'Whose Line Is It Anyway': New season brings back the laughs

There have been many television revivals this year from Dallas to the upcoming Ironsides, but the one I’ve been most looking forward to is Whose Line Is It Anyway, the improvisational comedy show that ran for nearly ten years. Although it collected a cult following, the show flew under the radar until the age of YouTube, where it has garnered a whole new group of superfans that have discovered that Whose Line is one of the simplest and funniest shows in the history of TV.

Based on a long-running British series, Whose Line takes a core group of comedians (mainly Ryan Styles, Colin Mochrie and Wayne Brady) and has them perform scenes, sketches, songs and shticks off the top of their head based on supplied ideas and audience suggestions. What made the original series so funny weren’t the games themselves (many are staples that are played in improv classes across the country), but the chemistry between the actors, who were so quick-witted and in-synch they seemed to have comedy ESP.

While host Drew Carey has tried to duplicate the show’s success with similar endeavors like Improv-A-Ganza and Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, each reincarnation seemed dead on arrival despite the similar set-up and cast. Because of that, I had low expectations for the revival of Whose Line despite my hope for a return to the good old days of televised improv comedy.

While only two episodes in, I’m pleased to say that the revival lives up to its predecessor. In fact, except for the new host (comedian Aisha Tyler) and Colin’s whitening hair, it feels almost identical to the earlier series.

The first episode stared Wayne, Ryan and Colin with special guests Gary Anthony Williams. Starting off with the Blind Date, a Let’s Make A Dates-esque game where Gary had to guess the identities of three crazy bachelors in search of a date. While the performers seemed to take a few games to regain their past Whose Line mojo, Blind Date had some very funny moments of its own, like when Ryan, as Colin’s drunk, bickering parents, tells him via his multiple personalities, “Shut up! If it weren’t for you, he’d have hair!” The game also featured Colin as a love robot who recharges by
kissing.

Following this was Dubbing, where the gang was joined by Walking Dead star Lauren Cohan, who must act in a zombie-related scene despite her voice being “dubbed” by Colin. While there wasn’t any real big laughs in this game, it did restart the trend of Whose Line injuries when Lauren gave Wayne a swift roundhouse kicked that knocked the Let’s Make A Deal host down. I guess this is what they mean by dangerous comedy (for those who doubt it, check out the most famous Whose Line blunder involving Ryan’s painful encounter with a desk) A later game with Lauren, Living Scenery, didn’t feature any physical violence but not that many laughs either.

The show did pick up, though, with one new game and one old standby. What’s In The Bag featured Ryan, Colin and Wayne acting out a scene using props found in two audience member’s purses. Ryan and Colin have always been incredibly attuned performers, so any sketch that allows them to play off each other is great. The best game, though, was probably the return of Scenes From A Hat. With suggestions like “things you can about your lunch but not your partner” (“Hey, wanna swap?”), to “things you don’t want to hear right before moving in for a kiss,” Scenes From A Hat is the perfect game to test the performers’ quick and versatile wit.

The second episode, which featured guests Heather Anne Campbell and Glee’s Kevin McHale, also had a great game of Hat. Whether it’s the new network or just the change in TV censorship in the years since Whose Line left the air, there was a noticible new naughtiness in this game, especially in suggestions like “things you can say about your shoes but not your partner” (“the tongue keeps getting in the way!” and “this used to fit tighter!” where the highlights).

While two games in this second episode fell a bit flat, both Helping Hands and Dubbing never quited gelled; the episode did bring back musical games featuring Laura Hall and Linda Taylor. In a memorable Song Styles, Wayne made up a song for Glee’s Kevin McHale, who joined in on the fun with some dancing and singing of his own.

Overall, the first couple episodes of the 2013 reboot of Whose Line were very strong and on par with earlier ones. While the show doesn’t try to reinvent the improv wheel at all, why should they? They have terrific performers, great guests, funny games and a loyal following. While there were rocky moments in the beginning few episodes, once the cast clicks back together perfectly and new host Tyler finds her footing, Whose Line could stick around for quite a while.