Female comedians stand up to be counted

Comedy Central pays homage to Women’s History Month this week with a documentary on female comedians that is insightful and amusing despite some laughably stilted narration. The six-part special, “Heroes of Comedy: Women on Top,” begins tonight at 5 with the focus on sketch comedy and some of its premier practitioners, including Tracey Ullman, Debra Wilson and “Saturday Night Live’s” Tina Fey, Molly Shannon and Rachel Dratch.

The half-hour episodes covering such topics as “Stand-Up,” “Urban Comedy” and “Sitcoms” air nightly at 5 through Thursday. The series concludes Friday with back-to-back segments beginning at 4:30 on “Sex and the Sitcom” and “Fresh Voices.” Tuesday’s “Stand-Up,” featuring Brett Butler, Kathy Griffin, Janeane Garofalo and Laura Kightlinger, is a highlight, although its sense of history dates to only 1985 and Roseanne, ignoring pioneers such as Joan Rivers and the late Totie Fields. But there are some memorable film clips and personal glimpses, including this one from Butler on the magic that happens when good material and a good audience connect: “It’s as close to church as I can stomach.”

But linking the elements is some ponderous, off-camera narration that could be right out of a ninth-grade social studies text: “Despite the battle to be taken seriously, the new generation of women is forging ahead, doing comedy on their own terms.” Others sharing their formidable talents and insider views are Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Denis Leary, Bruce Vilanch and Wanda Sykes.

Analyzing comedy can be a deadly dull exercise, but “Heroes of Comedy: Women on Top” manages to rise to the occasion.