The Return of Whose Line Is It Anyway?(!)

yo if any of you guys missed it, the best comedy show ever made came back on the CW and it was fantastic. Aisha Tyler was a pretty good host, the guests were a weird idea but pretty good (Kevin Mchale was better if only because of popcorn) and overall just fantastic all around.

So who watched it?

I would watch that. Funny it isn't on ABC anymore.

@blu3v3nom07: it's been all around, the last version of this thing (improv-a-ganza) was on the game show network.

Oh Whose line is it anyway is back for the 6th time? Awesome. I have been watching it since I was 4 staying up late to watch it on channel four with Clive Anderson. I am now 24.

Uk version was best :p

Drew and afew of the others were doing a show on GSN be cool if they went back to the original show style though, Link, looks like it isnt going anymore, was pretty good from what I've seen.

@animasta: Didn't know any of that.. I think I did watch a weird episode this certain cast, but with like a British guy?. Like Brady and everything.. I'm not sure.

I just watched them, and thought they were pretty good. The "themes" based on the guests is kinda weird, but Lauren kicking Wayne Brady was hilarious. Can't wait to see if more of the guys from the old show make appearances though. *cough* Greg Proops *cough*

In other news

http://www.gregproops.com/blog/

I went to a taping of that! I liked all the ones that didn't have Kathy Kinney in it because she's a black hole of comedy.

(luckily the one I went to was Kathy free)

This one is much more in line with the original US version, except with lots of special guests that come from TV shows (Glee, Vampire Diaries, Walking Dead, etc.)

I have to say that it wasn't that bad but it is better suited for an hour long format and not having Drew Carey as the host was kinda weird at first. With that being said it was still funny which surprised me since I had low expectations going in.

Ah so it finally started. I'll need to check it out next time I get the chance.

I have never thought Whose Line is it Anyway was funny. I don't understand people actually wanting this show back.

"yeah well this show you all like? I think it sucks."

dude they are massively entertaining, funny and impressive. Sorry you don't like good humor I guess

That's one way for me to acknowledge the CW's existence.

There... there was no mention of girl wood, was there?

Why would there be? If you think Aisha came up with that herself... you have a very low opinion of her comedic stylings.

(also for the record Nikita is a CW show and is also fantastic so there SHOULD be two reasons)

Yeah I really dislike the who's line show and it's spin offs, also, let's not say your opinion is more right than someone else's.

@bestusernameever: I... never said that?

I'm just saying going into a topic to say the topic sucks is annoying and is a worthless comment.

Warning, crazy amounts of nit-picking and over-analyzing a TV show coming up:

Being someone that grew up on this, I couldn't help but nit-pick the entire time but I'll totally give this another few episodes. My issues?

1. Audience participation is next to none and the few things that were done with 'the help of the audience' were done prior to the show. 'Scenes from a Hat' were always done this way, but grabbing people or items from the audience was always part of the show.

2. Celebrities guests taking the place of audience members. It was always a treat to be in the audience of Whose Line, because you know there was that chance that you might be picked to participate. They typically used the same audience for 5-6 recordings at a time, so chances were alot higher than most would think. So far the celebs have either seemed overly auditioned or completely out of place and lacked any of the hype factor that came with a random person.

3. Hashtags... I don't know if this is something that Tyler brought aboard like the Ubisoft conference or if CW is trying to force the show to be more 'social', but having those on the screen, especially for older viewers, confused the balls off of them. I had to have a 40min conversation about what Twitter was with my uncle lol.

4. Comedic Editing. While the original UK series and the American series seemed fairly raw and unedited, they did make sure to edit out mistakes or side conversations between the host and the comedians when it wasn't needed or funny. This wasn't nearly as well done with tonight's episodes. At one point Cohan (from Walking Dead) nearly knocked over Colin, and while it was pretty funny, they could have snapped to a shot of Tyler and cut out the 'Sorry.' and the resulting 5 seconds of her trying to find her spot while Tyler commanded 'First Position!' Clearly they thought it was going to come off as funny, but it was just weird.

