Best movies & TV Shows like Fist of Fun

Chevy Chase makes his film debut in this riotous collection of live skits. Directed by Ken Shapiro and featuring Chase, Richard Belzer and others, The Groove Tube mocks TV Land and its trappings by spoofing kids' shows -- from a marijuana-smoking Koko the Clown who resides in Make Believe Land, to Safety Sam, the penis with a plan who gleefully informs the audience of the perils of casual sex.

A comedy comprised of short sexually suggestive skits.

Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof.

A tribute to British comedian Mel Smith, who died in July 2013, aged 60, featuring home video footage, rare archive material and many classic sketches. Far more than a comic actor, Smith also wrote and edited a host of celebrated TV comedies in the 1980s and 90s. He was a theatre and film director, and as a TV producer he was responsible for several innovative comedy series. Friends and colleagues, including Griff Rhys Jones, John Lloyd and Richard Curtis, talk about Smith's talents, both in front of- and behind the camera. The programme also traces his time at Oxford and, before that, Latymer Upper School, where Smith's talents were first spotted.

BBC Breakfast is a national British morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from MediaCityUK and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items. The programme is broadcast seven days a week, every week of the year, including weekends and public holidays. It is a department of the BBC North Group division. Alison Ford, previously the UK Editor for BBC Newsgathering, was the Editor of the programme, until her death in July 2013. Her appointment followed the departure of David Kermode to 5 News.

Give Us a Clue is a British televised game show version of charades which was broadcast on ITV from 1979 to 1992. The original host was Michael Aspel from 1979 to 1983, followed by Michael Parkinson from 1984 to 1992. The show featured two teams, one captained by Lionel Blair and the other by Una Stubbs. Later versions of the programme had Liza Goddard as captain of the women's team. A revived version was attempted by BBC One, which ran from 10 November to 19 December 1997 and commissioned 30 episodes, it was hosted by Tim Clark. Teams were captained by Christopher Blake and Julie Peasgood and the show tried to introduce a lateral thinking puzzle. Give us a Clue returned for a special Comic Relief episode on 5 March 2011 with Sara Cox, Christopher Biggins, Lionel Blair, Una Stubbs, Holly Walsh, Jenni Falconer and David Walliams.

Lucas and David Walliams, the stars of the smash-hit BBC comedy Little Britain, bring their unique blend of scripted comedy and characterization to America.

Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday is an American limited-run series broadcast on NBC. It is a political satire news show spin-off from Saturday Night Live, featuring that show's "Weekend Update" segment. It initially ran for three 30-minute episodes in October 2008, during the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election.

The State is a sketch-comedy television show combing bizarre characters and scenarios to present sketches that won the hearts of its target teenaged audience.

Stella was a short-lived television series that originally ran from June 28, 2005 to August 30, 2005 on the American television channel Comedy Central, created by and starring Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain, the three members of the sketch comedy troupe of the same name and former cast members of MTV's The State. Stella, as a comedy troupe, has existed since 1997. It has a cult following and plays to sold out shows across the USA. The show aired on Tuesdays at 10:30 PM, EST. In September, after 10 episodes, Stella's timeslot was filled by Mind of Mencia. On March 8, 2006, the following message was posted on Stella's official website: "The STELLA series was on Comedy Central last summer. The network has officially decided not to renew it for a second season," thus effectively cancelling the series. The first season DVD was released on September 12, 2006. Episodes have also been available on iTunes and Hulu and some episodes on Joost. Stella premiered in Australia on The Comedy Channel on May 3, 2007.

You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian television program that first aired locally in 1979 before airing internationally in 1981. It featured pre-teen and teenaged actors in a sketch comedy format. Each episode had a theme. The show was notable for launching the careers of many performers, including Alanis Morissette, and writer Bill Prady, who would write and produce shows like The Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls and Dharma and Greg. The show was produced by and aired on Ottawa's CTV station CJOH-TV. After production ended in 1990, the show continued in reruns on Nickelodeon through 1994, when it was replaced with the similar All That. The show is synonymous with Nick, and was at that time extremely popular, with the highest ratings overall on the channel. The show is also well known for introducing the network's iconic slime. The program is the subject of the 2004 feature-length documentary, You Can't Do That on Film, directed by David Dillehunt.

