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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. 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: The Comedy Network. 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 mid-1990s, much of Comedy Central's and its predecessors programming consists of comedy movies and stand up comedians. With the exception of 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 on the channel in 1997. The first major cable show to carry the TV-MA rating for mature audiences, the show was too controversial to get taken away like Politically Incorrect. 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 and its mature content enouraged the network to try 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 Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Bad Santa, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. 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.

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 famously 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 * 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

Image:The Comedy Channel.jpg|The Comedy Channel Logo. Image:CTV Comedy Channel.jpg|A Promo For Mystery Science Theater 3000 On CTV: The Comedy Network. Image:Comedy Central.jpg|Original Comedy Central Logo. Image:Comedychannel.gif|Comedy Central Logo From 1992. Image:Comedy central logo.gif|Current Comedy Central Logo since 2000.

Notable original programming

Current

Past

Notable non-original programming

External links

Comedy | MTV Networks | American television networks | 1991 establishments

Comedy Central | Comedy Central | Comedy Central | קומדי סנטרל | Comedy Central | Comedy Central | Comedy Central

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Comedy Central".

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