Comedy Central: Comedy Shows, Comedians, The Daiy Show, South Park And Dave Chappelle

The cable and satellite channel, Comedy Central, was born in 1991 from the merger of Time Warner's Comedy Channel and Viacom's Comedy Network. Viacom became sole owner of Comedy Central four years later. It was, perhaps, the wisest acquisition ever made by Viacom's board of directors. Between then and now, Comedy Central has gained millions of regular viewers.

The channel provides an outlet for up and coming as well as established comedians, providing them with audiences outside of the clubs. In addition, Comedy Central features some of the most popular comedy shows on all of cable television. The recent agreement to extend the "fake-news" program, "The Daily Show," through 2010 ensures the network will remain strong for many years to come.

Initially hosted by Craig Kilborn, "The Daily Show" made its debut in 1996, offering viewers a satirical slant on the national news. Jon Stewart took over as host in 1999, making the show his own, despite not changing the show's format. The program opens with a short monologue, followed by reports from Stewart's correspondents. A short interview segment is also featured, during which Stewart banters with guests ranging from authors and comedians to sitting world leaders. Though Stewart is often accused of liberal bias, this is largely thanks to moral grandstanding of conservative politicians who have had control of the government for the majority of the host's tenure. Actually, the show's staff takes aim at left-leaning leaders whenever provided the opportunity. While The Daily Show has been an incredible success for Comedy Central, it was the animated comedy series, South Park, that made the network a household name.

To call South Park an irreverent program is comparable to calling the Pope a practicing Catholic. The program first aired in 1997, and the show has been lampooning cultural mores and world figures ever since. The show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have consistently delivered sharp societal commentary through their pre-adolescent characters: Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny. The four boys from Colorado have been through war with Canada over fart-jokes, the banishment of one of their own over the refusal to cast his vote for a douche or a turd, and are presently in the show's current arc, facing down a terrorist threat on peoples' imaginations.

Equipped with The Daily Show and South Park, Comedy Central seemingly hit a comedic trifecta when Dave Chappelle agreed to a generous contract extension following his racy skit-comedy Chappelle's Show. Beginning in 2003, Dave Chappelle and his writing partner Neal Brennan took Comedy Central audiences by storm with candid, and sometimes obtuse, portrayals of racial stereotypes. Perhaps Chappelle's sharpest comedic tool on the show was his ability to blatantly illustrate societal ills, such as racism, and do so while making people laugh. The best example of this tactic is probably the depiction of a black, white supremacist on a faux news-magazine show. Unfortunately, for Comedy Central as well as viewers, Dave Chappelle backed out of his multi-million-dollar contract with Comedy Central shortly after production began on his show's third season.

Critics of Comedy Central claim that their comedy shows are morally inept and generally offensive. Admittedly, the programming can be quite crass in the pursuit of humor. The network has come under fire for an abundance of obscene language, often used by comedians and actors within their comedy shows. However, even without Dave Chappelle, Comedy Central continues to entertain those who do not posses such sensibilities. Indeed, the network will entertain them far into the foreseeable future. Comedy Central has more than filled the hole in their programming left by Chappelle with the popular Mind of Mencia, and the smash Daily Show spin-off, The Colbert Report. Anyone offended by Comedy Central should adhere to the disclaimer that screens before every episode of South Park, ...The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone." If viewers cannot take a joke while watching Comedy Central, they should change the channel.

Sources:
"Chappelle's Show." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Oct. 2007. 23 Oct. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappelle%27s_Show.

"Comedy Central." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Oct. 2007. 23 Oct. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_central.

"South Park." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 23 Sept. 2007. 23 Oct. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park.

"U.S. satirist Jon Stewart renews TV contract." Reuters.com. 18 Oct 2007. 23 Oct. 2007. http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUS N1843581320071019.