Twisted and original sketch show from the minds of Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, starring Simon Pegg, Kevin Eldon and Mark Heap.

Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by leading TV executives in Broadcast as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has run since 1 October 1975 with over five hundred episodes made, directed by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff and Vikram Jayanti. Arena's subjects are a roll-call of the world's best known cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, from singers Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse to academics Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, from writers Jean Genet and V S Naipaul to artists Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.

Jam is a postmodern British dark comedy series created, written and directed by Chris Morris, and was broadcast on Channel 4 during March and April 2000. It was based on the earlier BBC Radio 1 show, Blue Jam, and consisted of a series of unsettling sketches unfolding over an ambient soundtrack.

Mulberry was a fantasy situation comedy airing on BBC One in the early 1990s. The creative team behind the programme included writers John Esmonde and Bob Larbey. Mulberry ran for two series: the first series of six episodes ran from 24 February to 30 March 1992 and the second series of seven episodes ran from 8 April to 25 May 1993. A third series was planned, but was cancelled before production began. As a result, Mulberry never arrived at its logical conclusion.

Harry & Paul is a BAFTA Award-winning British sketch comedy show starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 13 April 2007. Prior to broadcast it was trailed as The Harry Enfield Show. The show reunites the pair, who had success with Harry Enfield's Television Programme in the 1990s. The second series of the programme began on BBC One on 5 September 2008. This was the last series from the comedy producer Geoffrey Perkins who died shortly before the programme's second series began. A third series was commissioned and began 28 September 2010 this time on BBC Two to where the show has been moved, because of falling ratings. The fourth series began broadcasting in October 2012.

Attention Scum! was a 2001 television comedy series created by Simon Munnery and Stewart Lee. It starred Munnery as his "The League Against Tedium" character and contained acerbic stand-up routines atop a transit van and sketches including mainstays such as "24 Hour News", operatic intermissions by Kombat Opera, and two characters engaged in a duel over their hats.

Heroes and Villains was a 2007-2008 BBC Television docudrama series looking at key moments in the lives and reputations of some of the greatest warriors of history. Each hour long episode featured a different historical figure, including Napoleon I of France, Attila the Hun, Spartacus, Hernán Cortés, Richard I of England, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. The statements at the beginning of each episode read: "This film depicts real events and real characters. It is based on the accounts of writers of the time. It has been written with the advice of modern historians." In the United States the show is aired on The Military Channel and was called "Warriors".

The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. It was second to Gunsmoke and third to The Ed Sullivan Show in the ratings during that time. Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as well. Although his television series is largely associated with CBS, where it appeared for more than fifteen years, it actually began and ended on NBC. During its run, the program received three Emmy Awards, for Skelton as best comedian and the program as best comedy show during its initial season, and an award for comedy writing in 1961.

Trevor's World of Sport began as a 2003 BBC television sitcom written and directed by Andy Hamilton and starring Neil Pearson as Trevor. Only one television series was made, and Hamilton felt mistreated by the BBC over the scheduling of the show. The first episode attracted an average of 3.4 million viewers, dropping to 2.9 million for the second and third episodes. The subsequent episodes were rescheduled from Friday evenings to Monday nights, despite the Radio Times issues having already been published listing the originally scheduled transmission dates. Hamilton went public with his displeasure over the show's scheduling and vowed never to work for BBC1 again, though he has since changed his mind. A radio version was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004, with subsequent series in 2005 and 2007. The series is set in the world of TS Sports – a sports public relations firm, run by Trevor Heslop and his partner, the lascivious Sammy Dobbs. Trevor is portrayed as an essentially decent, honest man in the corrupt money-obsessed industry of sporting celebrity, who is still deeply in love with his estranged wife Meryl. Andy Hamilton also appears in a minor role within the show, and several actors who have worked in his other comedy shows for television and radio appear. Neil Pearson was in Hamilton's Drop the Dead Donkey, as was Michael Fenton Stevens who plays TS Sports' only regular client, fading celebrity Ralph Renton.

