Whose Line Is It Anyway?/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Drew: I love that, let's make fun of the Native Americans; who gives a (shit) about them?

  • Acceptable Political Targets: The British version liked to mock the Conservative government of John Major, while the American version liked to poke fun at both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
  • Acceptable Targets: The US version had a trend of hillbilly jokes. In the UK version though... it was Americans...
    • At least during the first few UK seasons, which had a maximum of 1 American player on occasion (Archie Hahn and Ron West in particular). As time passed and more Americans were added (reaching a 3:1 ratio eventually), any jokes were either Self-Deprecation or followed by snarking at something British.
    • Bald people and Canadians (especially the exchange rate with the Canadian dollar). So in other words, Colin.
    • Ryan's height, big nose, and big feet. Therefore, also, his ridiculous shoes.
      • In a few episodes of the U.S. version, Ryan also wore a Western-style shirt: Numerous cowboy jokes were lobbed at him. "...And a special yippy-yi-yo! to Ryan Stiles!"
    • Ryan frequently took jabs at Bill Clinton and Drew. Colin at one time referenced the Firestone tire debacle.
  • Adaptation Displacement: Some of the games (even more in the UK version) will still make sense with just the audio - the only indication left of this show's radio origins.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: UK regular Josie Lawrence appearing in the US series, singing alongside Wayne Brady for the first time.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: After one sketch, Drew was joking with the cast, unaware of a stage hand hunching over his desk and refilling his cup with Pepsi. When he finally noticed her, the woman ran off. "Who the bleep was that?" Drew asks. Capping it off with "More ale, wench!"
  • Broken Base: US or UK version? Certain sites, like Youtube, are rife with comments along the lines of "X version is soooo much better". And God help you if you happen to enjoy both versions. The debate is so headache-inducing -- and can even become so personal at times—that it's probably better to stay away from the whole thing.
  • Cargo Ship: Ryan with the mobile boom cam on stage left (the audience's right).
  • Crazy Awesome: Paul Merton. One time he pieced together a complete joke even while matching Steve Steen's pace during Expert Translation.
  • Creator's Pet: The Hoedown is the skit version of this. Drew loves it, to that point that he calls it his "favorite game in the whole wide world" and whenever Drew participates in a game at the end of the show, 3/4 of the time it'll be a hoedown. The others...not so much (especially Ryan.) And they'll joke about how much they hate it regularly.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: Colin coming up with "Mary Had a Little Lamb" as the title of the animal porn movie he was watching. Simultaneously dirty and hilarious.
    • During a playing of "Hollywood Director" where Wayne and Ryan are motorists in a traffic accident and Brad plays a cop. As soon as Brad gets in, he says "Pardon me." and starts beating Wayne up.
  • Dork Age: You may not believe it, but Colin attempted some Gag Penis jokes early on, before leaving them to the expert ie. Ryan.
  • Dude, Not Funny: Deliberately invoked by Jeff Davis, who, when told to come up with something that would make the audience boo, said, "So our potatoes are simmering, now after we've filleted the baby seal..."
    • This was part of a "Scenes from a Hat" game, again about things to make the audience boo. Ryan accidentally crossed the line twice by giving instructions on how to push old women into traffic, which got applause.
    • Party Quirks: Brad is the host, Colin is a circus sea lion:

Colin: Arf! Arf! Arf!
Brad: (to other guests) I'd like you to meet Stephen Hawking!
Audience: *shocked*

    • This one was actually bleeped out of the aired version.
  • Dumb Blonde: Now, I don't know how smart Kathy Greenwood is, but she was really bad at the guessing games. They would typically end with Drew having to tell her what all 3 (yes, all 3) performers were.
    • She also would occasionally forget to speak in questions during the Questions Only game.
      • Specifically she would forget the most, while the others just blanked.
    • Lampshaded in one playing of 'Let's make a Date'.

Drew: Now Kathy, I know how great you are at these guessing-type games.
Kathy: I feel especially confident tonight.

