Whose Line Is It Anyway

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Format: Improvisational Comedy
Created by: Dan Patterson, Mark Leveson
Presented by : Clive Anderson, Drew Carey
Country of origin: United Kingdom
No. of seasons : 10 UK, 8 US
No. of episodes : 142 UK, 220 US
Production
Producer(s) Hat Trick
Running time : 24 mins UK, 21-22 mins US
Broadcast
Original channel : BBC Radio 4: 1988, Channel 4: 1988 - 1998 : ABC: 1998 - 2003, ABC Family: 2004 - 2006
Picture format: 4:3
Original run : September 23, 1988 - July 2, 1998 – : August 5, 1998 - November 10, 2006

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (also abbreviated Whose Line? or WLIIA) was a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for Britain's Channel 4. Following the conclusion of the British run in 1998, ABC began airing a version for the United States audience.

Whose Line Is It Anyway

Four celebrities would act out scenarios, sometimes as other celebrities or stereotypes. Sometimes they sang. Some ideas came from the audience; other ideas were chosen by the host. The host gave out points out of the air. The special guest on the show usually was chosen as the winner.

Whose Line Is It Anyway

Each episode was edited from a longer recording session (though the games themselves were usually left uncut), each of which was typically cut to create at least two episodes. In addition, both versions of the show featured compilation episodes which compiled unaired bloopers and entire games that were cut from other sessions. The host would specially tape special segments for these programs to introduce the various clips. Each series of the UK version featured two compilations per season, while the US version featured them only occasionally.

Whose Line Is It Anyway

Games

The number and type of games played varied from episode to episode. However, some games became more common over time, while others faded from use. New games were created throughout the run of both series. .

After the first few seasons, recurring themes evolved around certain cast members and certain games. On both versions, it became common to poke fun at both the host and the other performers.

Whose Line Is It Anyway

Opening sequence

An opening sequence used by the British version of Whose Line?, from 1994 to 1997 the British version of Whose Line? had a visual opening sequence that changed over the series. In the first series, the title sequence showed clips from the actual show under the main theme. The sequence introduced in the second series featured shots of actors in various styles of dress and activity whose exposed skin had been blackened out as a special effect. The final sequence featured a white line on a red screen, out of which a series of four characters, drawn simply as white outlines, appeared and interacted. The style is similar to that of La Linea by Osvaldo Cavandoli. The same line figures were superimposed above a picture of Los Angeles' famous Hollywood Sign for the last series. The British version's theme song was written by Philip Pope.

The U.S. version of the show never had a set opening sequence. During the opening theme, the camera would pan the audience and the performers with the show's logo superimposed. Then, the camera would cut from performer to performer as Carey introduced each one; Carey himself would then come down the stairs of the audience bleachers to his desk to start the show.

Whose Line Is It Anyway

History

Whose Line Is It Anyway? was created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson in 1988 as a radio show on BBC Radio 4. This early incarnation of the show is notable as being the origin of the show's tradition of having the performers read the credits in an amusing style; as it was a radio show, it was necessary for somebody to read the credits, and it was decided that it might as well be done as part of the programme proper, rather than being done by a traditional BBC Radio announcer. This approach to reading credits was pioneered by the earlier BBC radio show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again. Indeed the title of the show itself is a comedic riposte to another radio show, What's My Line. The radio series consisted of six episodes, with Clive Anderson as host, with John Sessions and Stephen Fry as regulars.
Originally, the producers asked the BBC to move to television; however the BBC was hesitant about this move. By the time the BBC decided to move to TV, the show went to Channel 4 with little change in format. Both the British radio and television programmes were hosted by Anderson during their runs.

Original plans were to have Sessions and Fry as regulars with the rotation of two performers, however Stephen Fry and John Sessions pulled out at the last minute; nevertheless Fry convinced Sessions to continue. With the exception of Sessions in the first series, there were no fixed regulars on the show, though there were many recurring regulars. The British television programme lasted for a total of 10 series, with 142 episodes in all (including the six radio episodes) and remains one of the most famous TV shows on British TV. One of the early North American broadcasters of the British series was the Canadian youth channel YTV, though many episodes were edited for adult language and content.

