# Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1998)

> Four improvisers invent sketches and games on the spot in front of a studio audience while host Drew Carey guides the chaos.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/54425

## Facts

- Seasons: 8
- Episodes: 219
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy, reality
- Network: ABC, ABC Family
- Cast: Drew Carey, Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Laura Hall, Josie Lawrence, Karen Maruyama, Robin Williams
- TMDB rating: 8.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163507/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: breakneck
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: playful, breezy, absurd, warm, spontaneous

## What critics say

Audiences broadly regard the improvised comedy as sharp, inventive and consistently entertaining, with the performers' quick wit the main draw.

## Synopsis

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1998-2007) is an American unscripted improv comedy series for ABC and ABC Family, hosted by Drew Carey. Four resident performers, Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie and Laura Hall, build sketches and games from nothing in front of a live studio audience, relying only on quick wit and nerve. Carey sets each scene and invites suggestions from the crowd, so every episode is a fresh run of short improvised bits rather than a continuing plot. Guest performers such as Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Kathy Griffin appear in small numbers across eight seasons and 219 episodes. The format sits somewhere between a sitcom and a game show, with no scripts, no points that matter and plenty of spontaneous silliness. The tone is breezy, playful and warmly absurd, and the pleasure lies in watching performers recover from mistakes and build something funny in real time. Fans of Thank God You're Here, Drop the Mic and Impractical Jokers will find similar resonance in its unscripted comic bravado and crowd energy.

## Shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway?

- [Impractical Jokers (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/52923)
- [The Drew Carey Show (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/85)
- [All That (1994)](https://ember.film/tv/3628)
- [Whose Line Is It Anyway? (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/57426)
- [The Ben Stiller Show (1992)](https://ember.film/tv/699)
- [Match Game (1973)](https://ember.film/tv/8)
- [I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/75310)
- [In Living Color (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/4197)
- [Game Changer (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/107086)
- [The Kids in the Hall (1989)](https://ember.film/tv/1462)

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