The Comedy Channel (UK)
The Comedy Channel | |
---|---|
Launched | 3 November 1991 |
Closed | 30 September 1992 |
Owned by | British Sky Broadcasting |
Country | United Kingdom |
Replaced by | Sky Movies Gold |
The Comedy Channel was a short-lived United Kingdom subscription television channel during the early 1990s.
History
The channel launched in October 1991,[1] soon after the merger of Sky Television plc and British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB). The merged company, British Sky Broadcasting, brought together comedy programming from its existing libraries - Sky having an archive of US imports including Three's Company, I Love Lucy, Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies and Seinfeld, and BSB having obtained rights to a number of BBC sitcoms such as Dad's Army and The Goodies.
The Comedy Channel existed in the days before the basic "Sky Multichannels" subscription package, so was made available as a premium service to subscribers of either Sky Movies or The Movie Channel. Listings for the channel were carried in the Radio Times[2] and other listings magazines.
The channel eventually lost the broadcast rights to the BBC shows following the expiry of the contract between the BBC and former BSB. Eventually the channel closed on 30 September 1992, to be replaced by a "classic movies" channel, Sky Movies Gold.
Programmes
- Car 54, Where Are You?
- The Monkees
- The Addams Family
- The Beverly Hillbillies
- Green Acres
- McHale's Navy
- Hogan's Heroes
- The Munsters
- Here's Lucy
- I Love Lucy
- The Lucy Show
- The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
- Barney Miller
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour
- Three's Company
- The Bob Newhart Show
- The Honeymooners
- Wings
- F Troop
- Gilligan's Island
- The Love Boat
- The Abbott and Costello Show
- Laurel and Hardy
- Maniac Mansion
- Moonlighting
- Free Spirit
- In Living Color
- Laugh In
- Leave it to Beaver
- Petticoat Junction
- The Young Ones
- Dad's Army
- Porridge
- The Good Life
- The Goodies
- Till Death Us Do Part
- Oh, Brother!
- Steptoe and Son
- Are You Being Served?
- Allo Allo!
References
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=8t6CBMN-F-EC&lpg=PT243&dq=sky%20%22the%20comedy%20channel%22&pg=PT243#v=onepage&q=sky%20%22the%20comedy%20channel%22&f=false An Introductory History of British Broadcasting - Andrew Crisell
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=aZPMwwunx9EC&lpg=PA210&ots=R-3-kd2mab&dq=sky%20%22the%20comedy%20channel%22%20listings&pg=PA210#v=onepage&q=sky%20%22the%20comedy%20channel%22%20listings&f=false The Radio Times Story - Tony Currie