Whose Line is it Anyway? Returns This Summer

[benji]

http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/cw-brin ... r-to-host/

this time on the CW. The network has picked up a new take on the British format to air this summer. Comedian Aisha Tyler, co-host of The Talk, which airs on the CW sibling CBS, will host. She succeeds Drew Carey, who emceed the ABC version that ran during CW president Mark Pedowitz’s tenure at the network. Returning are Ryan Stiles, Wayne Brady and Colin Mochrie, who starred on the ABC series. The trio, along with a special guest each episode

[Andrew]

Sounds like it'll be worth checking out, though a shame Drew won't be hosting it.

[Leftos]

Andrew, is it? Is it really a shame?

Bah, I wish their time off did them good. Although the first seasons were hilarious, they had seemed to lose all interest and mostly their humor by the last one or two.

[Andrew]

Well, she's a prettier host than Drew Carey, that's for sure. Still, I'm a fan of his work, from his stand up career to The Drew Carey Show to Whose Line Is It Anyway? and I thought he did a great job hosting it, so I would've liked to have seen him return as well.

If I recall correctly, the later seasons were made up of unused footage from tapings that took place years before, meaning that the last couple of years were comprised of stuff from the cutting room floor that was good but not good enough to make it into those earlier shows, cobbled together to make new episodes.

[buzzy]

LANA!!!

stoked for this.

[benji]

They announced today that this will start July 16th.

If I recall correctly, the later seasons were made up of unused footage from tapings that took place years before, meaning that the last couple of years were comprised of stuff from the cutting room floor that was good but not good enough to make it into those earlier shows, cobbled together to make new episodes.

This is indeed the last few seasons. It's also where some of the more risque stuff comes from since they were cut from ABC broadcasts but then came back with the changing times and also being on cable. (Although coincidentally on a channel called ABC FAMILY.)

Other than haircuts and dress, easiest way to tell is Drew. He's still stiff and wooden (that's what she said) if it's from too early on.

Bah, I wish their time off did them good.

They haven't really had "time off" from doing this. They did Drew's Green Screen Show, then Improv-A-Ganza. Basically worse versions of the same show. And Colin and Brad have been doing improv shows touring ever since. The only real reason Ryan didn't go with them is because he got a recurring role on Two and a Half Men. (Plus his back.) Which IIRC is where Improv-A-Ganza stems from, with Drew moving back out to LA regularly to do Price is Right they could do those as Vegas shows and then it became a TV show from there. (Special tapings of the stage show they were already doing. It also helped in allowing Wayne to participate.)

I imagine Drew isn't involved because of The Price is Right tapings. I believe the old Whose Line they would just tape for four hours or so and then cut it up into one episode. (Which is why they had so much footage to re-cut into new episodes years after.) Price is Right, like many gameshows, does similar stuff in taping multiple episodes in one day. I'd assume he'll pop up though as a guest.

[koberulz]

I believe the old Whose Line they would just tape for four hours or so and then cut it up into one episode.

I recall hearing, although I'm not sure how reliable it is, that the British version was taped this way but the American version insisted on taping it exactly the way they wanted it to air.

[benji]

Looks like both versions did the same thing, doing games multiple times, creating multiple episodes out of one taping, etc.: http://www.whoseline.net/show/trivia.html#tapings

Seems the old Whosers site is gone, I seem to recall that people used to post their taping experiences there. I think that might have been the site that also had an episode guide that correlated them with the tapings.

http://www.reocities.com/Hollywood/2549/wlfaqnf.html

What were tapings like?

