Shocked over Drew Carey decision (1 Viewer)

[Jeff#]

Ryan Stiles (who was much better scripted on Drew Carey's sitcom), the untalented Wayne Brady, and the others on the Whose Line show are not great improv comics. Improv is done best not by people in a group, but by solo comedians who made careers out of doing stand up.

Richard Pryor was a great comedian, but the time he tried an improv session on his 1977 sketch comedy show it fell flat. The only one who would have delivered in that bit was series regular Robin Williams, but his routine was cut way too short.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I have to admit that I don't care too much for comedy sitcom shows. Seinfeld, Home Improvement, King of Queens and the rest of those sitcoms just don't interest me. WIth a $40-50 pri9ce point, while that's fair for those sets, they're just bottom of the barrel genre shows that I wouldn't be interested in buying.

The problem is that these studios are releasing these sampler DVD's. Why? Judging from what I've seen posted here in the past nobody likes those disks and wouldn't waste their money on them. Why should I spend $10 on a sampler DVD when you couold pay 20 or 30 dollars more for a full season. Most fans agree with the same ideal. It's just a way to soak fans into throwing their money away. "Buying these disks votes for this series?" That's a crock of crap and you can quote me on that.

There are better ways for these studios to test the waters and one of them is by getting fans to pre-pay for a subscription to the TV DVD titles. AnimEigo, an anime distribution comnpany did this when they licensed the You're Under Arrest TV Series. While it is a different fenre, most TV Shows will never see the light of day because studios are so selective and don't ever want to release a failure but studios do show a profit on other shows and you'd think they would take the chance to continue releasing a show, even when initial sales are down and let the profits from other shows absorb some losses from lesser performing shows.

If Barney Miller didn't sell well and Seinfeld showed a profit then let the Seinfeld absorb absorb some profits and eventually, fans would catch onto the show. Not every show is going to be a hit but studios should bear the responsibility and if fans buy a first season set and they don't produce further sets then that studio should refund the original buyers of those sets and offer a return for a refund.

 

[george kaplan]

Well Jeff, you're entitled to your opinion, but I'd bet a hell of a lot of money that the "untalented Wayne Brady" has a lot more talent than you.

Those guys think quick on their feet, are very funny, and work very well together. I agree that both Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters are funny and great improvisers, but so are the people on Whose Line.

 

[Malcolm R]

I believe the "Green Screen Show" with Drew Carey was never picked up and the few episodes filmed were burned off on cable (either Comedy Central or ABC Family). I saw a couple episodes while channel surfing sometime last year.

 

[Jeff#]

Which would make him more talented than you as well, George, because we're not even in show business. That's not a valid comparison. Brady's morning talk show was a disaster, and his career hasn't exactly set the world on fire.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I've never understood the "you think you could do better?" school of shooting the messenger. As you mention, it's not valid - you aren't asking people to watch you perform...

 

[George_W_K]

I liked Whose Line, but I didn't get the impression that the show was totally improvisied. I know it was supposed to be, but it seemed scripted to me.

 

[george kaplan]

My Wayne Brady comparison didn't come out right, and I wasn't trying to compare him to just Jeff by any means. I never saw his talk show, but that only means he wasn't a talented talk show host. Magic Johnson wasn't a talented talk show host, nor was Chevy Chase, but that doesn't mean Magic wasn't a hell of a talented basketball player or Chase a gifted comedian. If someone doesn't like Whose Line, that's one thing. If you think the performers weren't talented (for comedy and improv and, in the case of Brady, singing and impersonation), then that's an opinion you're entitled to, but one I'd never subscribe to in a billion years.

 

[Mark Kalzer]

I think that's a rather narrow view of improv. Improv is a rather versatile skill. I see no reason to say it should be restricted to solo stand up when there is so much that can be done with it. There is the Second City style that influences Whose Line, and there is also the style that helps develop what eventually become scripted sketches. (And no I am not talking about Whose Line being scripted)

In our community theatre in Pickering Ontario, we are using improv in both a murder mystery dinner theatre, as well as in an annual interactive 'Settlers at Sunset' in the local pioneer village. The greatest asset it brings is spontaneous wit. So many great jokes can only come in the moment, not scripted. As an actor I quite enjoy how when in the moment of actual performance, if I think of something funny to say, I can go out and say it. (As long as its in character...still have to stay within period and character)

I know the Green Screen show was cancelled, and I do think it's concept was fundamentally flawed. (I never did watch a show) The whole idea of stage improv is that the actors are the only agents of constructing the environment of the scene. It comes from their heads and it is entirely their responsibility to fill in everything else through their miming actions with non-existant objects and props. Having some animator draw in something afterwards after having time to think about it just contradicts the spontaneous nature of the moment, especially considering that the actors have no idea what will go on that screen while performing. For the blue screen game on Whose Line, at least there were improv actors present who could see what was on the screen, and could play off of it, the same applies for any of the gimmick games where the audience does the sound effects or move the actors. Here the acctors are able to, and even forced to acknowledge the absurdity of what is occuring.

