Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza
Encyclopedia
Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza is an improvisational comedy television program that aired in the United States on the Game Show Network
. The program was hosted by Drew Carey
from CBS
's The Price Is Right and former host of ABC
's Whose Line Is It Anyway?
and was produced at the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand
in Paradise, Nevada
. The show premiered on April 11, 2011 at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
Note: Drew Carey
is the only performer to have appeared in every televised episode.
and Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
, the show features the performers acting in improvisational comedy sketches in front of a live audience using audience suggestions and audience participation. Many of the U.S. Whose Line alumni return for this show. Each episode consists of three or four improv games, each one introduced by a different cast member, with each game taking up an entire segment. Unlike Whose Line, the show is filmed at the MGM Grand Las Vegas
in Paradise, Nevada. Instead of Drew Carey hosting and awarding "points", Drew is now a performer and takes part in games, and other performers take turns in "hosting" a game.
account that GSN would not be ordering any more episodes of Improv-A-Ganza, and so it was effectively cancelled. However, Drew owns the rights to the show so it is possible that it could be picked up by another network.
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
. The program was hosted by Drew Carey
Drew Carey
Drew Allison Carey is an American actor, singer, comedian, photographer, sports executive, and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey eventually gained popularity starring on his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and serving as...
from CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's The Price Is Right and former host of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series)
Whose Line is it Anyway? is a comedy improv show hosted by Drew Carey on ABC that ran from August 5, 1998 to September 4, 2004, and subsequently on ABC Family since 2005...
and was produced at the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand
MGM Grand Las Vegas
The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the third largest hotel in the world and largest hotel resort complex in the United States in front of The Venetian. The MGM Grand was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in...
in Paradise, Nevada
Paradise, Nevada
Paradise is an unincorporated town in the Las Vegas metropolitan area in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 223,167 at the 2010 census...
. The show premiered on April 11, 2011 at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
Performers
- Drew CareyDrew CareyDrew Allison Carey is an American actor, singer, comedian, photographer, sports executive, and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey eventually gained popularity starring on his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and serving as...
- 40 episodes - Ryan StilesRyan StilesRyan Lee Stiles is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his improv and co-production work on the American and British versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the role of Lewis Kiniski on The Drew...
- 34 episodes - Jeff Davis - 32 episodes
- Chip EstenChip EstenCharles "Chip" Esten Puskar III is an American comedian, actor and singer known for his appearances on the improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?....
- 32 episodes - Colin MochrieColin MochrieColin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish Canadian actor and improvisational comedian, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.-Early life:...
- 21 episodes - Jonathan MangumJonathan MangumJonathan Mangum is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of the variety show, The Wayne Brady Show and is an announcer for the game show Let's Make a Deal.-Early life:...
- 20 episodes - Greg ProopsGreg ProopsGregory Everett "Greg" Proops is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?...
- 20 episodes - Kathy KinneyKathy KinneyKathy Kinney is an American actress and comedian. She gained considerable popularity in the late 1990s for playing Mimi Bobeck, the outrageously made-up, flamboyantly vulgar, and vindictive nemesis of Drew Carey on the sitcom The Drew Carey Show...
- 19 episodes - Brad SherwoodBrad SherwoodBradley "Brad" Sherwood is an American actor and comedian. He has worked in entertainment as an actor, comedian, singer, writer, and producer.- Early life and career:...
- 17 episodes - Heather Anne CampbellHeather Anne CampbellHeather Anne Campbell is an American comedian and writer.Campbell was editor of Dave Halverson's Play Magazine as well as Jeff Bond's Geek Monthly until their closure in 2010. She remains a contributing writer for Action Button...
- 8 episodes - Sean Masterson - 3 episodes
Note: Drew Carey
Drew Carey
Drew Allison Carey is an American actor, singer, comedian, photographer, sports executive, and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey eventually gained popularity starring on his own sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, and serving as...
is the only performer to have appeared in every televised episode.
Special guests/performers
- Wayne BradyWayne BradyWayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...
- 5 episodes - Charlie SheenCharlie SheenCarlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
- Rich FieldsRich FieldsRichard Wayne "Rich" Fields is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer and meteorologist, best known for being the announcer of the American version of The Price Is Right from 2004–2010....
- Rachel ReynoldsRachel ReynoldsRachel Reynolds is an American model and actress who is currently one of the models on the game show The Price Is Right....
- Manuela ArbeláezManuela ArbeláezManuela Arbeláez Correa is a Colombian-born, naturalized American model and actress perhaps best known for her work on the television game show The Price Is Right....
- Gwendolyn Osborne
- Steve Kamer
Other cast members
- Rich FieldsRich FieldsRichard Wayne "Rich" Fields is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer and meteorologist, best known for being the announcer of the American version of The Price Is Right from 2004–2010....
