• Jeremy Hardy won the Edinburgh Comedy Award
• Following an overdose, Carry On star Kenneth Williams was found dead in his flat

Notable comedies debuting in 1988

All TV comedy broadcast in 1988

• 'Allo 'Allo!
• 1st Exposure
• A Gentleman's Club
• A Kind Of Living
• A Very Peculiar Practice
• A Wholly Healthy Glasgow
• Abracadigance
• After Henry
• After Ten With Tarbuck
• Alexei Sayle's Stuff
• All In Good Faith
• And There's More
• Andy Capp
• Beadle's About
• Blackadder
• Bobby In Wonderland
• Bread
• Bruce And Ronnie
• Brush Strokes
• Cabaret At The Jongleurs
• Cannon And Ball
• Carrott Confidential
• Casting Off
• Chelmsford 123
• ChuckleVision
• Clarence
• Colin's Sandwich
• Comic Relief
• Coppers And Co!
• Count Duckula
• Craig Goes Mad In Melbourne
• Divided We Stand
• Dogfood Dan And The Carmarthen Cowboy
• Don't Wait Up
• Double First
• Everyone A Winner
• Executive Stress
• Farrington Of The F.O.
• Fascinating Aida
• First Of The Summer Wine
• French And Saunders
• Friday Night Live
• Gruey
• Hale And Pace
• Help!
• Hi-De-Hi!
• Hot Metal
• Incident On The Line
• John Sessions
• John Wells And The Three Wise Men
• Last Of The Summer Wine
• Les Girls
• Live From The Palladium
• Me & My Girl
• Mr H Is Late
• My Husband And I
• Natural Causes
• Never The Twain
• News At Twelve
• No Frills
• Once In A Lifetime
• Only Fools And Horses
• Palace Hill
• Pastoral Care
• Playing For Real
• Red Dwarf
• Room At The Bottom
• Shelley
• Small World
• Sorry!
• Spin Off
• Spitting Image
• Square Deal
• Streets Apart
• That's Love
• The Beiderbecke Connection
• The Benny Hill Show
• The Brothers McGregor
• The Comic Strip Presents...
• The Importance Of Being Earnest
• The Kenny Everett Television Show
• The Lenny Henry Show
• The Lenny Henry Special
• The Little And Large Show
• The Management
• The Refuge
• The River
• The Russ Abbot Show
• The World According To Smith And Jones
• This Is David Lander
• Valentine Park
• Who Dares Wins...
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?
• Wife Begins At 40
• Wyatt's Watchdogs
• Yes, Prime Minister
• You Must Be The Husband

All radio comedy broadcast in 1988

• After Henry
• Fallen Arches
• I Should Say So
• Ken Dodd's Easter Special
• King Street Junior
• Pull The Other One!
• Radio Fun: The Story Of Radio Comedy
• Second Thoughts
• The Big Fun Show
• The Mausoleum Club
• The News Huddlines
• The News Quiz
• Thirty Minutes Worth
• Up The Garden Path
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Film comedies released in 1988

• A Fish Called Wanda
• Buster
• Consuming Passions
• Hawks
• High Hopes