Presented by Neil Oliver, A History of Scotland is a television series first broadcast in November 2008 on BBC One Scotland and later shown UK-wide on BBC Two during January 2009. The second series began on BBC One Scotland in early November 2009, with transmission at a later point on network BBC Two. Along with the series, BBC Scotland planned a range of radio programmes, a new website, an interactive game, and concerts. The Open University, in collaboration with the BBC, also created a series of audio walks around historic locations in Scotland, with narration from Oliver. In Australia, series one aired on SBS One Sundays at 7:30pm from 6 December 2009 to 3 January 2010. Series two commenced on 24 October 2010 running until 21 November in the same Sunday night Lost Worlds strand. It has since been repeated.

Burnistoun is a comedy sketch show broadcast by BBC Scotland, written by the Scottish comedians Iain Connell and Robert Florence. The show is produced by The Comedy Unit. Burnistoun is set in a fictional Scottish town/city in the greater Glasgow area. Characters include Kelly McGlade; Burnistoun's answer to Beyoncé; Paul and Walter, the disturbingly odd brothers that run an ice cream van; Jolly Boy John, who tells the things that make him "For Real" to the accompaniment of a happy hardcore soundtrack ; McGregor and Toshan, best friends Scott and Peter and the Burnistoun Butcher, a serial killer who is unhappy with the way he is being portrayed by the media. Connell and Florence have previously written sitcoms Empty and Legit and created characters for Chewin' the Fat and The Karen Dunbar Show. The third series started filming in January 2012 and began its run in August 2012. It has been confirmed on the show's Facebook page that series 3 will be its last.

Lee Nelson's Well Good Show is a British comedy sketch show, written and presented by Simon Brodkin, and produced by Avalon Television for BBC Three. It features Brodkin hosting a studio based show as his comedy character Lee Nelson, a happy-go-lucky chav, and also features television sketches of Brodkin's other comedy characters.

Dave's One Night Stand is a British comedy programme made by Amigo Television and Phil McIntyre Television for Dave. The series featured stand-up comedians performing in their hometowns. It was first broadcast on 10 October 2010 and is currently airing its fourth series. As of 12 December 2012, 20 episodes have aired over four series.

Nick Swardson's Pretend Time was a TV sketch comedy show created by and starring comedian and actor Nick Swardson. The show premiered on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, at 10 p.m. EST on Comedy Central and ran for two seasons, with the final first-run episode airing November 16, 2011.

John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show is a stand-up comedy television series that currently airs on Comedy Central in the United States. Hosted by British comedian John Oliver, who is best known for his work on The Daily Show, the show features new material by both up-and-coming and established comedians. Each episode features four performers, including the headliner but not Oliver.

Gigglebiz is a children's television programme made in the UK. There have been two series, first broadcast on CBeebies, the BBC's younger children's channel, in 2009 and 2011. The programme's star and creator is Justin Fletcher, who plays the chief characters in all the comic sketches. Some sketches are filmed in the studio; one regular external location is Portmeirion, used for the town of Wiggyville where the Captain Adorable sketches are set. The sketches are interspersed with 'Giggle Box' - film segments of children viewers telling Justin jokes. The first series was broadcast in September 2009 and comprised 25 15-minute episodes. The second series of 15 episodes was shown in January 2011. The new series saw some characters disappear to make way for new ones.

In Search of the Dark Ages was a television series, written and presented by Michael Wood, and first shown in 1979. It is also the title of a book written by Wood to support the series, which was published in 1981. The television series consisted of a series of separate programmes, hence the collective title is often written as In Search of ... The Dark Ages. It began with In Search of Offa, recorded in 1978 by BBC Manchester, and shown on 2 January 1979. Subsequent programmes in the first series were on Boadicea, King Arthur and Alfred the Great, shown with a re-run of Offa over successive nights in March 1980. The first series was such a success when shown in an off-peak slot on BBC Two that a second series was broadcast in 1981, with subjects including William the Conqueror, Ethelred the Unready, Athelstan and Eric Bloodaxe.

