We Now Know Who’ll Be Saying The Lines In The Australian ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’
HUGE.
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is kind of the John Farnham farewell tour of television shows. We love it when it’s around, we’re sad when it goes away, but in the back of our minds we don’t let ourselves get completely distraught because deep down we know it isn’t really The Last Time. Sure they said it was over, that this is definitely the final season, but it’s okay — there will be another final season. Then another. Then a farewell tour. Then a re-imagining in a new format.
Colin, blink twice if you need to be rescued.
For a show with a pretty straightforward premise, Whose Line Is It Anyway? has had a surprising longevity with multiple re-imaginings over the years. Originating in Britain in the late-’80s before moving across to the US, the formula has remained pretty constant: a series of improv actors play various games and act out a number of short scenarios off the cuff. The host then awards points, in what is usually an infuriating-to-highly-competitive-sticklers arbitrary way, and an overall winner is chosen. But not really.
Arguably the most famous incarnation was hosted by Drew Carey and ran from 1998 to 2007, before Farnhaming its way into a revival in 2013 where it is still going strong. Now it’s heading to Australia and the cast of core performers has just been announced.
Hosted by comedian Tommy Little, the cast will include Flight of the Conchords‘ Rhys Darby, comedy festival favourites Cal Wilson, Tegan Higginbotham, Susie Youssef, Steen Raskopoulos and intimidatingly overqualified newcomers like improv pro Bridie Connell and clown-school-educated Sydney comedian Tom Walker.
Since Thank God You’re Here went off air, there has been a hole in the Australian improvisational television scene that even the most tear-filled reality cooking show has been unable to fill. Seeing how a local slant is going to be put on a beloved format is going to be interesting — the list of potential special guests is long, the societal need for an easy laugh is strong, and so we should all Have a Little Faith in what is to come.
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Whose Line Is It Anyway? will premiere on The Comedy Channel some time before the end of the year.