The country has gone comedy crazy.

After e.tv and M-Net scored high audience ratings with Late Night News with Loyiso Gola and Tonight with Trevor Noah respectively, SABC2 is getting in on the comedy action.

The first episode of funny man Joey Rasdien's new show, Rasdien, will be broadcast on Friday November 5 at 6pm.

SABC2 publicist Caroline Phalakatshela denied that the move was inspired by the offerings on M-Net and e.tv, saying they were "not going with the lead of other comics", but rather "liked Rasdien's idea which he proposed and decided to go with it".

"This is a comedy, which is about a single father played by Joey, who has a son, and a girlfriend, played by Isidingo actress Kim Cloete," she said.

"The show goes into our comedy slot time that we've had for sometime now and we just happened to commission Joey's show to be on this time slot because we liked it."

The fist comic among the current crop to make forays into TV is Trevor Noah.

His face has been plastered on billboards all over the country after he was appointed "customer experience officer" for cellphone network Cell C.

Noah's show on M-Net on Wednesdays is raking in viewers.

M-Net publicist Ingrid Engelbrecht said: "His show ranks at number 10 - at the same level as US shows Private Practice and The Event. But these ratings are just from the premium bouquet only, not including those from Mzansi channel," she said.

This is not the first time local comedians are taking to TV.

David Kau has been on three different shows, including SABC1's Pure Monate show. He was also a judge on SABC1's the comic talent show So You Think You're Funny.

Late last month, comic Loyiso Gola's show, Late Night News with Loyiso Gola, began airing on e.tv.

The 11-episode news series flighted every Wednesday at 9.30pm focuses on current affairs and political issues in South Africa. It also features comics Riaad Moosa and Jason Cope, as field reporters.

The first episode of the show raked in over a million viewers.