Line #25 Creator/TruTV


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/484px_trutv_2014svg.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Funny because it's tru]]
3	[[https://trutv.com [=truTV=]]] is an American cable & satellite network owned by Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery, with a focus on live-action comedy shows.
4
5	The channel first launched in 1991 as '''Court TV''', a merger between two projects (one from Time Warner, the other from Creator/{{NBC}}; Liberty Media joined the venture around the time of launch, while NBC would leave in 1998) to create a court-oriented news channel. The channel's original focus was on live courtroom footage and news as it happened; it quickly grew to fame by showing the Menendez brothers' first trial in 1994 and the murder trial of O.J. Simpson in 1995. In 1998, it would add syndicated programming with a crime theme to prime time. In 2005 (a year before Liberty Media sold out, resulting in [=TimeWarner=] integrating the network into its' Turner Broadcasting unit), the network split its programming into two parts with courtroom coverage broadcast under the ''Court TV News'' branding during the daytime on weekdays, while other programming used the ''Seriously Entertaining'' tagline.
6
7	On January 1, 2008, the network was re-branded as truTV, and [[NetworkDecay shifted its focus away from crime-related programming to "caught on camera" type shows]]. The networks' new slogan became "Not reality, Actuality" to maintain its position that their programming was less scripted than even most reality shows. With the re-brand, daytime trial coverage was re-branded ''In Session'' and cut down to six hours a day on weekdays. Courtroom coverage would be fully eliminated from the channel in September 2013. A couple of years earlier, the network also began carrying coverage of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament (as Creator/{{CBS}}, Creator/{{TBS}} and Creator/{{TNT}} were at their limits when it came to coverage, and putting coverage on CNN or Creator/CartoonNetwork would cause rage). As a result, it's become a RunningGag that people have to find the channel during March Madness when they otherwise wouldn't watch it. There have even been rumors that Turner was looking to turn [=truTV=] into an all-sports channel, even attempting a play at the rights to the UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague to no avail.[[note]]Sibling network [=TNT=] would eventually obtain rights to the NHL in 2021, leading to [=truTV=] occasionally being used to show games if coverage of an earlier game on [=TNT=] runs long.[[/note]]
8
9	In 2015, with the success of ''Series/ImpracticalJokers'' and ''Series/TheCarbonaroEffect'' overshadowing the rest of the network's programming, [=truTV=] would change focus and shift to non-scripted and improvisational comedies, along with a limited amount of scripted programming. They would even acknowledge the aforementioned RunningGag relating to March Madness coverage as part of a [[SelfDeprecation Self-Deprecating]] advertisement campaign, poking fun at the network while bringing awareness to its coverage.
10
11	Coming back full circle, the Creator/CourtTV name and program archive were purchased from Turner by Katz Broadcasting, an operator of several digicast networks, and used to relaunch that channel in May 2019 as a digital broadcast subnetwork.
12	----
13	!!Original shows that air or have aired on the network include:
14	[[index]]
15	* ''Series/AdamRuinsEverything'' (2015-2019)
16	* ''Series/AtHomeWithAmySedaris'' (2017-2020)
17	* ''Series/BillyOnTheStreet'' (2015-2017)
18	* ''Series/TheCarbonaroEffect'' (2014-2020)
19	* ''Series/TheChrisGethardShow'' (2017-2018)
20	* ''Series/{{Clipaholics}}'' (2012)
21	* ''Series/HardcorePawn'' (2009-2015)
22	* ''Series/ImpracticalJokers'' (2011-present)
23	* ''Series/OperationRepo'' (2008-2014)
24	* ''Series/TacomaFD'' (2019-2021, 2023)
25	* ''Series/WorldsDumbest'' (2008-2014)
26	[[/index]]
27
28	!!One-off specials and documentaries:
29	* ''The Problem with Apu'' (2017)

Context Creator / TruTV