Based on Scott Aukerman’s popular podcast of the same name, COMEDY BANG! BANG! cleverly riffs on the well-known format of the late night talk show, infusing celebrity appearances and comedy sketches with a tinge of the surreal. In each episode, Aukerman engages his guests with unfiltered and improvisational lines of questioning, punctuated by banter and beats provided by bandleader, one-man musical mastermind Reggie Watts, to reinvent the traditional celebrity interview. Packed with character cameos, filmic shorts, sketches and games set amongst an off-beat world, COMEDY BANG! BANG! delivers thirty minutes of absurd laugh-loaded fun featuring some of the biggest names in comedy.

The Sarah Millican Television Programme is a British comedic television show about television. It is shown on BBC Two and is hosted by comedian Sarah Millican. It began on 8 March 2012 and is scheduled to run for six episodes. A second series was broadcast from Christmas Day 2012 and throughout January, and a third series has been commissioned. An unbroadcast pilot episode was filmed on 25 May 2011. A series was then commissioned and filmed at the MediaCityUK complex in Salford in late-2011. The series is a co-production by So Television and Millican's own company, Chopsy Productions.

Orson Welles' Sketch Book is a series of six short television commentaries by Orson Welles for the BBC in 1955. Written and directed by Welles, the 15-minute episodes present the filmmaker's commentaries on a range of subjects. Welles frequently draws from his own experiences and often illustrates the episodes with his own sketches.

It's Kevin is a British television comedy show, created by and starring the actor and comedian Kevin Eldon. It was screened on BBC Two between March and April 2013.

Spotlight is the name given to a BBC Northern Ireland weekly current affairs programme. The programme is aired on BBC1 Northern Ireland at 10.35pm on Tuesday evenings, with a repeat on BBC2. It is available to UK viewers outside of Northern Ireland on BBC iPlayer for a week after the programme. The format usually consists of a half hour report presented on a rotating basis by a small number of reporter/presenters. At present these are Brian Hollywood, Stephen Walker, Darragh MacIntyre and Bobby Friedman. Occasionally the programme consists of a studio format with various reports and panel discussions. Spotlight is well known for its hard-hitting investigations and recently won an Royal Television Society award for Mandy McAuley's dog-fighting investigation. It has launched the careers of a number of high-profile broadcasters, including Jeremy Paxman and Gavin Esler.

Muffin the Mule is a puppet character in British television programmes for children. The original programmes featuring the character were presented by Annette Mills, sister of John Mills, and broadcast live by the BBC from their studios at Alexandra Palace from 1946 to 1952. Mills and the puppet continued with programmes that were broadcast until 1955, when Mills died. The series then transferred to ITV in 1956 and 1957. A modern animated version of Muffin appeared on the BBC in 2005. The original mule puppet was created in 1933 by Punch and Judy puppet maker Fred Tickner for husband-and-wife puppeteers Jan Bussell and Ann Hogarth to form part of a puppet circus for the Hogarth Puppet Theatre. The act was soon put away, and the puppet was not taken out again until 1946, when Bussell and Hogarth were working with presenter Annette Mills. Shes named the puppet mule "Muffin", and it first appeared on television in an edition of For The Children broadcast on 20 October 1946.

Monty Halls' Great Escape is a British television programme broadcast on BBC Two from 1 March 2009. Marine biologist Monty Halls escapes from the city to be a crofter in Applecross in the west of Scotland. In five episodes, Halls converts a down-trodden cattle shed - "beachcomber cottage" - into a small self-supporting farm, whilst documenting the local wildlife and society. A second series, Monty Halls' Great Hebridean Escape began airing on 21 April 2010. In Australia, it aired as Monty Halls' Island Escape starting on 28 December 2012. "Monty Halls' Great Irish Escape" was first aired on 11 August 2011.