Comedy Central is a British
pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
channel that carries comedy programming, both original and
syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original
US version of the channel. The channel started as The Paramount Channel in 1995, before rebranding as the Paramount Comedy Channel in 1997 and again as Paramount Comedy 1 in 2004 before finally becoming Comedy Central on 6 April 2009.
History
1995–1997
The channel was launched as The Paramount Channel on 1 November 1995. The original schedule was a mixture of comedy and drama, including such eclectic offerings as ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...
'', several Japanese anime productions acquired from
Manga Entertainment
Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...
, and authentic
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
archive programming such as ''
The Magician'', as well as
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
's ''
Ren & Stimpy
''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Decemb ...
'', which was shown on Paramount rather than Nickelodeon due to its rather adult nature at times. It originally aired every evening after
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
's closing at 7:00pm until around 4:00am, with a testcard featuring a chicken crossing the road and holding up traffic airing during downtime (a segment deemed as "Chicken Tonite") until Nickelodeon started up at 6:00am.
1997–2009
In February 1997, the Paramount Channel became the Paramount Comedy Channel, a channel dedicated solely to comedy.
With expansion of
Sky Digital on 4 February 2001, the channel no longer shared air time with Nickelodeon and started broadcasting with a daytime schedule beginning broadcasts at 9:00am. On 1 July 2002, the channel renamed itself Paramount Comedy. By 2005, with the timeshift channel Paramount Comedy 2 having gone on the air in 2003, the primary channel was renamed as Paramount Comedy 1.
2009–present
On 17 February 2009, it was confirmed that Paramount Comedy 1 would become Comedy Central from 6 April 2009 in the UK and Ireland. Since
season 13, Comedy Central has aired new episodes of ''
South Park'' two days after they aired in the US (i.e., the episodes air on
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
US on Wednesdays, and air on the UK counterpart on Fridays.) At 9:00pm on 6 April, Paramount Comedy 1 was finally relaunched as Comedy Central, with the last programme on PC1 being an episode of ''
Scrubs'' and the first programme on Comedy Central being a new episode of ''
Two and a Half Men
''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...
''. Comedy Central idents from this era were filmed in locations such as
The Gherkin
30 St Mary Axe (previously known as the Swiss Re Building and informally known as the Gherkin) is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. W ...
,
Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
and
Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during whic ...
.
Subsidiary channels
After no longer having to timeshare with Nickelodeon, the station increased its broadcasting hours, and was joined by Paramount Comedy 2 (later rebranded as
Comedy Central Extra
Comedy Central Extra is a European pay television channel that launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2003. Followed by the Netherlands in 2011 were it was visible till 31 december 2022. Between 2012 and 2020 it was also available in par ...
) on 1 September 2003.
A one-hour timeshift, Paramount Comedy 1 +1 (now Comedy Central +1) was launched on
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
channel 127 on 30 August 2005 and
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
channel 133 shortly after.
A
high-definition version, Comedy Central HD, launched on 9 August 2010 on Sky channel 222. On 1 September 2010 the channel also became available on Virgin Media channel 133. Comedy Central HD broadcasts high-definition programming including ''Two and a Half Men'', ''
30 Rock'', and ''South Park'', in addition to new UK commissions. Virgin Media will also make some popular Comedy Central HD programmes available on demand.
A second timeshift, Paramount Comedy 2 +1 (now Comedy Central Extra +1) was launched on Sky channel 159, on 5 November 2007.
Nicktoons Replay did timeshare with the channel between 6:00am and 7:00pm. However, that channel closed on 2 October 2012 and was replaced with a one-hour timeshift version of
Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
, allowing Comedy Central Extra +1 to broadcast 24 hours a day. Comedy Central Extra +1 closed on 20 July 2020 along with the timeshifts for
MTV and
MTV Music, as well as
MTV OMG,
Club MTV and
MTV Rocks.
Availability in Ireland
Comedy Central has an alternative Irish feed of the same channel available on
Sky Ireland
Sky Ireland Limited is a subsidiary of Comcast-owned Sky and supplies television, internet and telephony services in Ireland.
Its corporate headquarters are in Dublin which were opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny on 18 January 2013.
Sky Ireland ...
,
Virgin Media Ireland
Virgin Media Ireland is Liberty Global's telecommunications operation in Ireland. It is the largest digital cable television provider within the country. As of 31 December 2014, the company offers broadband internet, digital television and d ...
,
Vodafone TV, and
Eir
In Norse mythology, Eir (Old Norse: , "protection, help, mercy"Orchard (1997:36).) is a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. Eir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; th ...
. The feed launched in May 2006, advertising on this channel is overseen by Sky Media Ireland. The domain name comedycentral.ie also redirects to comedycentral.co.uk. An additional Irish commercial feed of the time-shift service, Comedy Central +1, was also launched shortly after the parent channel's re-branding on 6 April 2009. On 31 July 2019, Comedy Central Ireland +1 ceased broadcasting.
From 31 March 2019, Comedy Central and Comedy Central Extra's Irish broadcasting licence is registered within the Czech Republic.
