“Hello. I’m bulge temptingly!”

Matthew Rudd — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:20:22 +0000

I’m enjoying the repeats of Whose Line is it Anyway? on Dave, although there has been some quite brutal editing done for watershed purposes; the type which Canadian and American audiences used to suffer even in more appropriate later slots when the episodes were first aired. This was not what Hat Trick nor Channel 4 intended…

The comedy hasn’t dated, and neither have the games. I read through my OTT history of the show and still feel generally happy with it despite these retrospective viewings. Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie still make me laugh really, really hard; Greg Proops is still on autopilot and Josie Lawrence is still bloody awful, awful, awful. I think I was harsh on Tony Slattery though; maybe his ubiquity and eventual decline within the trappings of celebrity contributed to my lack of sympathy for him or his skills. Or maybe I’ve mellowed.

The only things to have really dated are Steve Frost’s floral shirts.

It seems inevitable, as interest returns through these repeats and the forthcoming DVD releases, that some form of revival may be in the offing. But is this brand of genuinely clever comedy which suits a family audience any good to a TV channel any more?

Off The Telly » Whose Line is it Anyway

“Hello. I’m bulge temptingly!”