Comedy Central Extra is a European pay television channel that launched in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 2003, then followed by the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 2011 where it was available until 31 December 2022. Between 2012 and 2020 it was also available in parts of Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

History

The channel launched as ''Paramount Comedy 2'' in the UK and Ireland on 1 September 2003 on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

, and followed soon after on 22 September 2003 on

Telewest Telewest (previously Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also ...

and 15 October 2003 on

NTL NTL may refer to: Companies * NTL Incorporated and NTL Internet, later Virgin Media, communications media company ** NTL Ireland, later Virgin Media Ireland * Arqiva, UK company formerly ''NTL Broadcast'' and ''National Transcommunications ...

. The channel was originally a so-called 'timeshift' service, offering programmes from Paramount Comedy at different times. It later started broadcasting different programming from Paramount, often British. On 17 February 2009, it was announced that both Paramount Comedy 1 and Paramount Comedy 2 would be re-branded as

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

and Comedy Central Extra on 6 April 2009 at 9pm. The name change coincided with the launch of a new programming line-up which included new episodes of ''

Two and a Half Men Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...

'', ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' and ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

''. On 1 November 2011, Comedy Central Extra launched a localised version in the Netherlands through cable operator

Ziggo Ziggo Holding B.V. ( ) is the largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing digital cable television, Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers. History The company is the result of the merger between ...

. Followed by

KPN Koninklijke KPN N.V. (Royal KPN N.V. in English), trading as KPN is a Dutch List of telephone operating companies, telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterda ...

on 15 January 2012 and

UPC Netherlands UPC Nederland () was the second largest cable operator in the Netherlands, providing cable television (digital and analogue), broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers. In early 2015, UPC Nederland sta ...

on 1 April 2012. Comedy Central Extra has been available in parts of Eastern Europe and between 1 August 2012 and 14 July 2020, in the Adriatic region:

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Some of the programming of Comedy Central Family moved to Comedy Central Extra after the closure of Comedy Central Family in the Netherlands on 31 May 2018. On 10 November 2022, it was announced that Comedy Central Extra would close in the Netherlands on 31 December 2022.

Timeshift service

Within the UK and Ireland, a timeshift service called Comedy Central Extra +1 (formerly Paramount Comedy 2 +1 from 2007 to 2009) was launched on Sky on 5 November 2007. The channel reduced its hours to 7pm – 6am on 4 August 2008, as

Nicktoonsters Nicktoonsters was a short-lived British and Irish television channel which launched on 18 August 2008. It was a spin-off channel of Nicktoons, targeted to a slightly younger audience. It broadcast twelve hours per day from 7am to 7pm daily, with ...

launched on 18 August 2008. On 2 October 2012, the channel began to run full-time again following the closure of Nicktoons Replay. Coinciding with the closures of

MTV OMG MTV OMG was a British pay television music channel operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. It launched on 1 March 2018, replacing free-to-air sister music channel Viva. The audience profile on Sky Media showed that the channel had a 60/4 ...

, MTV Rocks and

Club MTV ''Club MTV'' is a half hour television show modeled after ''American Bandstand'' that aired on MTV from August 31, 1987, to June 26, 1992. ''Club MTV'' was part of MTV's second generation of programming, as the channel was phasing out its orig ...

on 20 July 2020, the timeshift channel also closed as part of this change, along with the timeshifts for

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and MTV Music.

Programming

Comedy Central Extra currently airs a variety of American comedy in the daytime. After 10pm, the shows are a mix of American and British comedy. In January 2007, the channel switched from mainly American programmes to classic British programming with shows such as ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'', ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

'' and ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

'' being replaced by '' Bless This House'', ''

George and Mildred ''George and Mildred'' is a British sitcom produced by Thames Television and first aired between 1976 and 1979. It is a spin-off from ''Man About the House'', and starred Brian Murphy and Yootha Joyce as constantly-sparring married couple Geo ...

'' and ''

The Upper Hand ''The Upper Hand'' is a British television sitcom with dramatic elements broadcast by ITV from 1 May 1990 to 14 October 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom ''Who's the Boss?'' As in the former series, affluent single wo ...

''. In February 2007, the channel had a 'British Classics' season, with such hits as ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

'' and ''

Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal humour, surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam, w ...

''. At weekends, the channel used to screen classic British comedy such as ''

'', '' Bless This House'', ''

'', ''

Brush Strokes ''Brush Strokes'' is a British television sitcom broadcast on BBC1 from 1986 to 1991. Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in South London, it depicted the (mostly) amorous adventures of a wisecracking house painter, Jacko (Karl Howman). Ther ...

'', ''

'', '' Don't Wait Up'' and ''

Mr. Bean ''Mr. Bean'' is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions and starring Atkinson as the title character. The sitcom consists of 15 episodes that were co-written by Atkinson alongside ...

''.

References

External links

* UK * Ireland {{Sky Group Comedy Central Defunct television channels in the Netherlands Television channels and stations established in 2011 Television channels and stations established in 2003 Sky television channels

History

Timeshift service

Programming

See also

References

External links