Favorite "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (US version) performer?
- Thread starter Vanyel
- Start date
Yeah, I know. I'm saying they didn't use her often enough.
I also always hated that the US show just said outright "the show where everything's made up and the points don't matter" rather than just let the viewers gradually figure it out over the course of an episode the way the UK show did.
The one thing I didn't like about Drew presenting was the excruciating bit at the end where he joined in. He couldn't do it, and any joke he pushed out he then looked round at everyone for laughter.
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. And I understand what he wanted to do, which was to give it a unique aspect that the original show didn't have, but frankly, he sucks at improv. I find it rather sad that some of these guys (Drew Carrey and Wayne Brady) have gone on to be hosts of major TV game shows where their talents are utterly wasted.
Huh? It wasn't exactly a secret that's how the UK version worked as well. In fact I believe Clive Anderson even said that same thing about how the points don't matter.
Oops, double post,sorry.
That's how I remember it.
He never said it in any of the episodes I watched on Comedy Central in the 90s. Maybe he introduced it later on.
I agree. It was talking down to the audience. The way Clive arbitrarily and absurdly assigned points made it easy to figure out that they were just a joke, but Carey just came out and told us -- and explaining the joke up front isn't funny.
Overall, Carey just wasn't a very good host for the show. I think the only reason he got the gig was because he was a producer. I think he was responsible for getting the show on US television in the first place, since he was aware of it through Ryan Stiles's participation, and he used his clout at the time to get a US version made. Maybe the network insisted he host it so that there'd be star power to draw in an audience. Which is understandable, but still, he just wasn't very good at it.
Also, the US version was too formulaic. Too little variation in cast members, too much repetition of the same games. So it got stale faster.
Ooh, are we plugging our improv groups? Mine's "The 404s": www.the404s.com, and all over YouTube, Facebook, etc. We're Canadian, uber-geeky, and performing at Calgary's SF Convention "Con-Version" this weekend alongside Bob Picardo, John de Lancie and many more. 
The British Whose Line is what got me into improv a good fifteen years ago, but it's the concept of making people laugh through the principles of improvisation that made me stay. Most veteran improvisors these days scoff at the type of improv that Whose Line popularized, being very gag-oriented and praising stuff like breaking the fourth wall or saying "no" to stuff; but still, no one can deny how the show raised the profile of what was then considered a fringe art form. Sorta like snowboarding in the 80s. :P
That said, I still occasionally dig through my DVDs of the show and watch some favorite scenes. The British one is clearly superior, and while it may be simply because British humour appeals to me, it's pretty obvious to see from my vantage point that the UK version allowed their actors to actually improvise more and go less for the laugh. Also, the British version was produced very simply, where what you saw was largely what they filmed, an episode per taping. In the US version, they would film straight for 3-4 hours at a go, including multiple opening and ending shots, and cut 4-5 episodes together from the raw material. The longest I've ever performed a show like Whose Line is three hours, and I was absolutely ragged after that... Even professionals like these guys must find it grueling.
And I do need to give props to Drew Carey. He was obviously host mostly because of his producer role or network rule, but for the run of the show he was clearly NOT a good improvisor. He came from a strong standup background, which emphasized delivering pre-written material instead of making it up on the spot - I have seen very few standup comedy performers able to transition to improv comedy (Greg Proops is a notable success, though!). Anyway, while Carey was always a better standup comedian (sic), he DID end up taking a lot of improv training during and after the show. By the time of the abortive "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show", he was markedly better at listening to his teammates and drawing on the group mind to make funny, rather than trying to be a standout and using the cast to his advantage instead of the other way around.
Fire hose: OFF!
Mark
The British Whose Line is what got me into improv a good fifteen years ago, but it's the concept of making people laugh through the principles of improvisation that made me stay. Most veteran improvisors these days scoff at the type of improv that Whose Line popularized, being very gag-oriented and praising stuff like breaking the fourth wall or saying "no" to stuff; but still, no one can deny how the show raised the profile of what was then considered a fringe art form. Sorta like snowboarding in the 80s. :P
That said, I still occasionally dig through my DVDs of the show and watch some favorite scenes. The British one is clearly superior, and while it may be simply because British humour appeals to me, it's pretty obvious to see from my vantage point that the UK version allowed their actors to actually improvise more and go less for the laugh. Also, the British version was produced very simply, where what you saw was largely what they filmed, an episode per taping. In the US version, they would film straight for 3-4 hours at a go, including multiple opening and ending shots, and cut 4-5 episodes together from the raw material. The longest I've ever performed a show like Whose Line is three hours, and I was absolutely ragged after that... Even professionals like these guys must find it grueling.
