The House Party Crew

The House Party Crew, also known as the House Party, is a Magisterian sketch comedy television series broadcast by MBC from October 18, 1997 to May 12, 2012, created by Jonah Pemberton, Mansel Layton, and Steph Adair. It was the second longest-running sketch comedy series in Magisteria, after PTV's SketchTV, which has been running continuously since 1978. The House Party Crew's pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily based around pop culture–featuring parodies of films, TV series, music videos, celebrities, and occasionally politics–and original characters, many of which were recurring.

In 1993, the writing trio of Jonah Pemberton, Mansel Layton and Steph Adair left SketchTV after creative conflicts with the showrunners. By early-1994, they began to develop their own sketch comedy series as an act of revenge to SketchTV's showrunners. The show was intended to compete with fellow sketch comedy series SketchTV, which was being derided by critics and audiences upon House Party's premiere. For much of its fifteen-season run, House Party typically surpassed SketchTV in the ratings and has since been described by critics as an edgier "cousin" of SketchTV, as well being described as the "Magisterian Mad TV".

The show's diverse cast over the years consisted of popular members such as its longest-running overall members, Baldric Norman and Marie-Christine Lemaire. Recurring celebrity impressions and characters attracted both fan followings and controversy, while critical reception of the series varied, though it was often negative. It has appeared on several critics' lists of the best sketch comedy television series of all time and was nominated for a number of awards, including 78 Magisterian Television Awards, 17 of which it won.

Development
Jonah Pemberton, Mansel Layton and Steph Adair all began working as staff writers on the sketch comedy television series SketchTV in 1986 after Jean-Luc Villeneuve, the then-showrunner, went for an "employee shuffle" which included the firings of old employees and hiring new ones. Pemberton, Layton and Adair were the first three to be hired, and the three would write for SketchTV's critically acclaimed seasons from 1986 until their departure in 1993.

Launch
The first broadcast was on October 18, 1997 as a 30-minute sketch comedy show. As the show was met by universal acclaim, It's running time was extended to 60 minutes in the 5th season's premiere. The House Party Crew was created by Jonah Pemberton, Mansel Layton and Steph Adair.

Finale and revival
On December 11, 2011, MBC announced that the 15th season of The House Party Crew would be its last. In early 2012, the show was moved to air after The Winston Ayton Show, the show that normally followed The House Party Crew, as a test, before being moved back. The series finale aired on May 12, 2012.

Reception and legacy
In 2006, House Party was ranked eleventh on MBC's 100 Best TV Shows of the Country and was ranked first on MBC's 15 Most Edgiest TV Shows. The show was known for it's cult following, and it had the biggest fanbase in the country with over 4-7 million fans.