Things I liked?

1. The Crew's Back and Colin still doesn't have any hair. I'd really like to see some oldies like Brad come back on once in a while.

2. Tyler seems like a competent host and once she's done with her explanation of 'This used to be a really good show, here's how it goes, hope you keep watching.' and gets into her own, she fits right in. Her jokes, while inappropriate for a Ubisoft conference, (still the best fucking conference though) hold up against the sexual jokes being thrown around on a minute by minute basis. She actually managed to shock the cast for a few and she owned every second of it.

3. Letting celebs get into it if they want. Though it seemed auditioned, the song Wayne did with McHale (from Glee) was something if not purely amazing.

4. The sideways 'skit'. Didn't get the name of this one, but it was new and amazing. Though it looked like Colin was about ready to pass out with how physical it got. I would like to see this on a regular basis, the skit, not Colin ready to pass out.

"Sorry you don't like good humor I guess"

@kkotd: pretty much all TV shows have those dumb hashtag things now.

I mean the stuff about audience participation is all well and good, but I don't mind it. Trying to maybe get more people watching? "oh hey this guy from Glee or Walking dead is going to be on this show maybe I should watch". Yes on the participation, but only on like scene suggestions, I personally thought the special guests were p. funny (especially McHale)

@bestusernameever Most people in this thread agree? Was I not diplomatic enough?

(it was a dumb comment who cares)

And I never said the show or the topic sucked, I simply said I didn't find it funny. So, to you, dissenting opinions are worthless and annoying. Good to know. Forums would be a boring circlejerk if nobody allowed disagreement. I would like to expect a little more out of fellow GiantBomb users, try treating people with a little respect even if they don't like the same fucking TV show as you.

@citizencoffeecake: but there's nothing to argue! humor is entirely subjective. I can make an argument that, say, Dragon Age 2 is good but there's really no way to argue about humor. So, yes, yours was a stupid comment because what else would the response have been?

um okay thanks for telling everyone?

also if you don't find a show about humor funny than that is saying it sucks? I mean what else would it have.

I laughed so hard and for so long my chest hurt severely after the 2 episodes. I'm so glad it's back.

I thought they were pretty damn good.

I feel a show like this works the best with a "deep bench" of improv comedians that rotate around but so far so good!

Everybody is so old....... Colin looks like he's about to crumple. :(

Has it been that long? damn

I loved the old version. I haven't seen this one though because I don't have cable or an antenna. Anyone know a way to watch it online without stealing?

@gnatsol: He has been doing it since 1988.

@animasta: Audience participation was paramount in the original series, take a look for yourself at how many of these read 'suggestions taken from the audience' or 'using a participant of the audience'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_from_Whose_Line_Is_It_Anyway%3F

If they want to move away from the original series, that's all fine and dandy but they need to be frank with their old time viewers. Like I put before, I'm definitely willing to give it a few more episodes. There were moments that were great and I bet once they've sorted out their format and the few kinks they had, I'll probably enjoy watching it on a regular basis.

@extomar The UK series tried having a bench of rotating guests, infact Colin failed the initial audition and was let go after his second. They brought him back after a third go and he was on the cast up until Ryan and him came to the US. They found that while rotating all of the comedians out was definitely more interesting, people felt less investment to the show unless 'their' comedian was on. So the show went to a 3 person permanent with a rotating 4th seat, though even this seat was eventually filled with a set of rather regular 'guests' like Brad Sherwood.

@hunter5024: I know WhoselineOnline has all the oldies, no idea if they'll get the new ones up. If you're in America, http://www.cwtv.com/shows/whose-line-is-it-anyway/ should allow you to watch both episodes from the official CW website.

On a side note, it appears the episodes are labeled with the celebrity guest's name, so... I guess for this season atleast, the celebrity guest is gonna be a regular thing. It works on shows like Top Gear and talk shows, but comedy shows usually wear it out. Time will tell.

I don't understand who thought it was a good desicion for Aisha Tyler to start a hosting career.

