As I sit here writing, I am distracted by my television because I just discovered that Comedy Central is airing The Kids in the Hall from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. It's one of my all-time favorite shows, and it has led me to ponder the topic of sketch comedy shows.

Sketch comedy shows are programs that feature short sketches instead of the developed story line of a sitcom. Some rely on physical comedy and gags while others rely more on satire and topical humor. While there will be a variety of sketches in each individual episode, sometimes the actors will develop recurring characters. If you've never seen a show before, you can usually tell when a recurring character enters the stage from the audience's wild applause.

Of course Saturday Night Live on NBC is the classic sketch comedy show. It's been on the air for 30 years and through those years there have been hits and misses, but it's still a Saturday night comedy destination for many. Saturday Night Live is the place to go for the most topical humor, especially with their "Weekend Update" segment, a fake newscast that provides a humorous look at the week's news stories.

Saturday Night Live is perhaps best known for its famous alumni. From Jim Belushi to Jimmy Fallon, many famous comic actors have gotten their start on Saturday Night Live.

As its name implies, the show is filmed live, which adds an air of unexpectedness to the show. If someone messes up a line or almost starts laughing in the middle of a sketch, there are no retakes. The show is currently 90 minutes long. A celebrity host has a short monologue at the beginning and then takes part in the night's sketches. There is also a musical guest each week.

Mad TV is a newer but no less popular sketch comedy show. Its Mad Magazine roots were more apparent in earlier seasons when it featured "Spy vs. Spy" cartoons and Alfred E. Newman graphics on title screens. It's broadcast by Fox on Saturday nights and is an hour long. There is no host to the show, but there will be occasional guest stars and musical guests. In recent years, as Saturday Night Live went through a creative slump, Mad TV was often the preferred show of the two. And while Mad TV hasn't produced Saturday Night Live's level of big name actor, its stars have moved on to other popular projects.

While you can find these two shows every Saturday night, thanks to Comedy Central, you can also watch them countless times during the week. Saturday Night Live episodes are usually condensed to an hour so that they fit the programming schedule better, which means that one of the musical guest's performances is cut and a few sketches that have been lost to time. Along with The Kids in the Hall, these shows have been a Comedy Central staple for years, providing you with a classic sketch comedy fix at all hours of the day or night.