Hey, do you guys remember HA!? Of course you don’t. HA! was one of the first ever all TV comedy networks launched by Viacom on April 1, 1990 which later merged with rival network The Comedy Channel from HBO (launched in November 15, 1989) to become a little channel you might have heard of called Comedy Central.
While The Comedy Channel’s shows usually involved the various hosts introducing clips culled from the acts of stand-up comedians as well as classic comedies of the 1970s and 1980s, such as Young Frankenstein and Kentucky Fried Movie, presented in a style similar to music videos, HA!’s schedule featured sitcom and sketch comedy reruns (many of which had been previously licensed for sister network Nick at Nite) as well as complete 90-minute reruns of Saturday Night Live from the 6th through 16th seasons. HA! boasted having the entire MTM library as well as some really funny and unique bumps provided by Fred Siebert.
I like Comedy Central and all, but I kind of wish that HA! had stuck around, or at least they could’ve kept using the name. The wraparounds were cool, plus I really like the name HA!. Check ’em out.
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