The Comedy Company was an Australian comedy television series first aired from 16 February 1988 until about 11 November 1990 on Network Ten, Sunday night and was created and directed by cast member Ian McFadyen, and co directed and produced by Jo Lane. The show largely consisted of sketch comedy in short segments, much in the tradition of earlier sketch comedy shows, The Mavis Bramston Show, The Naked Vicar Show, Australia You're Standing In It, and The D-Generation. The majority of the filming took place in Melbourne. The show and characters had a significant effect on Australian pop culture, and had a cult following particularly on Australian youth. The series launched several popular characters most especially Con the Fruiterer and Col'n Carpenter, who even featured in a spin-off series. The word "bogan" was popularised by The Comedy Company character Kylie Mole, portrayed by Mary-Anne Fahey. The series won two consecutive Logie Awards (1989–1990) for Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Program, while cast member Mary-Anne Fahey won a Logie Award for Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality for her appearance on The Comedy Company in 1989. This program should not be confused with a short-lived American sketch-comedy/variety series of the same name that ran 10 years earlier. Synopsis In 1987, the Media Arts company was asked by Network Ten Australia to produce a one-hour-a-week comedy program. The Comedy Company premiered in February 1988 and 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 60 Minutes. Much of its success was due to it being the only family entertainment on television on a Sunday night. The Comedy Company remained the consistently highest rating weekly television program for two years. The Comedy Company premiered many famous characters such as Con the Fruiterer, Kylie Mole, Col'n Carpenter, Uncle Arthur and David Rabbitborough, which remain minor Australian icons. The third and final series was titled The New Comedy Company featuring some of the original cast but mostly new cast. This version (and by extension, the show) was cancelled within a year. The Comedy Company regular, comedian Kym Gyngell also created a spin-off series called Col'n Carpenter (1990–1991) based on his character of the same name. Kylie Mole was also featured in the second series of the ABC's Kittson Fahey (1993).