yankers (2002-2005)
- Exit 57 (1995-1996)
- The Hollow Men (2005 returning 2009-on UPN.)
- Stella (2005)
- Trigger Happy TV (US version) (2003)
- TV Funhouse (2000-2001 returning 2013 on UPN.)
- Upright Citizens Brigade (1998-2000)
- The Vacant Lot (1994)
- Limboland (1994)
Stage prformances
Standup Comedy
- The A List (1992-93)
- Comic Justice (1993)
- Comic Remix
- Stand-Up Stand-Up (1992-1995)
- Premium Blend [?]
Talk Shows/Variety
- The Chris Wylde Show (2001)
- Comics Only hosted by Paul Provenza and featuring Fred Wolf
- The Graham Norton Effect (2004)
- Insomniac with Dave Attell (2001-2003)
- The Man Show (1999-2004)
- Night After Night with Allan Havey (1989-1992)
- Politically Incorrect (1993-2002) (later on ABC)
- Too Late with Adam Carolla (2005)
- Tough Crowd (2003-2004)
- Turn Ben Stein On (1999-2001)
- Viva Variety (1996-1998)
- Weekends at the D.L. (Hosted by D.L. Hughley) (2005)
Other
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 (seasons 1—7) (1988-1996)
- Sports Monster (1990-1991)
- Jump Cuts (2004)
- The Sweet Spot with Bill Murray
Original movies
- Porn 'n Chicken (2002)
- Windy City Heat (2003)
- The Hebrew Hammer
- Knee High P.I. (2003)
Motherload Videos
- Guacamole (2006)
- Odd Todd (2005)
- Golden Age (2006)
- Shadow Rock
- Jump Cuts
Notable non-original programming
- Absolutely Fabulous (2009 on UPN.)
- American Dad!
- Banzai (now on G4)
- Beavis and Butt-head (briefly around the release of the Beavis and Butt-head: The Mike Judge Collection, Volume 1 DVD collction)
- The Benny Hill Show (now on BBC America)
- Blue Collar TV
- Bob & Margaret (British version)
- Clerks: The Animated Series (no longer syndicated)
- The Critic
- Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
- Dilbert
- Duckman
- Family Guy
- Futurama (reruns currently air on Adult Swim; reruns and 13 new episodes will air in 2008 on The CW.)
- Kids in the Hall
- King of the Hill
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien (no longer syndicated)
- MADtv
- Monty Python's Flying Circus (now on BBC America and PBS)
- Mr. Show with Bob and David
- Saturday Night Live (now on E!)
- Scrubs
- The Simpsons
- Soap
- Sports Night
- The Tick (animated series) (Now On Jetix on Toon Disney)
- The Tracey Ullman Show
- Travel Sick
- Trigger Happy TV (British version)
- Whose Line Is It Anyway? (British version; now on BBC America)
- Wonder Showzen