The show was brought to the attention of Drew Carey, who worked with regular Whose Line? performer Ryan Stiles, a co-star on The Drew Carey Show. Carey convinced ABC to air test episodes in the United States. The show turned into an inexpensive hit (though less so than the British version) and ABC kept Carey on as host. The show ran on ABC for six seasons, benefiting from the low expectations of its Thursday-night time slot, as ABC was not expected to mount a serious threat to what was then NBC's longtime Thursday dominance in the Nielsen ratings.

The American version was cancelled by ABC in 2003 because of low ratings; the network aired the remaining unaired episodes in 2004. In that same year, the ABC Family cable network, which had been airing repeats of the show since 2002, began showing brand-new episodes. New episodes appeared into 2005. ABC Family also played episodes cobbled together from unused footage of older recordings from 2005 to 2006.

Whose Line Is It Anyway

Cast

UK version From left: Stephen Frost, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles and Tony Slattery on the U.K. version.The original BBC Radio 4 broadcasts consisted of host Clive Anderson along with two guests and the two regular contestants, Stephen Fry and John Sessions.

Clive Anderson stayed on as host when the show moved to television, with John Sessions resuming his role as the only regular in the first series. He subsequently became a rotating regular in the second and third series. Stephen Fry appeared only
occasionally on the television series.
Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie first appeared in the second and third series respectively; they each gradually increased the frequency of their appearances to the point that both appeared in every episode from the eighth series on. Stiles is the most prolific performer on the show, having appeared in 76 of the series' 136 episodes (including compilations).
Many of the show's performers, including Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence and Sandi Toksvig, were regulars with The Comedy Store Players, an improvisational group based at London's Comedy Store. Other regular performers from the British version included a variety of British, American and Canadian comedians, notably:
Niall Ashdown Wayne Brady Rory Bremner Chip Esten Stephen Frost Archie Hahn Mike McShane Greg Proops Caroline Quentin Jan Ravens Brad Sherwood Tony Slattery Steve Steen Jim Sweeney Additionally, the series occasionally featured celebrity guests as performers, including:
Peter Cook Julian Clary Eddie Izzard Phil LaMarr Rory McGrath Ardal O'Hanlon Catherine O'Hara Jonathan Pryce Griff Rhys Jones George Wendt
On the original BBC Radio series, the music was provided by Colin Sell, but when the show migrated to television, Richard Vranch (also of The Comedy Store Players) became the musician until the last season of the British show, playing electric guitar and piano. For the tenth series in Hollywood, Laura Hall took over, playing mainly keyboards.

Whose Line Is It Anyway

US version Drew Carey opening an episode of the U.S. edition of Whose Line?Drew Carey hosted the U.S. version of Whose Line?. He was joined by the U.K. version's Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles as regular performers. Wayne Brady also became a regular in the second season. The fourth seat was most commonly filled by other U.K. veterans, including Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood and Chip Esten. Several newcomers joined the rotation: Denny Siegel in the first two seasons and Kathy Greenwood starting the third season after having appeared in two episodes of the previous season. Other fourth-seat performers appeared for only a few appearances (some as few as one), including Jeff Davis, Karen Maruyama, Patrick Bristow, Ian Gomez, U.K. veteran Josie Lawrence, Drew Carey Show actress Kathy Kinney and then-Daily Show correspondent Stephen Colbert.
Like the U.K. version, the show occasionally featured celebrity fourth-chairs: Robin Williams, Kathy Griffin, and Whoopi Goldberg each made appearances. Other celebrities made guest appearances for individual games, including:
Sid Caesar David Hasselhoff Florence Henderson Hugh Hefner Jerry Springer Joanie "Chyna" Laurer Richard Simmons Katie Harman Jayne Trcka Lassie
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(July 15, 2013)