  • Ear Worm: Wayne can be counted on to churn out some very infectious refrains when he sings. Results in Unfortunate Implications one time when he breaks into a Public Enemy black power rap to a parking attendant.
    • Ooohhhhhhhh, hidey hidey hidey hidey hi-dey hi-dey high!..."
    • The UK theme tune.
    • The hoedown theme, especially since you're practically guaranteed to hear it Once Per Episode.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Jeff Davis, a guest star in only a few episodes and the youngest comedian in the show turned out to be extremely popular and later played a bigger part in Drew Carey's Green Screen Show - which was unfortunately Too Good to Last.
    • Mike McShane was one of the most talented of the UK show, but vanished following the show's move to the United States (and, reportedly, a violent back-stage argument with one of the producers.) McShane appeared in a cameo of Frasier and after having gastric bypass surgery and losing fifty pounds, became unrecognizable.
  • Fan Community Nickname: Whosers.
  • First Installment Wins: Some people love it, some people don't.
  • Funny Aneurysm Moment: One playing of Weird Newscasters has Wayne as Michael Jackson at the age of 100. Rest in peace, MJ.
    • Even better(?); here he scores a two-hit with MJ and James Brown in a celebrity deathmatch.
    • One suggestion in Scenes From a Hat was, "Bad times to tell her you don't care." Wayne's joke was miming flipping through TV channels before doing an uncaring, "Yeah, I love you too". Drew then remarks, "Scenes from Wayne's real life." This joke isn't so much funny anymore since Wayne has divorced.
    • "Hey, I didn't mean to cook your dog. But hey, these things just happen..."
    • In a game of Let's Make a Date, Ryan Stiles played TV's Crocodile Hunter. At one point, he "dies" after clutching his chest and falling over. RIP, Steve Irwin.
  • Growing the Beard: Everyone agrees this happened at some point. There are people who prefer the British show over the American one, and there are people who love Wayne Brady and hate Tony Slattery and Steve Frost, but everybody agrees the show improved from the very first series, also known as the "Watch John Sessions Be As Unfunny As Possible" Show.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: The first (probably only) ever game of Survival Show resulted in Greg says "I'm available to host The Price Is Right..." Some years down the line, Bob Barker retires - guess who takes the reins. Then Brad decides to become the announcer. More hilarity ensues.
    • Drew. Drew takes the reins.
    • A hoedown was done about game show hosts. Again, Drew became the host of The Price Is Right, Wayne became the host of Let's Make a Deal and Don't Forget the Lyrics, and Colin host the Candadian version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.
    • During one such Hoedown about House Arrest. Colin says he's got a real easy parole officer. The parole officer is Charlie Sheen.
    • Score one more for Greg: the first ever game of Sports Commentators had him in the role of one of the commentators. See Hey, It's That Voice! above. Bonus points for Rory, the other commentator, going into one of his obscure accents.
    • When Jonathan Pryce guest starred in one episode from 1989, he played a pirate in Party Quirks.
    • "That was so nasty they wouldn't even post it on the internet..." Indeed.
    • one game of Hats involved Wayne wearing a George W. Bush mask, then sitting there gibbering like an idiot, and finally taking off his shoe and bonking his own head.
      • Still on Wayne: the novelty of a black dude doing a convincing Scottish accent hasn't quite worn down, as Team Fortress 2 proves.
    • Wayne going from Let's Make a Date to Let's Make a Deal.
    • Any Pinocchio jokes from the UK run fall under this now (see Running Gag below).
    • Did Steve Oedekerk watch this particular clip?
    • Ryan's played a man aging in reverse a couple of times.
    • Crosses into Harsher in Hindsight here.
      • "You are THIS close to being substituted with Gary Coleman! THIS CLOSE!!"
    • Towards the end of this clip is a game of Expert, where Ryan plays an expert on karate and pigs. And then Josie gets the idea to mention that the interview is about a movie with karate pigs.
    • Towards the end of this clip, a game of Stand, Sit, Bend, where Clive has designated the scene as 'cowboys on the range'. Greg, saddled with the 'bending' position, deliberately posed suggestively in Clive's direction. Bear in mind that they're cowboys.
    • Before one playing of "Infomercial", Drew makes an out-of-nowhere love proclamation to Britney Spears: "Britney, if you're out there with your fine ass, I love you." Somehow it's doubtful that Drew would've said the same thing after he saw what would happen after she had kids.
