Comedy Central broke into American households in 1991 and over the last 15 years the network has gone from complete obscurity to something each and every one of us probably talks or at least thinks about daily. In those 15 years many shows have come and gone through the Comedy Central lineup, with more failures than successes. Shows like ‘Dr. Katz Professional Therapist’ and ‘Win Ben Steins Money’ are modern classics which may never been seen again. However, out of the dozens of failures over at Comedy Central, these five stand out as my personal favorite:

5. Lets Bowl. Picked up from a local cable show out of Minnesota, similar to The Tom Green Show or Jackass, Let’s Bowl featured two ordinary people settle petty disputes over a game of bowling. The show premiered on Comedy Central in 2001 and ran for only one season. Let’s Bowl featured segments such as ‘In The Pin’ where one of the hosts (Wally and Chopper) would interview the bowlers in a claustrophobia inducing oversized pin. Following the game the winner would bowl against the coveted ‘league bowler’, which was some kind of deity in the Let’s Bowl universe. The regular bowler and the league bowler competed for only the most useless of prizes including used lawn mowers and gift certificates to stores that were closed. Where you can see it now: there are several online petitions for a DVD release of the complete series but nothing is finalized.

4. That’s My Bush. From the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, was this sitcom that parodied the day-to-day life of President George W. Bush and ran from April-June 2001. The shows used classic sitcom elements such as the crazy neighbor, stupid daughter, and know it all housekeeper. The show was canned permanently in June 2001 because of production costs. Where you can see it now: there are rumors of a Fall 2006 DVD release of the complete series.

3. Insomniac with Dave Attell. Followed the misadventures of comedian Dave Attell as he traveled the streets of some of America’s biggest cities; visiting bars, strip clubs and landmarks in cities such as New Orleans, Houston, and Cleveland. The meat of the show came in Dave’s encounters with the late-nighters of the city which ranged from drag queens to biker gangs. The show also spawned a nationwide standup comedy tour visiting colleges and other venues across the country. Insomniac with Dave Attell ran for four seasons from 2001-2003 and also has 6 one-hour specials from international cities such as Tokyo and Amsterdam. Where you can see it now: All four seasons are available on DVD.

2. Stella. From the moment I saw the first episode of Stella I knew I was watching pure genius in action. The stars (David Wain, Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter) had a chemistry which I had never seen before. It was wacky, smart and had a rhythm to it that most comedy troupes could only dream of duplicating. The show followed the three as they made huge issues out of asinine scenarios. I also knew that the show would fail and I needed to enjoy it while I could. The trio’s comedy does not translate well from their short films and standup to the small screen. With the addition of a decent sized budget and sets the trio just didn’t have the same feel on T.V as they did on stage. However, the show was hilarious if you enjoyed the kind of humor they sell and if you’re not one of those people who enjoys their type of humor then perhaps you are living a life without rainbows or the sun. Stella was canned after only 10 episodes. Where can you see it now: Reruns are VERY rare on Comedy Central but the entire first season will be released on DVD in Fall 2006. Stella’s original shorts can be found at collegehumor.com

1. Mystery Science Theater 3000. Hands down one of the funniest shows of this generation. Created by Joel Hodgson in 1988 MST3K showcased a stranded astronaut (creator Joel Hodgson) and a cast of his robot friends as they were forced to watch horrible B-movies from the 1960’s 70’s and 80’s. The format presented Joel and the robots (Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot) as silhouettes aboard the Satellite of Love as they quipped and joked their way through awful movie after movie. In 1993 Joel left the show and was replaced by Mike Nelson. The show was never truly cancelled on Comedy Central; rather the rights to the show were sold to the Sci-Fi channel in 1996 as Comedy Central began to grow. The series continued on Sci-Fi until 1999 and reruns were run until early 2004. Where can you see it now: There was a feature film release in 1996 and there are also several DVD releases currently with more on the horizon.