Post by Whoser Master on Aug 14, 2008 11:24:34 GMT -6
Well, I'm thinking everyone who signed up knows what WL is, but just in case you aren't an "idiot" yet, here we go.
What is "Whose Line is it Anyway?"
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.[1]
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, however 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 136 episodes in all and remains one of the most famous TV shows on British TV.[2] 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.
Early episodes of the British television programme were primarily shot in London. However, half of the episodes for each of series 3 and 4 were taped in New York, and series 10 was filmed entirely in Hollywood. The tenth and final season was taped in the same studio that would host the American version. This final season was first broadcast only in the U.S. on the Comedy Central cable channel. Reruns of the entire British TV series had been running on Comedy Central since the early 1990s, though some episodes were edited to remove games, rearrange games in a show, or remove potentially offensive content. Repeats of the British series moved to BBC America in April 2006; however, the network has not shown any episodes taped prior to 1994.
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. While the network would regularly premiere two new episodes in one night, there were several occurrences in which some episodes were skipped or postponed until a later date because of the airing of other new shows or specials.[citation needed]
The format of the American version was essentially identical to the British programme. A main difference was Carey's use of the game-show facade, explicitly stating at the start of each episode that "the points don't matter," and sometimes emphasizing this throughout the episodes. The difference in standards in the U.K. compared to U.S. primetime meant stricter censoring of both language and content on the U.S. series. Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie, frequent performers on the British show, were featured in every American episode, and Wayne Brady also became a regular toward the beginning of the second American season.
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.
As of October 2, 2007, Whose Line? is seen on ABC Family from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET on weekdays, unless a film or other special overruns its timeslot. In January, 2007 UK Channel Five US started broadcasting a cut-down U.S. version, whilst on October 15, 2007, another UK channel, Dave, started airing the U.K. version, although these are edited, censored and do not retain the original placement of advertisement breaks. The channel only shows episodes originally aired between 1988 to 1996.
What is "Whose Line is it Anyway?"
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.[1]
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, however 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 136 episodes in all and remains one of the most famous TV shows on British TV.[2] 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.
Early episodes of the British television programme were primarily shot in London. However, half of the episodes for each of series 3 and 4 were taped in New York, and series 10 was filmed entirely in Hollywood. The tenth and final season was taped in the same studio that would host the American version. This final season was first broadcast only in the U.S. on the Comedy Central cable channel. Reruns of the entire British TV series had been running on Comedy Central since the early 1990s, though some episodes were edited to remove games, rearrange games in a show, or remove potentially offensive content. Repeats of the British series moved to BBC America in April 2006; however, the network has not shown any episodes taped prior to 1994.
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. While the network would regularly premiere two new episodes in one night, there were several occurrences in which some episodes were skipped or postponed until a later date because of the airing of other new shows or specials.[citation needed]
The format of the American version was essentially identical to the British programme. A main difference was Carey's use of the game-show facade, explicitly stating at the start of each episode that "the points don't matter," and sometimes emphasizing this throughout the episodes. The difference in standards in the U.K. compared to U.S. primetime meant stricter censoring of both language and content on the U.S. series. Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie, frequent performers on the British show, were featured in every American episode, and Wayne Brady also became a regular toward the beginning of the second American season.
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.
As of October 2, 2007, Whose Line? is seen on ABC Family from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET on weekdays, unless a film or other special overruns its timeslot. In January, 2007 UK Channel Five US started broadcasting a cut-down U.S. version, whilst on October 15, 2007, another UK channel, Dave, started airing the U.K. version, although these are edited, censored and do not retain the original placement of advertisement breaks. The channel only shows episodes originally aired between 1988 to 1996.