      • That's nothing - one time he shouted out to Anna Nicole Smith. Double yowch.
    • All those fat jokes about Drew Carey... Who's laughing NOW?
      • People always ask me, "Hey, Drew, did you lose weight?"
    • Brad's second response to Celebrities that Should Never Release Rap Records. Guess what?
    • Wayne's second "tune" "Songs of the Bus Driver" inadvertently predicted the Stupid Statement Dance Mix.
      • Speaking of which, the main article for SSDM (also see this page's CMoF entry) states how Stephen Fry's "Parthenon" line in Questions Only actually came back to haunt him on the set of QI.
    • One session of Props that wound up in the UK Clip Show eps (here) involved a massive cone that covered Ryan's head and shoulders. It was meant to be silly, but Ryan going completely quiet and motionless made it look rather unnerving, even back then.
    • One early UK session of Film Dubbing had Clive giving the scenario "two roommates in a flat", when the actual clip was really a documentary with two presenters. Thanks to the clip's format of addressing the audience, Ryan and Greg quickly turned it into a Confession Cam joke, predating The Real World.
    • The Newsflash game involving the rat infestation has Colin start off by saying "it started with some bad soup!" The plot of Ratatouille kicks off when Remy tries to fix Linguini's bad soup.
    • During Superheroes, Colin is given the name Presidential Candidate Man. The world crisis he is to solve is "no TelePrompters". Fast forward 10 years, and one of the most popular targets of parody for President Barack Obama is his perceived over-reliance on TelePrompters.
    • One of Ryan's lesser-used running gags was to acknowledge that he looked like a grown-up Doogie Howser. This was during the time when Neil Patrick Harris' career post-Doogie Howser wasn't relevant to Hollywood. A year after the last episode of Whose Line aired on ABC, NPH would become legen... wait for it... dary!
    • Colin's role as the director of an art museum in The Tuxedo takes on a different meaning if you've seen this.
    • Early in the UK series, Tony Slattery thought to take a session of "Authors" Off the Rails by choosing to tell his parts of the tale in the style of 'My Little Pony'. It's doubtful he knew at the time just how big that supposedly obscure children's franchise would become.
    • Scenes from a hat suggestion: "Strange causes to raise money for." Ryan: "Get Drew Carey a third show." Well, sort of.
    • Here's an in-show example: during Colin's Newsflash on clips of himself, he famously added "It all started with a badly-timed bald joke!" A minute after the game ended, Drew was joking around about it when Colin started giggling out of the blue, and said "Oh! I said the bald joke thing, too!"
    • In an interview, Colin once told a story about a family of Whose Line fans he and Wayne Brady met the day before a taping who were planning on coming. As they left, the older lady in the family complimented Wayne and called him "a nice Christian boy". The next day, the family showed up and said older lady is picked for Song Styles. She was none other than Lee the Lunch Lady. And now you know why Colin practically falls out of his seat with laughter from the chosen style of the game onwards.
  • Ho Yay: Tony Slattery with anyone and everyone.
    • Caroline and Josie.
    • How has no one mentioned Colin and Ryan? The amount of times they kiss each off + all the times Ryan sticks up for Colin + the fact Colin always plays the Ryan's wife/girlfriend in the games = so much Ho Yay Drew lampshades it by saying "Just when you thought Will and Grace was the gayest show on TV." Which prompts them all to show off their wedding rings...
    • The entire Richard Simmons episode.
  • Jumping the Shark: While season 5 of the U.S. version isn't necessarily bad, it did succumb to JTS-like tactics: Many episodes featured guest stars that were either sung to or participated in the games. While many of these were still funny, relying on guest stars, especially when the earlier episodes didn't need them, is a classic "Jump the Shark" symptom.
  • Memetic Animutation: Colin appears in almost all such animations created; he played the sun in the very first one.
  • Memetic Mutation: Plenty. One of the more popular ones is a response to a post with a picture of Colin reading from a card, accompanied by text with a reverse-engineered Scenes from a Hat pitch for the post.
  • Memetic Outfit: The US series was responsible for a few of these - apart from obvious ones like Greg's suit, Ryan's shoes or Wayne's tight tees, the preference to short-sleeve shirts while junking the coats and ties from the UK version actually allowed the players to cut loose as physical movements were less impeded.