Taping a half-hour show actually took about three hours! Many games were played, because they sometimes got two episodes out of one taping. They'd frequently play several versions of a game using new suggestions. Sometimes a player would swear or do something else deemed inappropriate, and they'd have to retake it. And then there were pickups: about an hour shooting various openings, point-givings, audience shots, etc, to make the show smoother. The best part about pickups was watching the players make fun of producer Dan Patterson.

http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/elyse/repo ... ports.html

lol at these site designs

http://www.reddit.com/comments/g2yy9/by ... hose_line/

I went to 3 tapings in the summer of 1999.
First thing: YES, IT WAS IMPROVISED. They really are that good. They weren't cast on that show randomly.
I answered a bunch of what you'd probably want to know in this comment. Here's the important parts of that:

-Each taping lasted about 4 hours, and they'd hope to get 2 episodes out of each (which is why you see full wardrobes repeated). That's 44 minutes of content aired, and 196-ish minutes on the cutting room floor.
-Some stuff was cut because it wasn't as funny. Many games were stopped mid-scene because the actors said something the ABC (Disney) censors wouldn't approve of, or mentioned a brand name.
-LOTS of games like Newscasters and Party Quirks were written with each performer's strengths in mind. Ryan was always made to be Carol Channing or John Wayne, because he could do those impressions. Wayne was always made to dance because he can. IMO, this is what made the US version inferior to the UK version - I hate the producers played it "safe" that way.
-No lines were allowed to be re-delivered, or scenes allowed to be started over. Hoedown being the most notable example. If an actor said 2 lines of a Hoedown and then fucked it up, they had to start over -- but weren't allowed to use those same 2 lines again. Poor Colin always had 3 or 4 false starts, and the options for rhymes/premises would dwindle pretty fast.

Verbal suggestions were all for reals, and the audience volunteers weren't plants. I know this because my friend was selected once, and she was very much not prepared for it.
As for the written suggestions, I don't recall being asked to write down suggestions, but other audience members may have. People WERE asked to bring props to the tapings -- only a few did, and from what I recall none of them were actually used (but perhaps were vetted for later tapings).
That was my main complaint about the US version of the show. The producers tried SO hard to orchestrate the games, as if they just couldn't stand not having control over their show. So you'd notice that when Drew set up a scene, it wasn't just "Colin and Ryan are in a park" and let them improvise from there. It was "Colin and Ryan are in a park, and they're brothers, and it's raining, and they only have one umbrella."

[benji]

Oh and here's another volunteer story, not from one of my tapings, but one my friend was at: Remember the sweet older lady 'Lee' who Wayne had to sing to in the style of a male stripper? Colin and Wayne had been out for lunch the day before, and this sweet woman was visiting LA and approached them. She said she worked in a Catholic school, and was a huge fan of the show. They hooked her up with VIP tickets (see, nice guys!), but Drew didn't know any of this. Was total coincidence he picked her out of the audience, and total coincidence that Wayne was basically being asked to grind on her. He was horrified. If you watch the clip, you'll see Wayne stealing glances at Colin whenever he can: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9rV9QmFxNU

[benji]

First two episodes were pretty great. Sideways Scene and What's in the Bag are great new games.

[Andrew]

Going to have to check them out.

[buzzy]

Yeah I enjoyed them.

Weird, sort of anticlimactic coming in and out of the guest stars though.

[[Q]]

yeah it was weird to have the guest stars come in and out like that. i liked everyone in the 1st episode... Maggie from The Walking Dead and Gray, the guy who was in the jail in Harold and Kumar

Nice to see them bring back Laura Hall & Linda Taylor

[benji]

Going to get a second season:

After the rebooted version of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” secured solid ratings for the net, the CW has invested in a second season of the improv comedy show, ordering 24 new halfhour episodes.

“It’s clear that viewers are as excited to have ‘Whose Line’ back on the air as we are,” said CW topper Mark Pedowitz. “We have wanted to bring comedy back to The CW for a long time, and Aisha, Wayne, Colin and Ryan have brought funny to the network in a big way. We’re very excited to have them back for another season.”

“Whose Line,” which initially ran for eight seasons on ABC, bowed on the CW earlier this month, with its preem episode delivering the CW its most viewers in five years in its timeslot.

[[Q]]

Aisha Tyler bugs me when she starts talking like thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis to try to sound funny or something.

as in "let's have some fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

[buzzy]

Her obnoxious laugh in the background is what bothers me more. Once you notice it you hear it for the rest of the show.

The third episode was alright, I think KMK is pretty much made for this show and they started out strong, but it fell off after the first game I thought.