And I do need to give props to Drew Carey. He was obviously host mostly because of his producer role or network rule, but for the run of the show he was clearly NOT a good improvisor. He came from a strong standup background, which emphasized delivering pre-written material instead of making it up on the spot - I have seen very few standup comedy performers able to transition to improv comedy (Greg Proops is a notable success, though!). Anyway, while Carey was always a better standup comedian (sic), he DID end up taking a lot of improv training during and after the show. By the time of the abortive "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show", he was markedly better at listening to his teammates and drawing on the group mind to make funny, rather than trying to be a standout and using the cast to his advantage instead of the other way around.
Fire hose: OFF!
Mark
Yeah, I'd say that's on the money right there. What made me sad was that the US version was a continuation and that the UK series would stop production because of that. The UK version just had way more personality. Drew Carrey most likely got the gig due to the popularity of his Drew Carrey show which was very popular at the time the US version started.
I like Drew Carey as host a lot better than Clive Anderson.
Clive was, IMHO, rather flat and lifeless. He'd have the occasional one-liner, but usually he was just the butt of jokes from the cast members (such as Tony Slattery).
And speaking of whom, now *there's* somebody they should have had on the US version. Tony and Drew on stage together would be pure comedy gold...
Clive was, IMHO, rather flat and lifeless. He'd have the occasional one-liner, but usually he was just the butt of jokes from the cast members (such as Tony Slattery).
And speaking of whom, now *there's* somebody they should have had on the US version. Tony and Drew on stage together would be pure comedy gold...
As I recall, Tony Slattery was dealing with depression around that time, making him unavailable to either version.
Also, both versions shared the same producer, Dan Patterson who relocated to Hollywood to continue making the US version. The last series of the UK version was in fact done in Hollywood on the US sets and with a rotating cast of people other than Colin and Ryan, some of whom were in essence being auditioned for the US version. Notable faces included Phil Lamarr (Futurama and everything else cartoon), and Debra Wilson from MadTV, before settling on Wayne.
Drew got involved because of Ryan doing both his show and Whose Line at the same time - and the cross pollination went both ways, with lots of Whose Line regulars having multiple parts on the Drew Carey Show. ABC ended up using Whose Line as an inexpensive show to put up against Friends on Thursday nights, which is fitting what got me to finally stop watching Friends. :P
Mark
Also, both versions shared the same producer, Dan Patterson who relocated to Hollywood to continue making the US version. The last series of the UK version was in fact done in Hollywood on the US sets and with a rotating cast of people other than Colin and Ryan, some of whom were in essence being auditioned for the US version. Notable faces included Phil Lamarr (Futurama and everything else cartoon), and Debra Wilson from MadTV, before settling on Wayne.
Drew got involved because of Ryan doing both his show and Whose Line at the same time - and the cross pollination went both ways, with lots of Whose Line regulars having multiple parts on the Drew Carey Show. ABC ended up using Whose Line as an inexpensive show to put up against Friends on Thursday nights, which is fitting what got me to finally stop watching Friends. :P
Mark
Looks like I was pretty much right in my assessment. I wish the UK version didn't have to end on the account of the American version.
I had to go with Colin "Captain Hair" Mochrie, although as others have said, he's pure gold alongside of Ryan. I also like how he was kinda like this show's Tim Conway, doing just about anything to get the others to crack up, especially his non-sequiturs during the Irish Drinking Song!
Ooh, are we plugging our improv groups? Mine's "The 404s": www.the404s.com, and all over YouTube, Facebook, etc. We're Canadian, uber-geeky, and performing at Calgary's SF Convention "Con-Version" this weekend alongside Bob Picardo, John de Lancie and many more.
Cool! Nice to meet a fellow improviser on here!
Yeah, my improv group's director says she has a love/hate relationship with the show for pretty much those reasons. That said, there is a time and a place where you can break those rules & do it well. It's when you do it constantly and without regard to your scene partners that it gets bad.