    • One must not forget Steve Frost (from the UK version) and his Hawaiian shirts. Or Josie Lawrence's frilly blouses.
    • David Hasselhoff and Richard Simmons were certainly dressed appropriately when they appeared on the show.
  • Nausea Fuel: The mass of maggots footage in "Newsflash".
    • In-show example: During "Greatest Hits", the first music style was The Brady Bunch. Ryan remarked: "I had the hots for Alice." Colin began to speak, but looked like he was about to be sick. Eventually he said: "Sorry, just working with the visual."
  • Never Live It Down: At least in one episode, Drew accidentally calling Africa a country.
    • If someone epically screws up, expect it to be referenced constantly for the rest of the episode. Other examples include Wayne spelling Howard as H-O-R-W-O-R-D (multiple times. In song) and of course the infamous 'Cosby and Hitler' incident.
    • Drew was in Gepetto. Wayne got away with it though.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Witness if you dare, the long-term effects of plastic surgery...
  • Painful Rhyme: Averted for the most part in the singing-type games. Yes, counting Colin.
  • The Scrappy: John Sessions was considered the unfunniest comedian to appear on the show by a lot of people.
    • Archie Hahns was accused of unbalancing the games by keeping a few personal props on hand, including a whistle, prop teeth and, in one infamous incident, some castanets. Factor in his status as a semi-regular, and you've got the reason why John Sessions didn't take as much of the heat as he should have at the time.
    • Kathy Greenwood.
  • Special Effects Failure: one game of Newsflash starts inadvertently with the green screen showing the studio cam's view instead of the archive footage intended. Chip and Ryan have some fun reaching to the far left to touch Colin's head.
    • Perhaps the best example of this is in the UK version wherein one prop broke, then continued to deteriorate throughout the sketch.
  • Squick: Some versions of Newsflash seem to be set up with this in mind, from rats to maggots to cockroaches to a series of skateboarders wiping out and landing groin first.
  • That One Level: The games may all be in good fun and the points certainly don't matter, but some games like Changed Letter, Multiple Personalities and the Questions Only variants can be pretty difficult.
    • Certain games get audible groans and expressions of dread from the performers, such as "If You Know What I Mean" (Ryan once described it as a party game if you want people to leave), "Hoedown" (Ryan again- he hates this game), "Number of Words" (during the 100th episode, Ryan groaned and quickly said, "I mean, "yay"!"), "Hats" (Greg, who will most likely complain about how immature or unamusing he looks while using said implements), and "Questionable Impressions" (or, as Drew puts it: "We're gonna change the name of that game to "Hey, Let's All Make Idiots Out of Ourselves").
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: A lot of fans of the UK version didn't like the American humor of the American version. Other things included how vastly different Drew's hosting style was to Clive's; Drew interacted with the players a lot more and even participated at times while Clive was far more low-key and actually made the points "appear" to be important.
    • And there are plenty more who are fine with all of that...but just can't stand the way the U.S. audience screams every time anyone opens their mouth.
  • Win the Crowd: Jeff Davis' first episode was decidedly underwhelming until a Scenes from a Hat bit "If people celebrated mundane events as if they were touchdowns", and Jeff stepped out. "It's a boy! Yeah!" and he spiked the "ball" at the ground. The audience went hysterical and that alone made him stand out over many of the other rotating players.
    • Apparently Brad Sherwood took a little time to follow British pop culture when he debuted in the UK series, namedropping EastEnders before attempting emo-core Brit-pop in Song Styles. It worked out pretty well.
    • Wayne Brady's singing talent had already ensured himself some new fans in his debut in UK season 10... then he went along with Brad addressing him as "that guy with the microphone" during Daytime Talkshow, and busted out a massive-stadium-speakers voice impression that brought the house down.
  • The Woobie: In between Drew stating when they came back from a commercial "Welcome back to Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the show that gives Colin Mochrie a reason to live," to Chip actually making a drinking game out of all the times that they rip on Colin, it's hard not to see him as this.

Drew: "Oh man, whatever you do, don't make fun of the popular funny guy."

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