Programming
Current programming
Original programming
In October 2011, ''
Threesome
In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...
'', a narrative comedy series and Comedy Central's first original scripted comedy began. The series starred
Emun Elliott
Emun Elliott is a Scottish actor, known for portraying Dr. Christian King in ''Paradox'', Richie in ''Threesome'', John Moray in '' The Paradise'', and Kenny in '' Guilt''.
Background
Elliott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland as Emun John Moham ...
, Irish actor
Amy Huberman
Amy Huberman (born 20 March 1979) is an Irish actress and writer, which is known for her role as Daisy in the RTÉ drama series '' The Clinic''. In 2018, she began writing and starring in the comedy series ''Finding Joy''.
Early life
Huberman g ...
and
Stephen Wight, was written by
Tom MacRae, and produced by
Big Talk Productions
Big Talk Productions Limited is a British film and television production company founded by Nira Park in 1994. Big Talk was acquired by ITV Studios in 2013.
Film
Filmography
Released
Upcoming
Critical reception
Commercial performance
...
.
In May 2012, it was announced that Comedy Central was to make a major push into original comedy content, with more than 20 new projects at various stages of development, and 10 scripts already ordered. Programming executive Sarah Farrell told trade magazine ''
Broadcast'', "This time next year, we will be doing as many of those projects as we possibly can. We are looking for things that are big, broad and accessible, with the laugh-out-loud factor that comes from big jokes and set pieces." She also noted that they are now "fully committed to the plans."
The process was being micro-managed by
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
bosses in New York, but with the announcement of such projects and ''Threesome''s success, UK executives have been given greater control. Farrell also indicated that if the already commissioned second series of ''Threesome'' is popular, then "a third run could be up to 22 episodes in length."
, details about most of the new projects are not publicly available, though the magazine ''Broadcast'' reported minor details of a proposed single-camera sitcom about a graduate who moves back in with his parents. A pilot episode of ''
Big Bad World'', which is written by Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf is reportedly being produced by
Objective Productions
Objective Media Group (OMG), previously known as Objective Productions, is a media company that produces shows in comedy, comedy drama, entertainment, factual entertainment and Magic. It has produced shows including '' The Cube'', ''Breaking Ma ...
and by the team behind ''
Peep Show
A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot.
Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the c ...
''.
Tristram Shapeero
Tristram Shapeero is a British television director. He has directed many comedy series, initially in the United Kingdom and later in the United States.
Early life
Shapeero was born in Somerset and spent his childhood in Bath, where he attended ...
, who had been working in the US and whose credits include ''
Happy Endings'', ''
Green Wing
''Green Wing'' is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch show '' Smack the Pony'' – Channel 4 commissioner Caroline Leddy and producer Victoria Pile – and stars Mark H ...
'', ''
Community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
'', and ''
I'm Alan Partridge'', will direct, with Andrew Newman and Ben Farrell executive producing. Five further scripts are already complete, should the pilot be seen in a positive light by Comedy Central bosses.
Comedy Central's move into original productions did not come without problems, as it was announced in April 2012 that Pete Thornton, the channel's comedy commissioner, had resigned to return to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
2013''. Comedy Central is one of several UK digital channels to work on increasing their original comedy output, with
also producing more of their own content.
, there has been an announcement to open a production studio to make programming for Comedy Central and other channels.
It was announced in 2016 that Comedy Central and
Ben Phillips and his friends. The new series, titled ''
'', the channel announced there would be a 22-minute pilot episode due to be released in 2017 on Comedy Central. A full series would happen if the show is well received.
In 2021, Comedy Central UK ordered three new shows for the network including quiz show ''Fact Off'' and panel show ''The Complaints Department''. The third new show was an all female comedy panel/satire show called ''Yesterday, Today and The Day Before'' which was due to be hosted each week by comedians Suzi Ruffell, Maisie Adam and
, until Duker quit after the first episode in protest over cuts to her monologue about conflict between Israel and Palestine. These shows join other unscripted/panel show formats on the network
'' (previously shown on Channel 5) and ''Guessable?'', hosted by Sara Pascoe.
On 29 September 2021, ''Fact Off'' debuted on the channel at 9pm, under the new name of ''Rob Beckett's Undeniable'', with Joe Swash, Kae Kurd, Angela Barnes and Ivo Graham, the first guests of the new series.
The channel frequently airs weekend marathons which consist of one or two shows being on-air for the majority of the day. They often contain loose themes and are on occasion sponsored, such as the "He Ain't Funny, He's My Brother" marathon which ran on the night of 24 November 2007. This night consisted of episodes from shows with a strong brother relationship theme and was sponsored by the film ''
'' to promote its nationwide release.
''.
The channel has begun showing movies on a regular basis, typically from 10:00 pm onwards.
In 2016, Comedy Central introduced a new service called ''Thursday Night Movies'', in which a movie is broadcast on Comedy Central every Thursday, usually at about 9:00pm.
. The shows on Comedy Central HD air in 16:9, though those in 4:3 are
ed to fit the frame of widescreen. This practice was extended to the standard-definition channels when they began broadcasting in widescreen.