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Whose line is it anyway?
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Posted by: scott408

Just recieve a suggestion from Tivo. I used to watch Whose line is it anyways w/ drew Cary. This recordering is different in that it's some british guy.

I don't get it. Was this before or after the american version? Seems like same actors too.

Posted by: FuzzyDolly

Way before! The original from Britain towers over the one with Drew Carey. There is no comparison. I am an avid watcher of the original, but just can't stomach the Drew Carey one. Watch the original for a while, I'm sure you'll agree! What's nice about the original, is that they rotate comics. Adds some interest. Let me know what you think!

Posted by: disco

quote:
Originally posted by FuzzyDolly
Watch the original for a while, I'm sure you'll agree!

I used to watch the British version a LONG time ago...loved it, but love the US version more.

So, I disagree!;):D

Posted by: Maui

I actually like the US version more too but I became hooked on the show watching the british version.

Posted by: Ereth

The British show had a more varied guest list, also the points were more varied (how many times can Drew say "a thousand points"?), and so Clive got to make some funny bits about a particular performance by changing how many points he gave out. They still didn't determine the winner, really, though they pretended they did.

And Josie. Josie is the best. Sure, Ryan and Colin are there (and Colin has hair!), but when Josie was on the show really rocked.

I think the British version is better only because the US Version became too formulaic. Because we had to do Drew Carey's "the points don't matter" joke at the opening and after the commercial, we had less games per show. And there were far less Hoedowns on the British version. :)

Posted by: doom1701

The british version is by far the better of the two. More games, the games tend to run shorter, so you don't get bored with them, fewer "singing" games (OK, so we all know that Wayne Brady can really only sing and do Cartman impressions), and Clive was just exponentially better as a host.

The US version is (was--was last season it's last?) good, but just not as good.

Posted by: HTH

quote:
Originally posted by Ereth
I think the British version is better only because the US Version became too formulaic. Because we had to do Drew Carey's "the points don't matter" joke at the opening and after the commercial, we had less games per show.

All because of those US game show laws.

But then how do they explain the episodes where Drew was giving away $100 bills?

Posted by: trainman

quote:
Originally posted by HTH
All because of those US game show laws.

Trust me, Drew doesn't repeat "the points don't matter" because of any laws. "Whose Line?" doesn't even count as a game show...it's a comedy show with certain game show elements. (I'd blame the producers and/or ABC, assuming Americans won't "get it" unless it's repeated several dozen times.)

British commercial TV has fewer commercials than American commercial TV, so there's more time for actual show material there.

Posted by: LoadStar

Well... responding to the "way before" - it wasn't all that much before. In fact, if you look at some of the later BBC Whose Line episodes, you'll see they're filmed in America using the same set that the ABC-Disney show ended up using. (Probably because they wanted to continue using Ryan Stiles, who was contractually attached to the Drew Carey Show at the time.) In any case, Drew Carey became familar with the BBC production and was one of the strongest proponents to get a US version produced.

I agree with the others, the BBC version was quite a bit better. Mostly because much of the material was more subtle and quite a bit of it was delivered deadpan style. On the US version, you can almost see and hear the cast members waiting for a rimshot when they deliver a punchline. "The points don't matter. Kind of like diet coke at a McDonald's - it really doesn't matter." Ba-dum bump!

Plus, the BBC version varied the "games" and the contestants a lot more. Later episodes of the US version helped - they had guest contestants, but the difference in the US version is that they still had the same 4 contestants and then added a guest contestant.

Posted by: Fleegle

quote:
Originally posted by LoadStar

Plus, the BBC version varied the "games" and the contestants a lot more. Later episodes of the US version helped - they had guest contestants, but the difference in the US version is that they still had the same 4 contestants and then added a guest contestant.

\
That's one of the reasons I never watched the US version too much. The actors were almost always the same and they had a limited number of games to play. On the BBC version, you never knew what you were going to get.

Oh, and Josie was absolutly the BEST on teh BBC version. Is SHE were on the US version, I'd watch every week.

Posted by: BluesFools

Josie guested on one episode of the US version. Unfortunately she didn't get much of a chance to shine. The most memorable moment was when she said something so rude that it not only got bleeped but also got the "censored" graphic over her mouth so you couldn't lip read it. Probably a term which is an acceptable double-entendre in the UK but with a much more explicit connotation in the US. She never got invited back after that.

The shows from the late 80's with John Sessions, Josie, Paul "twiglets" Merton and Clive giving 69 points for the risque skits are the best!

Posted by: FuzzyDolly

Josie is AWESOME! Boy could she and that really big guy sing! They did the best duets. (one of the funniest being the kitty litter song about the heart shaped poo) One of the reasons I like the British version better, is that there is less censorship. They can say much more suggestive things.

Posted by: Fleegle

Thats th difference between our two countries. Over there, sex is all good fun, but violence is much more controlled. Exactly the opposite as us.

Posted by: trainman

quote:
Originally posted by Fleegle
On the BBC version...

Actually, the British "Whose Line" was on Channel 4, one of the UK's commercial networks. (You can tell it wasn't on the noncommercial BBC because Clive Anderson did a commercial break intro and outro in every episode...but then Comedy Central shoved a couple more commercial breaks into each show.)

Posted by: DLL66

British version is not as all as good as the Drew Carey Version!

Posted by: JustAce

quote:
Originally posted by DLL66
British version is not as all as good as the Drew Carey Version!

Posted by: FatherTed

I guess I never got an interest in it in either form. I was really disappointed in the US version as a valid form of improvisational comedy when I saw an interview with Colin Mochrie and he was talking about the show having a full rehearsal prior to the taping. So much for improv.

Posted by: coldtoes

quote:
Originally posted by FuzzyDolly
Josie is AWESOME! Boy could she and that really big guy sing!

Mike McShane? I agree, he is awesome. And put me in the BBC camp, primarily because I preferred Clive as a host to Drew (although there's a lot to be said for Wayne Brady!)

Posted by: JerryLBell

One thing that always impressed me about the British version over the US version is that the British version was rather more intellectual. Some of the games involved doing sketches using different film styles or as if they were written by different authors. You actually had to be familiar with the film styles or the different authors to be able to really appreciate some of the stuff the cast was doing. The British version seemed to assume that viewers actually watched a variety of film styles and actually read. The US version seemed to assume that viewers only watched TV and never read. Sad thing is, they may be right for many US viewers.

Posted by: HTH

Am I right that we've seen the last of new US episodes?

Posted by: jradosh

About the only thing I can say bad about the UK version was that they did too many "Thunderbirds" film-sytle skits. Must be a British thing... :rolleyes:

Other than that, it's the UK version as a hands-down winner! My favorite guy was Tony Slattery (sp?). He was forever doing off-color (i.e. perverted) humor. :D And Josie and Mike were awsome.

(edit to add: I'll give this to the American version... the "reporter in the field" bit with Colin and the blue-screen is just great! Never fails to amuse me... but that's just because Colin is such a great dead-pan comedian)

Posted by: trainman

quote:
Originally posted by HTH
Am I right that we've seen the last of new US episodes?

There are still some episodes that haven't aired yet (I closed-captioned a bunch this past May and June), which ABC may use as a midseason replacement if they get desperate.

But I don't think they've done any show tapings since late 2001, believe it or not.

Posted by: DLL66

The British version is British humour. If you like that type, then I guess you like that dry sense of comedy.