 

[Jeff#]

This is the point I was trying to make, Mark. I've purchased all of the NBC years of SCTV , one of my favorite sketch comedy series. The show itself was like a low-budget work of art with some gifted comics, most of whom did indeed come from the stage (Second City Chicago and Second City Toronto). Not all sketches worked, but character comedy can be developed and honed. This was the case of Guy Cabellero, Edith Prickley, Johnny LaRue, etc.

One of the SCTV volumes came with an audio CD of Second City stage performances from both up and coming comics (such as future SNL stars Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey) and those who never became famous. The 20 or so routines ranged from the early 1970s to around 2000. I listened to all of them, and not one of them was that funny. In direct contrast to the scripted SCTV, many of the improv stage shows were stupid. The problem is in the raw material itself. You'd think with performances going back to 1959, that the producers of that CD could have picked a funnier selection, but they really blew it!

 

[Charles Ellis]

I'm even more surprised that no one at WB has mentioned George Lopez, which just celebrated its 100th episode. Why hasn't anyone released season sets of this current success?

 

[Jeff#]

Typing of The Drew Carey Show, actress Christa Miller phoned in as a guest on The Howard Stern Show this morning.

 

[Walter C]

I enjoyed the show very much myself. Watching the final season on ABC (and later on TBS), the producers just took liberities and tried anything, since there was nothing to lose. I have to say, I thought the final episode wasn't much of a final episode, but more like a season finale that expected a renewal, but didn't get one.

I did enjoy the "What's Wrong With This Episode" ones, even though the pop-ups can be distracting at times.

I thought Green Screen Show was terrible. It just wasn't funny at all.

 

[Scott_F_S]

Which has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not he's a talented improv comedian.

 

[Scott Kriefall]

I too would prefer to see releases of the British WLiiA, especially the earlier episodes that featured a wider variety of guests -- before Colin & Ryan appeared in nearly every episode. Don't get me wrong -- I like Colin & Ryan -- but the wider variety of personalities was great. Mike McShane, Steve Steen & Jim Sweeney, Paul Merton, etc...

BBC Ameria is currently airing the series, but they seem to be selecting primarily from the later episodes. Probably due to Colin & Ryan being present in most episodes, so fans of the American WLiiA will be more likely to watch.

 

[Stephen Wight]

I'm more surprised that Warner Bros. said there's no plans to release the first season set of Welcome Back Kotter,which was infinitely more popular,and got better ratings,than the Drew Carey Show.

 

[Jay_B!]

well, I have a feeling since a Kotter movie is in the works that we'll see season 1 around the time the movie comes out, and if lucky, season 2 to coincide with the movie's DVD release

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I sem to recall that I mentioned a long time ago that these Golden Episode disks that Warner has been using to test the waters for upcoming shows that they want to release were a very bad idea for the studio. Who wants to spend $10 on a 2-episode disk when fans can spend $30-40 at a Best Buy or Target for a 22-26 episode set. The Warner Brothers mathematics machine just doesn't add up and if they are basing their judgement on releasing these older shows to DVD.

Then, if they release the set you're already soaked for the $10 Warner suckered everyone into spending on those sets. I'd definately support the releases of complete season sets but it's not worth my hard earner money buying a starter disk ... Warner is undoubtedly making money on some of the other sets, instead of wasting time on putting out the starter sets, they should just release a complete set.

Drew Carey, Happy Days and the whole rest of those classic shows. If studios can't be bothered to release the rest of the seasons to DVD after fans who have purchased them, they should either be obligated to release the rest of those shows or refund the money to those who have purchased such sets.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I wonder whether the original intent of the single-disc episode compilations is not so much to test the waters for full-season releases than to make sales to people who might want to drop $10 on a couple of episodes of an old favorite but aren't really interested in spending $30 on a full season set.

Remember, they started with these compilation discs before anyone had any idea how popular DVD sets of old TV shows would be.



On what planet?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I have only two words for the naysayers:

"I'm Wayne Brady, bitch!!!"

One of the greatest comedy sketches ever conceived.

As for the improv debate, I don't really consider a standup comic riffing to be the same thing as a troupe doing theater games. They are two entirely different animals.