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What's the Story Behind the Tony and Ryan Thing?


Long ago I recall hearing or reading something that Tony and Ryan didn't get along. Does any knowledgeable fan know where this came from and what exactly the deal between them was?

IT IS INTROSPECTIVE AND I WANT TO INTROSPECT<><>

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It's clearly obvious watching old episodes of WL that there was a definite tension between Tony and Ryan. After John Sessions got kicked off WL for being an unbearable prima donna, Tony became the star of the show. No surprise there really - he was funny, very sexy,versatile,, and worked well with everybody on the team- especially Mike McShane and Josie Lawrence.

But when Ryan and Colin began making regular appearances on the UK WL, you can see the whole team dynamic change. Ryan comes over as an ambitious performer and not a team player - unless it's with his friend Colin (who he got the Uk WL job for in the 1st place )

Tony and Ryan were chalk and cheese as performers - Tony was the naughty cheeky anarchic one - Ryan the slick professional almost scripted player. They had some brilliant scenes together, but you could tell they weren't fond of each other as people just by watching old UK WL episodes (check out their lack of chat with each other inbetween games on the old shows)

I've chosen not to mention Tony's battle with manic depresion and cocaine because that's another story , but hopefully the whole Tony/Ryan scenario might sound a bit clearer! (just wish CH4 hadn't wiped all those great WL Uk clips off YouTube , otherwise I could refer you some great examples)

:)

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[deleted]

That wasn't what Tony told me when I met him a few years back...

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=665497937&v=photos#!/photo. php?pid=2212445&fbid=65653417937&op=1&o=global&view=gl obal&subj=13407595942&id=665497937

In fact he used a very rude word to describe Ryan

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Without a doubt there was a questionable tension but Ryan doesn't dislike Tony. He said in an interview a couple of years ago (when questioned about a rumour that Tony would have been on the US version of the show.) that him and Tony got along okay and he spoke fondly of the other UK cast members. (:
Which interview was this? I'm more prone to believing that Tony had actually said something negative about Ryan like droog said.

That wasn't what Tony told me when I met him a few years back...

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=665497937&v=photos#!/photo. php?pid=2212445&fbid=65653417937&op=1&o=global&view=gl obal&subj=13407595942&id=665497937

In fact he used a very rude word to describe Ryan
What exactly did he say? You also mentioned the apparent tension and lack of chat on the show... To be fair Ryan seems tense and standoffish toward anyone who isn't Colin. Even on the American show. It might just be part of Ryan's personality. I've read reports of people who've met him and they've said he was distant as well.

IT IS INTROSPECTIVE AND I WANT TO INTROSPECT<><>

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I've never seen proof of Ryan praising any of the British members - though I do recall an interview with him saying how he thought the UK WL was "pretty bad", which is a bit rich for the TV show that ultimately gave him his big break in his own country. He invited Josie to perform on the US show a couple of times, but didn't seem bothered to ask anyone else from UK WL.

However I did see Colin Mochrie praise Uk WL performers on his own website - he's still friends with Steve Frost and Jim Sweeney, who he still occasionally performs with . He was very complimentary about Tony and Stephen Fry too

To Bohemian Scandal:

The night my pics with Tony were taken was the night i met him in a late night bar in the West End called The Phoenix sometime circa 2003/04. It's a long story, but Tony was a big hero of mine, and I'd hear stories of him having a nervous breakdown due to drug and alcohol related things, as well as his battle against bi-polar depression. The night I met him he was charming and sweet, but when i asked him as a WL fan why Ryan Stiles was still on the show while Tony wasn't, he replied " because Ryan Stiles is a K**T" After I'd put my dropped jaw back in position, Tony explained that Ryan wasn't the most sharing of team members. (unless it's with Colin )

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[deleted]

Mm, I disagree about him pulling a Sessions in the US show. At least I never felt like that. What I did notice is that he never blocked anyone even when their ideas were really dumb and always gave his fellow performers their fair share (and sometimes more) which is something Sessions didn't do. I always thought he was a pretty accommodating to the other performers beyond Greg and Colin. Could you find an example of a moment of his that rubbed you the wrong way.

I will again say that Ryan has always been standoffish and he could act like a dick, but when it came to performing he worked to be in sync with his fellow performers. I thought he lightened up in the US version personally.

IT IS INTROSPECTIVE AND I WANT TO INTROSPECT<><>

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im really shocked to read this stuff as watching the show ryan and tony always seemed ok with each other, infact i often remember them sitting down after a game sharing a few words and laughing

but in a way ryan and tony are very different performance wise, ryan is very perfessional with a great imagination and takes it all very seriously while tony is like a child whose always laughing at his own jokes and not taking it seriously

but from what i can remember ryan seemed like he talked more to tony then he did any of the other british perfomers

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I agree that Ryan Stiles spoke to Tony Slattery more than any other British performer (bar maybe Josie Lawrence). Granted he was sat next to Tony in almost all of the episodes, but I feel that the tension between them can mainly be seen in the first episode and the later ones (in Tony's last episode the tension is painfully obvious and Ryan comes off slightly better that time round) granted there were obviously many personal reasons for this in regard to Tony and by that point the producers were ready to axe him (quite wrongly) from the show.

It is apparent that the two of them didn't get on (at least by the end of the show anyway) but I'd like to think that in earlier series they were friendly to each other, certainly seems that way anyway. Ryan is notoriously stand offish, bar a couple of moments earlier on he failed to ever acknowledge Stephen Frost, but it's great to see him begin to do that during the last of Frost's series on the show, but you do wonder why it took him so long seeing as how nice and accommodating Stephen Frost comes over!

That said maybe Ryan Stiles was a darling behind the scenes and merely standoffish on set when he is concentrating on his performance. It's a difficult one, but by all accounts Ryan Stiles was the least open and approachable of the original Whose Liners beyond the frequently irritating egotist that is John Sessions.

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I think the real tension between them began *after* Tony was fired from the show. Compounded after the blowup with Mike McShane that led to him leaving. Ryan didn't make an effort to stand up for them the way he fought to get (and keep) Colin on the show. Although since Tony was fired because his mental problems were affecting his performances, and Mike quit in anger, I don't blame Ryan for staying out of it.

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