The Comedy Channel (United States)

The Comedy Channel
The Comedy Channel logo from 1989-1991 before merging with HA! to become its current form, Comedy Central.
Launched	November 15, 1989
Closed	April 1, 1991
Owned by	Home Box Office, Inc. (Time Warner)
Slogan	Something Funny's Going on Here; A World of Comedy Under One Roof

The Comedy Channel was a television comedy cable channel owned by HBO, a division of Time Warner. It premiered on November 15, 1989 at 6 PM ET. In 1991, HBO agreed to merge the channel with Viacom's competing channel, Ha!. The new network, CTV: The Comedy Network, premiered on April 1, 1991, but rebranded to Comedy Central on June 1, 1991.

Most of the Comedy Channel's original programs were produced in the HBO Downtown Studios on East 23rd Street in Manhattan.

The format prior to the merger included several original and unconventional programs such as Onion World with Rich Hall and Mystery Science Theater 3000, as well as laid-back variety/talk shows hosted by stand-up comedians, including The Sweet Life with Rachel Sweet; Tommy Sledge, Private Eye; Alan King: Inside the Comedy Mind; Night After Night with Allan Havey; Sports Monster; and The Higgins Boys and Gruber, the latter of whom performed sketches in between showings of vintage television serials like Supercar, Clutch Cargo, and Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp. Commercial breaks often included "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey," which would later be featured on Saturday Night Live.