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Whose Line Is It Anyway?was right: Everything is made up and the points dont matter.
Whose Linewas on the air for eight seasons during its original American ABC run from 1998 to 2004.
The church of Carey promised them nothing more than an enduring dedication to dorkiness.
For whatever reason, that felt like a life well spent.
That means both the U.K. and Australian incarnations,and the CW reboot, are excluded.
That still leaves us with 49 games, which speaks to the crazy scope ofWhose Lineduring its original run.
Hoedown
The Hoedown segment sucked.
But seriously, Hoedown was consistently the least funny segment of every episode.
Its only saving grace?
The visceral hatred each of the players had for the Hoedown as well.
(Above, Colin is the Queen of England.)
Its fine, but it never competed with the gods like Party Quirks or Lets Make a Date.
Title Sequence
Title Sequence was a little too high concept for its own good.
Theres too much going on!
Remove one of these elements and this game gets a lot better.
But it usually fell flat in practice.
Maybe because, even in parody, bad dad jokes from John Madden characters arent especially appealing.
Give credit to Ryan Stiles though: He always gave it his all.
(In this case, an Academy Awards lectern.)
Honestly though, the average afternoon of bad daytime TV is funnier than made-up daytime TV.
So this game was doomed from the start.
Action Replay
Action Replay only appeared in six episodes ofWhose Line.
Afterwards, those players subbed in and attempted to reenact the scene without hearing any of the dialogue.
Bartender
Bartender was quite literally a stagecraft musical break in the middle of an improv show.
It also probably wouldve been better if Brady was the only guy involved.
It might be a little more streamlined, but personally, I prefer the chaos of the predecessor.
Alphabet
Alphabet was almost more of a circus act than an improv game.
Hey, You Down There!
The doofy employee-training video is one of the most frequently satirized forms of media in comedy.
Everything fromThe OfficetoSpongeBob SquarePantshas taken a shot at it.
Hey, You Down There!
(Meaning, if you picked up the binoculars, you turn into Liberace.)
Its a fine game bogged down with some extremely of-its-time pop-culture references.
Remember whenRain ManandBraveheartwere relevant improv-show pulls?
Film Dub
TheMST3KofWhose Linegames.
Fashion Models
Greg Proops is a fantastic fake commentator.
Proops did all the heavy lifting, though.
NoWhose Lineperformer was more underrated.
Improbable Mission
Improbable Mission represented some of the most crucial work theWhose Linebacking band ever did on the show.
Whose Line
Shout out to Whose Line for having the most meta name in the history of the franchise.
Questions Only
This is another classic improv game thats more of a stunt than comedy.
Do you like to see the usually surefireWhose Linecast freeze up?
Does it make you feel more calm in your own shortcomings?
Two Line Vocabulary
Does being limited to two lines in an improv bit make the performance easier or harder?
Its even funnier when someone has to expand a message as simple as Stop!
Film Noir was a game designed to generate that exact moment over and over again.
Its solid, but we prefer some of the more nutty angles generated by Drew Careys Uncle Sam hat.
Everyone is constantly jockeying for position for not break the rules.
No game on the show created more chaos.
Put theWhose Linecast in the MCU!
Change Letter
You know that Alphabet Acrobatics Blackalicious song?
This is the improv equivalent.
In every sketch, one letter has to be replaced with a different letter.
So instead of L, sub in P. It was a nightmare, and a total cultWhose Lineclassic.
They only played Change Letter four times!
Newsflash
Newsflash was one of the best uses ever of shoddy green-screening.
Three-Headed Broadway Star
Three-Headed Broadway Star is maybe the most well-knownWhose Linegame in the shows original run.
Sometimes, though, a game famous for its disasters makes it a fan favorite.
The point of Song Styles was to demonstrate just how talented Brady is.
Thats why the game is one of the longest tenured inWhose Linehistory.
Hats
Dig a wig out of a box and make a joke with it.
That has been Comedy 101 since the dawn of man.
Of course, theWhose Linecast are experts of the form.
Thank you,Whose Line,for the sex ed I wasnt going to get in school.
Dubbing
Dubbing was the most high-riskWhose Linegame.
We should put all the Moving People sketches on the next probe that leaves our solar system.
Colin and Ryan were consistently overachievers here, with a ragtime enthusiasm they never could muster for Hoedown.
The Wayne Brady songs themselves I could take or leave.
I just want to see Colin destroy the world with another baffling pun.
So respect toWhose Linefor distributing the formula to the world.
Party Quirks
Party Quirks was the undisputed GOAT of all the hidden-identityWhose Linegames.
Living Scenery
Living Scenery was responsible for perhaps the greatestWhose Lineact of all time in 2003.
Weird Newscasters
Weird Newscasters was the linchpinWhose Linegame.
Five minutes is all it took for the cast to improvise a bizarre local news show.
Seriously, pull up an episode ofWhose Lineright now.
Wouldnt it feel like something was missing if Weird Newscasters wasnt at the top?
Dont you oughta see a Wayne Brady sportscaster gimmick before you feel completely satisfied?
Scenes From a Hat
The 100-yard dash ofWhose Linesketches.
