Tag Archives: whose line is it anyway

Sep 22

Colin Mochrie, Wayne Brady and Fred Willard!

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Fans of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” have had to settle for a variey of substitutes over the years. Some of us will always feel that the original British version, hosted by Clive Anderson, was and will always be the best. But the American version, hosted by Drew Carey, was fine as well, and used many of the same comics, including Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie and Greg Proops. And the American version also had the musical stylings of Wayne Brady.

Since the demise of “Whose Line,” there have been several other attempts at improv shows:

  • “Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show,” in which Drew and numerous WLIIA veterans – not including Brady – played improv games, and then the footage was turned over to animators, who added backgrounds and props in a whimsical fashion. It had its moments, but it tended to be clunky, and there were too many participants in each telecast. “Whose Line” had a panel of four, plus the host, which was just about perfect.
  • “Thank God You’re Here,” a summer series copied from an Australian program and without any “Whose Line” connections. It was hosted by David Alan Grier with Dave Foley of “Kids In The Hall” as a sort of judge and scorekeeper. The premise was that a special guest star (usually not known as an improv comic) would be put into a costume and then would walk through a door onto a stage set he or she had not seen in advance, where the regular cast of improv artists would be waiting. One of them would utter the line “Thank God you’re here,” and the scene would proceed from there. This one had two problems. The first was that the improv artists had been coached on which direction to take the scene, and would insist on doing so even when the central character was trying to go elsewhere. That sort of defeats the purpose of improv. The second problem was that some of the guest stars were better at improv than others.
  • “Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza,” which ran earlier this year and is currently in reruns on Game Show Network. Drew has stated that no more episodes have been ordered by the network. This one is the closest to “Whose Line,” but it shares with “Green Screen Show” the mistaken belief that if four improv comics are funny, seven will be funnier. By having such a large cast, it misses some of the camaraderie, running gags and callbacks that made a good episode of “Whose Line” so much fun to watch.
  • Craig Ferguson taped a pilot of a game show with improv comedy elements, but I don’t believe it ever aired.

Now comes word of a new improv series, being shot in England (shades of the original “Whose Line”!) but for the ABC network. It will be hosted by Fred Willard and will have Colin Mochrie and Wayne Brady in its regular cast, with other WLIIA veterans scheduled to appear. The title is “Trust Us With Your Life.” I’m curious to see if the original British “Whose Line” producers are involved.

The new show does have a concept surrounding the improv. A guest celebrity will appear and tell the story of some key event in their life – a first date, for example, or a day job held while they were a struggling actor. The improv artists will then attempt to recreate that story, albeit in a comic fashion. “Improv-A-Ganza” has a similar game, in which a married couple is invited on stage and given a buzzer (or maybe it’s a horn – I don’t remember) and a bell. The improv artists recreate the couple’s first date, and the couple is supposed to ring the bell to acknowledge correct details and sound the buzzer if the improv artists get something wrong, in which case the improv artists can back up and change direction.

I don’t know if this concept will be too restrictive or not. I do like the people involved, however, and I’ll happily give it a chance once it hits the air.

Feb 20

Drew’s line is it anyway

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For some reason, I’ve been thinking about “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, and the other night I even interrupted my normal schedule of watching/DVRing the late night talk shows in order to watch the late-night reruns of the Drew Carey version on ABC Family.

What I really wish I could see is the original British version hosted by Clive Anderson (but featuring some of the same U.S. and Canadian comics). I liked Carey well enough, but there was something about Anderson’s dry British wit that served as a perfect counterpoint to the wacky histrionics taking place onstage. No one seems to be airing the British version at the moment; I think it last aired on BBC America, back before I had access to that channel.

Anyway, I was sitting here this morning watching a Whoopi Goldberg-era “Hollywood Squares” on GSN and a promo came up for a brand new show, “Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza.” I went online and discovered that, sure enough, many of the “Whose Line” regulars will participate, including Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Brad Sherwood, Chip Esten and Greg Proops. The web site says the show starts March 28, but the GSN promo, which I assume is the latest information, listed April 11 as the start date. In either case, I can’t wait!

Nov 09

Head games

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A month ago, when I posted about Wayne Brady’s revival of “Let’s Make A Deal,” I joked about the trend of former “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” cast members getting game shows.

Well, my North Carolina brother — who, unlike me, is not particularly a game show fan — has alerted me to the existence of “Head Games,” a Science Channel quiz show hosted by WLIIA veteran Greg Proops (the tall comedian with the Buddy Holly glasses). It’s actually not Proops’ first game show. He hosted a quiz show on Comedy Central called “Vs.”, which pitted teams of natural rivals against each other — a team of vegans versus a team of butchers, or a team of ministers versus a team of bartenders, that sort of thing.

Anyway, “Head Games” (co-created and co-produced by Whoopi Goldberg, although she doesn’t appear onscreen) is a light-hearted, slightly tongue-in-cheek game show with science as its topic. Imagine a cross between “Jeopardy!” and “Bill Nye, The Science Guy.” After my brother told me about it yesterday, my DVR picked up two episodes overnight and I watched them over breakfast. It’s a fun show, and I think I’ll keep recording it.

By the way, Proops has another distinction; he has been the U.S. voice of “Bob The Builder” in recent seasons.

I’m still waiting for Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles to turn up somewhere.

Nov 07

The country of Africa

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The recent hubbub over the fact that Gov. Sarah Palin supposedly identified Africa as being a country, rather than a continent, immediately reminded me of one of the funniest episodes of the U.S. version of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Host Drew Carey made the exact same mistake, calling Africa a country in the setup to one of the games. I think it was probably a mis-statement, a slip of the tongue, rather than ignorance on Drew’s part. (To be fair, that might have been the case with Sarah Palin as well.) The panel immediately gave Drew a hard time about it, and — as often happened on that show — the gaffe became a running gag, with Ryan Stiles finding ways to work Africa into several of the subsequent improv games in order to needle Drew.