British comedy less cerebral humour of Benny Hill and his ITV sketch series "The Benny Hill Show". Other notable sketch-based series include "Morecambe and Wise", "The Two Ronnies", "The Goodies", "French and Saunders", "Absolutely", "Little Britain", "The Catherine Tate Show" and "The Fast Show". In the 1980s, alternative comedy was spearheaded by Ben Elton and The Comic Strip group which included Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, and French and Saunders. "Vic Reeves Big Night Out" influenced the style of a whole new generation of comics in the 1990s until the present day. The 1990s and 2000s (decade) have also seen the rise of
The Comedy Company and had a cult following particularly on Australian youth. The word "bogan" was popularised by "The Comedy Company" character Kylie Mole, portrayed by Mary-Anne Fahey. This program should not be confused with a short-lived American sketch-comedy/variety series of the same name that ran 10 years earlier. In 1988, the Media Arts company was asked by Network Ten Australia to produce a one-hour-a-week comedy program. Within a few months, "The Comedy Company" became the most successful comedy program of the decade being the highest rated weekly television program, particularly of note it ran against the Nine Network popular current events show