Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Created by Mark Leveson and Dan Patterson.
My love for this show, in all it’s various incarnations, is deep. Humour is one of Mom’s foundational values. WLIIA? has greatly assisted my mental health journey. I love it, and will brook no dissing of it as “selling out and commercializing improv“.
The first incarnation had 136 episodes from 1988 through 1999. It was hosted by Clive Anderson; filmed at and broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK. The majority of the improv ‘contestants’ were British, but some of the American (or at least US-resident) regulars from future versions do appear; as seen in the Publicity photo here.
The show’s second incarnation, and first of two US versions was hosted by Drew Carey. It presented 220 episodes from 1998 through 2007. The show was filmed in southern California and broadcast, iirc, on ABC Family network.
IMDB also lists foreign versions in:
‘Sem Saída’ in Brazil;
Whose Line Is It Anyway (Vietnam Version);
Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia;
‘Shel Mi Hashura Hazot?’ (Israel).
The most recent incarnation is hosted by Aisha Tyler. Also filmed in southern California, and first broadcast on the CW Network. It has 184 episodes, starting in 2013. Although no official end date has been announced, it appears that there are no new episodes being filmed. In fact the two most recent seasons are all made of older previously-unreleased material. Mostly from the last few taping sessions-although some are from earlier years. One reference to 2017 model year cars tipped me to check the earlier episode, and a number of ‘guest star’ #2 episodes were clearly filmed the same time as the guest’s first appearance.
Much of this may be the impact of C-19, which made taping new episodes in front of a live audience problematic. The good news is that those ‘bits and bobs’ have most often been outstanding material. Some a matter of time limits, others being “unsuccessful” bits that are like catnip to serious fans.
The lack of new taping sessions, and comments by some of the show’s improv artists, is not good news.
Discovering a new comedy show on the CW Network, with links to WLIIA?‘s creators is just muddying up the proverbial waters.
The Great American Joke Off
Dan Patterson is listed as an Exec Producer, but there’s no Created By credit on IMDB.
Not sure if this is an adaptation of the British series Mock the Week, which was created by Mark Leveson and Dan Patterson and ran from 2005 to 2022. I’ve not seen any episodes, so I don’t know if there’s any actual connection beyond Dan’s involvement. Someone’s post on the new show’s IMDB page made reference to the British series.
The title suggests the British show was much more current events based, while this new show is driven by various broad topics. It may just be that show regular Rhys James was on the previous show.
Sadly, it is not a true Improv show, nor a solid Stand Up show. It tries to merge the two, and for me it is glaringly unsuccessful in the attempt.
And I hate having to say that.
The host Dulcé Sloan is a very funny comic, and I’ve enjoyed her appearances on the Fake The Nation podcast and, iirc, John Fugelsang’s satellite radio show. Some of the ‘comedy players’ are also great comics, with solid careers beyond this. The number of times ‘contestants’ were clearly reading off the desk in front of them suggest they were given hints. As this, just like WLIIA? is not a serious contest/ game show they aren’t likely violating industry rules; it is another annoyance.
To the extent this show keeps comedy on the CW Network, I guess that’s good (well, OK). But I really wish they would develop an actual Stand Up show that more successfully shows off the real talent available. And, to paraphrase Ru, ‘bring back my guys‘ (in the broad sense of that word).
Above images are from each show’s PR campaigns and used under Fair Use principles.
