Comedy Central (Indian TV Channel)

Comedy Central is an Indian pay television channel owned by Viacom18. The channel is geared for mature audiences and carries comedy programming in the form of both original and syndicated series, as well as stand-up comedy specials.

Despite the name, it mainly airs series from Warner Bros. Television while Comedy Central originals are rarely aired. It also continues to use the 2011 logo of Comedy Central.

Programming

Current programming

* ''Friends''
* '' The Daily Show with Trevor Noah''
* '' The Graham Norton Show''
* '' The Office (US)''
* ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''
* '' One Day at a Time''

Former programming

* '''Allo 'Allo!''
* ''30 Rock''
* ''3rd Rock from the Sun''
* '' About a Boy''
* ''Alex, Inc.''
* '' America's Funniest Home Videos''
* '' Anger Management''
* '' Angie Tribeca''
* ''A.P. Bio''
* '' Archer''
* '' Are We There Yet?''
* '' Arrested Development''
* '' Awkward''
* '' Betty White's Off Their Rockers''
* '' The Big Bang Theory''
* '' Billy on the Street''
* '' Blunt Talk''
* ''Bob Hearts Abishola''
*'' Call Me Fitz''
* ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''
* '' The Carmichael Show''
* '' Carpoolers''
* '' Challenge Accepted''
* ''Citizen Khan''
* '' Community''
* '' Complete Savages''
* '' Coupling''
* '' Crowded''
*'' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''
* '' Deadbeat''
* '' The Detour''
* '' Dharma & Greg''
* '' Doogie Howser, M.D.''
* '' Dr. Ken''
* '' Episodes''
* '' Everybody Hates Chris''
* '' Everybody Loves Raymond''
* '' The Exes''
* '' Fawlty Towers''
* '' Go On''
* '' The Good Place''
* '' Goodness Gracious Me''
* '' The Great Indoors''
* '' Great News''
* '' Greek''
* '' Growing Up Fisher
* '' Guys with Kids''
* '' Happily Divorced''
* '' Hope & Faith''
* '' Hot in Cleveland''
* '' House of Lies''
* '' How Not to Live Your Life''
* '' I Feel Bad''
* '' I Survived a Japanese Game Show''
* '' Impastor''
*''Impractical Jokers''
* '' The Inbetweeners''
* ''The IT Crowd''
* '' The Jim Gaffigan Show''
* '' Just for Laughs''
* '' Kevin Can Wait''
* '' Key & Peele''
* '' The King of Queens''
* ''The Kumars at No. 42''
* ''Little Britain''
* '' Live at Gotham''
* '' M*A*S*H''
* ''Malcolm in the Middle''
* '' Man with a Plan''
* ''Marlon''
* '' Mike & Molly''
* '' Mind Your Language''
* '' The Mindy Project''
* '' Mulaney''
* ''Murphy Brown''
* '' My Boys''
* ''Nathan For You''
* '' No Tomorrow''
* '' Odd Mom Out''
* '' The Office''
* '' Outsourced''
* '' Perfect Couples''
* '' Playing House''
* ''Pranked''
* ''Psych''
* '' Punk'd''
* '' Reno 911!''
* '' Ridiculousness''
* '' Rules of Engagement''
* '' Samantha Who?''
* '' Saturday Night Live''
* '' Schitt's Creek''
* ''Scrubs''
* '' Sean Saves the World''
* '' Seed''
* ''Seinfeld''
* '' Sirens''
* ''South Park''
* '' Suburgatory''
* '' Suits''
* ''Superior Donuts''
* '' Superstore''
* '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''
* '' The Middle''
* '' Telenovela''
* '' That '70s Show''
* '' Threesome''
* '' Ugly Betty''
* '' Undateable''
* '' Up All Night''
* '' Web Therapy''
* '' Whitney''
* '' Will & Grace''
* ''Wipeout''
* '' The Wonder Years''
* '' ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''''
* '' World's Craziest Fools''
* '' Wrecked''
* ''Younger''
* '' Young Sheldon''
* '' Your Family or Mine''
* ''Mom''
* '' Young Sheldon''
* '' Future Man''
* '' The Big Bang Theory''
* ''Detroiters''
* '' Takeshi's Castle''
* '' Penn & Teller: Fool Us''

History

Comedy Central launched in India on 23 January 2012, the product of a joint venture between Viacom and TV18. To promote the then new channel and nudge viewers its way the group organised a live event featuring British comedian Russell Brand who performed in a three-city tour of New Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai, the biggest markets for English programming in India.

The channel was rebranded in 2015 with a new look, exclusively made for the Indian version of Comedy Central and a new slogan.

Broadcast ban

Comedy Central was prohibited from broadcasting in India for 10 days, from 25 May until 4 June 2012, after an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting found that two of its shows that aired in 2012, carried "obscene dialogues and vulgar words" that "offend good taste", violating several provisions of the ''Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994''. The provisions of the law include "no programme should be carried in the cable service which offends against good taste or decency; no programme should be carried which contains anything obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggestive innuendos and half truths". It also states that "no programme should be carried which denigrates women through the depiction in any manner of the figure of woman, her form or body or any part thereof in such a way as to have the effect of being indecent or derogatory to women or is likely to injure the public morality". The incidents in question involved an episode of ''Stand Up Club'' where an unnamed stand-up performed an act with "obscene dialogues and vulgar words derogatory to women" aired on 26 May 2012, and an episode of the French hidden camera prank show ''PopCorn TV'' aired on 4 July 2012, where one of the crew members was shown standing opposite a wall, in a shop holding a pair of fake legs against his thighs in his hands and making suggestive movements similar to having sex. Comedy Central apologised for the broadcast, blaming it on an "unintentional genuine error".

The network appealed the ban in the Delhi High Court, but a single judge bench upheld the ban stating that the penalty prohibiting the broadcast of the channel for 10 days could not be considered as "''excessive, harsh or unreasonable''".

Viewers were presented with a simple black screen for the duration of the ban. The ministry's decision to directly issue a show-cause notice and, later, order a blackout raised serious concern in the Indian broadcasting industry. Most reactions on social media saw the government's move as "extreme and draconian". Critics felt that the government had used the vague framing of the Constitution to censor Internet material, threatening India's democratic traditions.

See also

* Comedy Central

References

External links

Viacom18
*

{{Network 18

Comedy Central
Television channels and stations established in 2012
Television stations in Mumbai
Comedy television channels in India
English-language television stations in India
Viacom 18
2012 establishments in Maharashtra