Smack the Pony (1999)

Created by Victoria Pile and starring Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips, this Channel 4 show from 1999 was a deliberate all-woman sketch show, and it still feels modern. The sketches are short, get to the gag fast and skip catchphrases entirely; the laughs come from the cast playing absurd situations completely straight. The dating video sketches are the place to start, a run of hopeful, deranged self-introductions that predicted the app era almost exactly. It is the driest show on this list and rewards anyone who prefers awkwardness to punchlines.