Before the Fringe

Multi-talented Kate Robbins and her comedian brother Ted appeared in their own Saturday night tea-time show from Granada TV. Here Kate impersonates, amongst others, Victoria Wood, Cilla Black, Tina Turner, Carmen Miranda and Fergie, Duchess Of York!

A zany comedy show with Matt Lucas and David Walliams, featuring characters from all over Little Britain.

A groundbreaking, splendidly silly, surreal sketch comedy series written by and starring The Goodies' Tim Brooke-Taylor, Monty Python's Graham Chapman and John Cleese, and comedy legend Marty Feldman.

A British comedy television series with turns of phrase and elaborate wordplay, written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics, combining news parody, sketch comedy and satirical editorials. Originally featuring Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer, Greg Thomey and Mary Walsh, the series featured satirical sketches of the weekly news and Canadian political events. The show's format is a mock news program, intercut with comic sketches, parody commercials and humorous interviews of public figures. The on-location segments are frequently filmed with slanted camera angles.

The Armando Iannucci Shows is a series of eight programmes focused on specific themes relating to human nature and existentialism, around which Iannucci would weave a series of surreal sketches and monologues. Recurring themes in the episodes are the superficiality of modern culture, our problems communicating with each other, the mundane nature of working life and feelings of personal inadequacy and social awkwardness. Several characters also make repeat appearances in the shows, including the East End thug, who solves every problem with threats of violence; Hugh, an old man who delivers surreal monologues about what things were like in the old days; and Iannucci's barber, who is full of nonsensical anecdotes.

An offbeat revue of quickfire sketches in the 'Cribbins style', this fast-moving mixture of comedy and song (including chart hits Hole in the Ground, Gossip Calypso, and Right Said Fred) featured a gallery of outrageous characters in a myriad of seemingly inexhaustible situations! Bank clerk, burglar, tramp, librarian, cowboy and even spaceman – Cribbins is all these, and many more!

Frozen in ice since 1902 by his nemesis, Edwardian adventurer Adam Adamant is revived in 1966, where he must adapt to the 'Swinging Sixties' with the help of his new companion, Georgina Jones.

Dolly is a television variety show that ran on ABC during the 1987-1988 season featuring Dolly Parton.

Absolutely is a popular UK television comedy sketch show shown on Channel 4 between 1989 and 1993. The cast and crew were mainly Scottish; the principal writers and performers were Moray Hunter, Jack Docherty, Peter Baikie, Gordon Kennedy, Morwenna Banks and John Sparkes. It was directed by Phil Chilvers, Alan Nixon, Alistair Clark, and Graham C Williams. The show's producers were Alan Nixon, and David Tyler

An anthology comedy series featuring a line up of different celebrity guest stars appearing in anywhere from one, two, three, and four short stories or vignettes within an hour about versions of love and romance.

Nick Cannon and an A-list celebrity lead a team of improv comedians as they compete against each other.

A former professional baseball player, along with his preteen daughter, moves into New York advertising executive Angela Bower's house to be both a housekeeper and a father figure to her young son. Tony 's laid-back personality contrasts with Angela's type-A behavior.

An American sketch comedy television program hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin.

A narrative series set in a limitless magical reality full of dynamic, hilarious characters and celebrity guests presenting sketches performed by a core cast of black women.

Created by stars Keenen Ivory Wayans and Damon Wayans, this Emmy-winning sketch series offers cutting-edge satire and features a host of talent, including Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier and Tommy Davidson.

A British comedy television series with turns of phrase and elaborate wordplay, written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

The New York-based sketch comedy ensemble takes it's act to the small screen in this outrageous cable series. Led by Trevor Moore and Zach Cregger, the troupe takes on every stereotype, foible, and irony found in everyday life, no matter how un-PC the results.

The big-collared comic gives his own spin on TV clips from recent programmes, plus contributions from a set of regular characters

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson.