TORONTO – After a decade of laughs, The Comedy Network today embraces the future of comedy with a revolutionary change in how it delivers content to viewers, the channel announced this afternoon.
The channel has overhauled its web site to try and make www.thecomedynetwork.ca the go-to online destination for all things comedy in Canada. Starting today, visitors to the site now have access to a robust and constantly expanding catalogue of free, on-demand programming, including full episodes of their favourite shows, games and diversions to help them celebrate "10 years well wasted."
It’s the next evolution for The Comedy Network, which became Canada’s first and only comedy channel on Oct. 17, 1997.
Visitors to thecomedynetwork.ca will now be able to enjoy the following features:
* Hundreds of hours of on-demand, broadband programming, previously unavailable on the website, including 12 new TV series and 17 series created exclusively for the web.
* Full episodes of South Park, The Sarah Silverman Program, Keys to the VIP and others.
* 56 new games including the hilarious new time-waster, South Park: Asskicker!
* Two, new, web-only shows: Good Morning World and Lil’Bush.
* The full compliment of online programming currently available on Comedycentral.com, including episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, available on-demand the morning after their television broadcast.
"Our research shows that this new-fangled internet thingy is gaining in popularity," said Brent Haynes, vice-president, The Comedy Network, in a release. "After 10 years as the destination for comedy on television, thecomedynetwork.ca could just become the best non-porn web site ever."
To mark the web site re-launch, The Comedy Network’s newest original production, Good Morning World, will premiere online at thecomedynetwork.ca on Monday, November 12.
Starring Canadian comics Peter Oldring (Blue Collar TV, Young People F***ing) and Pat Kelly (Intern Academy) as the show’s overly-tanned and big-haired hosts, Good Morning World features the worst of morning show stereotypes. Peter and Pat deliver nonsensical news stories amidst missed cues and poorly cut interviews, all from their candy-coated, 80s-style studio. Good Morning World premieres online with 5-minute webisodes each weekday. Then, a week’s worth of webisodes will be re-capped on The Comedy Network, Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT, beginning November 16.
The popular animated series, Lil’ Bush, is available now at thecomedynetwork.ca. In this web-only series, American President George W. Bush is presented as an animated future president, along with his pals Lil’ Condi, Lil’ Rummy (voiced by Iggy Pop), Lil’ Cheney and Lil’ Jeb. Hiding out from Barbara and George Sr., these precocious pre-pubescents terrorize the White House and solve the world’s problems, all before bedtime. Whether he’s squaring off against schoolyard rivals like Lil’ Kim Jong Il, taking a field trip to Iraq, or becoming BFFs with Lil’ Tony Blair, Lil’ Bush and the gang are just playing politics.
Thecomedynetwork.ca will also feature 17 other series made exclusively for the web. These series are typically comprised of 5-10 episodes, with each episode ranging from 1-5 minutes in length. This includes original Comedy Network series, The Owl and the Man, starring Pat Thorton as both the owl and the man; and Tiny Hands, a live action show about the life and times of Dave Gordon, a man who has hands the size of a baby’s. Gordon is portrayed by series creator Jon Glaser, longtime writer/performer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
Also part of the re-launch, thecomedynetwork.ca will now feature the full compliment of programming currently available on www.comedycentral.com, the online home of
of Comedy Central.
This is the fulfillment of the broadband portion of a multi-platform content deal signed by CTV and Comedy Central earlier this year. The deal delivers the full Comedy Central library to CTV and The Comedy Network for broadcast, broadband, VOD, Mobile and more. The Comedy Network will roll-out the mobile portion of the deal at a later date.
As of noon today, Canadian visitors to Comedy Central’s web site will now be redirected to thecomedynetwork.ca where they will be able to enjoy all of the Comedy Central programming they love plus a whole whack of homegrown hilarity. Thecomedynetwork.ca will now host full episodes of Comedy Central favourites such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, The Sarah Silverman Program, South Park, Mind of Mencia and Drawn Together. Micro-sites for Comedy Central programming such as The Daily Show’s Indecision2008.com and The Colbert Report’s ColbertNation.com will also be available via thecomedynewtork.ca.
