MovieChat Forums > Whose Line Is It Anyway? (2023) Discussion > Why did they stop the UK show?

Why did they stop the UK show?

posted 16 years ago by droog69uk
13 replies | jump to latest

I'll never understand why selling the Whose Line Format to America meant the British show had to stop completely.

The UK show could still have gone on, and the loss of Colin and Ryan meant plenty of other fine underused performers like Steve Steen and Niall Ashdown could've taken their places.

Anyone agree?

[–] AKA_movielust 16 years ago

I agree it's a shame the UK show couldn't continue. I'm not really sure why it couldn't, perhaps selling the rights to ABC to air the show in America meant it couldn't continue in UK. Whose knows? I really haven't a clue when it comes to that.

However, saying that, as good as some of the British performers were, i'm more inclined towards more of the American performers. I don't know why.

[–] droog69uk 16 years ago

I get the feeling the UK show stopped because the whole of it's production company fled with it to the states to make the American version (especially producer Dan Patterson.)

That they couldn't keep the Uk version going too seems sloppy and narrow-minded.

[–] rob_sharona 16 years ago

I agree that Steve and Niall would have been great regulars, they really got the concept like Ryan and Colin.

[–] h-ahmad-1 16 years ago

I always thought it was to do with the onset of political correctness and the fact that we don't have enough genuinely funny comedians in the UK anyway.

[–] carzy_6 16 years ago

we don't have enough genuinely funny comedians in the UK anyway.

Are you kidding? We lead the world!

Or at least I'd like to think we do. Perhaps not at finding the right participants for Whose Line (even though I preferred our players to the US version) but our stand-up comedy has always been top-notch. It's far preferable to see comics perform routines than standard, old-fashioned jokes that many American comics seem to favour.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] adampearce96 16 years ago

Didnt UK move to where the US season is set in season 10?

i think that might be why

[–] droog69uk 16 years ago

to me, it seemed funnier with both american, brits, irish, australian... an equal mix of comedy. ^_^

Sorry to be pedantic , but which funnier episodes of UK WL were you were watching with Irish and Australians in?

Apart from a notoriously bad one-off appearance by Father Ted's Ardal O'Hanlon, and an equally rubbish cameo by an Aussie guy called Russell Fletcher, I don't recall Whose Line UK's funniest performers being anything other than British, American or Canadian.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] droog69uk 16 years ago

Fair point, mate.

You can actually include players from Norway into the UK show too, as I believe Sandi Toskvig has a dual British/Norwegian passport.

[–] green_haired_troll 16 years ago

Sandi Toksvig is Danish! But she's got a very British sense of humour.

[–] adampearce96 16 years ago

i dont think there wa that many people on the show that were rubbish

[–] adampearce96 15 years ago

By season 9 there were only about 3 british cast members not including Clive, in season 10 they moved to America because Clive was the last brit by the end of it, and i don't thnk he wanted to keep coming over to America, so they just sold the rights to Drew and/or ABC.

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