As for the show, it's always been "the Ryan and Colin show" and still continues to be that way. Sure, they need other people to play off (one of the things that made the dynamic with Drew Carey so great), but as long as they are the center of the stage things are always hitting home. They should've acknowledged that by now, instead of focusing on these stupid TV show themes and guests. It's just a 20+ minute show, but already at the end of the first one I was tired of the zombie stuff.

I really think the show should move to a one hour format. It felt really rushed last night. Maybe it's because I became a fan of Heather Anne Campbell after Improvaganza but I thought her episode was way better than the first one. I just didn't find the first 4th seat that funny.

I do agree that if they make it past this first run of 10 episodes, they need to use the audience more and the random guests less. Ryan and Collin still own it though. There's a clip on youtube where they're doing Sideways Scene and Ryan keeps walking through the shot.

Overall, I'm glad it's back and Aisha did better than I was expecting.

Your first post honestly didn't sound anything like that. You said that you couldn't understand why anyone would want this show back because you don't like it. If anyone disregarded dissenting opinions in the first place, it was you. That thing about treating others with respect and stuff? You could apply it to yourself, too.

But who cares. You don't like the show, that's fine. This thread is clearly meant for people who enjoy it, so I don't see why you have to complain about it here.

@ares42: Aisha was fine yo.

@joeyravn: well said.

I really like Aisha, but man I miss Drew Carey, even if losing all that weight seemed to suck the funny right outta him.

Really enjoyed both episodes. I was afraid it wasn't going to be as funny in the new version and I ended up laughing my ass off at a lot of the stuff. I loved the skit where they were laying down on the floor but it kind of looked like they were standing. I really hope the humor continues.

I'm so glad it's back! =-) I laughed my head off, and I love this show!

Laughed my ass off. Thought it was a strong come back for the show. Glad it's back.

I haven't seen it but I'll definitely look into it. I always loved the show back when it was on ABC and the British version was really great. I ended up seeing the one they did on the Game Show Network, had a month trial or whatever of the channel, watched a few episodes and I kind of hated it. All the improv games they played started fine but would eventually end with all the comedians in a dog pile. That's not comedy, that's football.

This is news to me. I was even watching a bunch of clips from the old show not long ago.

Watching it now. I'm sort of surprised Wayne Brady is back, though I don't know why.

I think I'm no longer a fan of singing segments though. Maybe I never was?

I think the problem is that they're less concerned with being funny. Some of them certainly are, but some of them are just singing off the top of their head and it's more impressive than funny.

Agreed. Sometimes it's neither funny nor impressive, though. Sometimes it's just difficult to watch.

Aisha was a great host! She had a great sense of humor and I hope she lets it out more throughout the season.

Also, I felt bad for Mister Williams from the first episode saying "sorry" a lot during the scenes from a hat. It goes to show how difficult it is to sift through when the audience you're entertaining doesn't react as thrillingly, especially when it's off the top of your head.

Great showing, all in all. A shame the show is putting minimal audience contribution (as far as in front of the camera is concerned) in favor for constant guest appearances, as neat as it may (and kinda has so far) turned out. Buhwhuddayagunnado, eh?

Finally got a chance to watch the premier and it was alright. Perhaps I've seen way too much of the older episodes because some of the jokes felt like they'd been done before. Ryan and Colin stole the show as they always have but I'm not complaining. In fact I'm laughing my ass off big time. It's a little depressing to see how old they have gotten but I think they still got it. I really hope guest stars from movies and TV aren't a normal thing going forward. It felt like a really blatant grab for ratings or whatever to have The Walking Dead chick get involved. The times they would have guests on the ABC run were epic because they only did it once in a while. Looking forward to seeing more of this show.

Same, I used to watch this show back in the day. On another note, Ryan Stiles looks good for his age.

I saw bits and pieces of the new season, to be honest, I liked it better with Drew Carey as the host. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that the show is back on the air, but I liked the old days with Drew Carey, that's the version that I grew up watching.

I think I can get used to the new version though, it's a little different, still funny, but different.

It's back? That's cool, I will have to check it out. I always enjoyed it back in the day.