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
Recurring character of a popular recurring sketch called "The Family", Thelma "Mama" Harper, went on to have her own show "Mama's Family". Also, recurring characters in sketch comedy shows can go on to have their own movies. This is especially true with "Saturday Night Live" which has had many recurring characters turn into movies such as Stuart Smalley, Wayne and Garth of "Wayne's World", The Blues Brothers, and "The Ladies Man". Recurring characters may even revisit shows long after the actor who played them has left the cast, for example, the character Mary Katherine Gallagher was portrayed by Molly Shannon when she