(announcer) - 40 episodes - Bob Derkach (music director) - 40 episodes
Premise
Similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway?Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series)
Whose Line is it Anyway? is a comedy improv show hosted by Drew Carey on ABC that ran from August 5, 1998 to September 4, 2004, and subsequently on ABC Family since 2005...
and Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
Drew Carey's Green Screen Show is an improvisational comedy television series that aired in the fall of 2004 on The WB Television Network, and the fall of 2005 on Comedy Central. The show was hosted by Drew Carey, and was somewhat a follow-up to the show he formerly hosted, Whose Line Is It Anyway?...
, the show features the performers acting in improvisational comedy sketches in front of a live audience using audience suggestions and audience participation. Many of the U.S. Whose Line alumni return for this show. Each episode consists of three or four improv games, each one introduced by a different cast member, with each game taking up an entire segment. Unlike Whose Line, the show is filmed at the MGM Grand Las Vegas
MGM Grand Las Vegas
The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the third largest hotel in the world and largest hotel resort complex in the United States in front of The Venetian. The MGM Grand was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in...
in Paradise, Nevada. Instead of Drew Carey hosting and awarding "points", Drew is now a performer and takes part in games, and other performers take turns in "hosting" a game.
Games
- Sound Effects - Two performers start a scene while two audience members provide the sound effects for this scene.
- Compilation Album (aka Greatest Hits) - Two to three performers try to sell a compilation album with songs that have to do with the subject suggested by the audience. Two or three performers will sing the songs suggested by the other performers.
- Sentences (aka Whose Line) - Two performers perform a scene, occasionally using random lines that audience members have previously written on slips of paper.
- New Choice (aka Quick Change) - Two performers perform a scene; at any time, a third performer can say "new choice" and the previous line or action must be changed.
- Song for a Lady (aka Duet, Song to an Audience Member) - One to three performers sing a song to an audience member, incorporating details of her life provided through a pre-song interview.
- Moving People/Moving Bodies - Two or three performers start a scene with an audience member selected to move each performer. The performers can talk but cannot move at all unless moved by their audience member.
- Options (aka Film, TV and Theatre Styles) - Two performers start a regular scene; a third occasionally stops the scene and adds a style such as television, literature, music, or film to the scene and the performers must incorporate those styles into the scene.
- Freeze Tag - two people start in a scene in positions determined by the audience. At any time, anyone else can yell "freeze!", tap one of the performers to switch with them, and then change the scene. A performer has the option to not tag anyone out, and may tag out more than one person, but there are always at least two performers in play.
- Question This! (aka Improv Jeopardy!) - One player plays the host and four others play as contestants on a game show patterned after Jeopardy!Jeopardy!Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, where the audience gives the answer, and the performers provides humorous questions, often using punPunThe pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s. - Forward/Reverse - Players act out a scene, where at any time a third performer can say forward (act the scene as normal), reverse (act the scene backwards), swap, or other options.
- Two-Headed Expert - A pair of players (who talk either in unison or saying every other word) acts as an expert on a topic suggested by the audience while another pair (with the opposite restrictions) either is interviewing or learning from the first pair.
- Conducted Story/Fairy Tale - After asking for a name of a fairy tale to the audience, a player sits down in front of the other players and points at them spontaneously to create a story made up at that point. The player that is pointed has to keep telling the story where it is left off. The story can be interrupted any time by the sitting player.
- Bob's Call (aka Show Stopping Number) - Two performers start a scene and anytime Bob Derkach hears a line that sounds like a title to a song, Bob starts playing the piano and the performer must sing a song based on what they just said.
- First Date - A married couple is selected from the audience and is interviewed about their first date and some parts are acted out by the cast. If the fact is acted out correctly, the couple rings a bell; if incorrect, the couple honks a horn.
- Mousetraps - Two players act out a scene barefoot and blindfolded on a stage littered with live mousetraps.
- Kick It! - A revised version of "Scene to Rap", two players act out a scene and must start rapping when a third calls out "Kick it!"; the song continues until the caller says "Word!".
- Playbook (aka Every Other Line, on the UK version of "Whose Line is it Anyway?") - Two players act out a scene with one speaking freely and the other only using lines from an audience-chosen playbook.
Ratings
Although the show started off with a lot of buzz, ratings haven't been as successful. For example, the April 29, 2011 episode garnered only 183,000 viewers. In June of 2011, the series was moved from its 8p lead-off spot to 8:30.Cancellation
On August 25, Drew Carey posted on his TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account that GSN would not be ordering any more episodes of Improv-A-Ganza, and so it was effectively cancelled. However, Drew owns the rights to the show so it is possible that it could be picked up by another network.