Short Attention Span Theater, which ran on Comedy Central from 1989–1994, is a pastiche of various comedians and clips from movies airing on HBO and Cinemax that month along with entertainment news and commentary from the show's host. The original hosts were Jon Stewart and Patty Rosborough. The last two live seasons were hosted by Mark S. Allen. During its run Janet Decker, Joe Bolster, Marc Maron, Laura Kightlinger, Sue Murphy, Brian Regan and brother Dennis Regan were celebrity hosts on occasion.

When SAST originally aired, it was on The Comedy Channel.

The only trademark behavior established by the show's original hosts was the "chair dance".

The show is also the first to air Marc Weiner's "head puppets," in a series of short skits.

In 2002, Comedy Central began airing Comic Remix, something of a spiritual successor. The show followed a similar format, and even used many clips which had previously been used on SAST'.