British Comedy Guide at 20

We almost can't believe we're writing this but: British Comedy Guide is 20 years old today!

Yes, it's been two decades now since we started life, initially as The British Sitcom Guide, cataloguing and detailing those glorious stories of television past, from perennial favourites like Fawlty Towers and Men Behaving Badly to long-forgotten hits such as Marriage Lines, and the obscure (Ain't Misbehavin', anyone?).

We've grown in several stages in the intervening years, notably expanding our remit to become British Comedy Guide in 2008, and moving first from sitcom.co.uk to comedy.org.uk, and finally to our present home at the prestigious comedy.co.uk address.

In doing so, we now not only cover television sitcoms, but the live stand-up circuit, films, radio shows, panel and sketch formats, chat shows and online sketches; we've published podcasts; run a variety of interview and feature columns; offer forums, comprehensive coverage of comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; and work with the established industry to promote and champion comedy old and new, not to mention encourage and tutor the next wave of talent through BCG Pro.

And yet - with some additional expert help - BCG is, at its core, still run by just Mark and Aaron, the same two comedy super-fans who were responsible for setting it up all those years ago.

Here are a handful of statistics from our time online to date:

- 1.27 million forum posts
- 11,400 Guides for films, TV and radio shows and web series
- 25,300 videos catalogued
- 166,700 minutes of podcasts published
- 104,000 private messages sent
- 95,000 records of different people working, or with a presence, in British comedy
- 2,300 companies logged
- 21,000 Edinburgh Fringe shows detailed
- 1,300 live comedy tours noted
- 50,400 user accounts registered
- 392,600 credits for writers, performers, directors and other creatives, on TV and radio alone
- 6,000 feature articles
- 6,300 news and FYI stories
- 91,400 press clippings tracked from 2,000 publications

... It's fair to say we've been busy!

We couldn't have done it without each person who's made a contribution: whether it's the massive work of Ian on data; our stand-up editor, Si; or the uncountable number of you who've submitted corrections, flagged bugs, or written articles throughout the years.

So what's happening in our third decade on the web? We're currently continuing to expand the materials we offer to new creative talent in BCG Pro: from tutorials offering in-depth walkthroughs on specific topics, to evergreen advice and reference materials, via various indispensable tools for keeping track of a fast-moving industry.

This year we're also marking our anniversary with a concerted push toward much more coverage of the live comedy circuit, with significantly expanded live listings at their heart. Our ethos has long been to eschew reviews, preferring instead to promote and champion, and help audiences discover comedy and make their own minds up about what they like, without presuming to be an all-knowing objective arbiter of the entirely subjective nature of what is and isn't funny. This will continue to be at the centre of what we do as we head further into the live sphere.

Into 2024 and beyond...? Well, we have ideas. But that would be telling. 😉

Finally, a special thanks must also go to all of the readers who believe in our work and have become integral to our mission by donating a little hard-earned cash through our Supporters programme, to help ensure we reached this 20th anniversary milestone. Every penny is a hugely appreciated vote of confidence: we don't receive any form of arts funding, nor are part of a larger corporation with deep pockets, so it really does help to ensure we can sustain for another 20 years - in whatever form that may be!