Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 2.7

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 2.7
Channel Four
29 December 1989
Improv Game Show
DVD
B+

The ex and I never counted this as part of the Second Season Slump, but then we figured it was shot after the rest of Series Two, especially since Mike is already rocking a beard.  Whatever the shooting order (and there are internal clues in Authors suggesting that 2.6 was made before 2.5), this shows the contestants at a time when they were both fresh and settling in.  Not every joke here lands, and even smooth-talking Greg stumbles in Authors, but who cares?  Whether it's the "night after the night after the night after Boxing Day" spirit or what, this is a wonderful present any time of the year.

It may seem odd that John Sessions is absent, but he was always less of a team player and you definitely need people who bring out the best in each other when you've got "a monster six-person edition."  Sandi's inclusion is equally odd, since she'd only done as many episodes as Ryan (one and he was about to return), but on the other hand she was in the Comedy Store Players with Paul and Josie.  The shipper in me did and does go mad watching this episode, because you can pretty much ship Josie with anyone here.  (Check out her reaction to Sandi's final turn in Props.)  Paul/Josie is particularly obvious, especially with her comforting him after his "tantrum."*  Sandi/Tony and to a lesser degree Sandi/Mike are visible here, as is, unusually, Sandi/Paul.  (Sandi/Greg would mostly wait for their American episode with Mike and Josie, although she does say in Party Quirks that she'd like to keep him around just for fun.)   As for the guys, the two American buddies again explore "the love that dare not squeak its name," Mike gets Paul literally rolling on the floor with laughter, and Mike spanks Tony at the end of Props.

But mostly, it's just overall camaraderie and good-fellowship, so some of the time I'm watching the contestants in the background, like Paul, Sandi, and Tony's reaction to Josie & Mike's (apparently first) duet, or Tony's delight and Paul's dirty laugh over Mike's "Eric the Enema Elf."  Or check out the triumph that they all feel when "Paul Merton, Man o' Rhythm" successfully raps.  Or Paul and Sandi teasing Tony together, calling him "a sleazy bastard who can sing and dance."  No wonder it's a six-way tie and a credits-singing by all.

Chemistry aside, and Clive and Richard have to be included in that, the games are strong and funny.  I mean, the weakest is Mike's jazz Song Styles (as usual he goes on too long), and even that would've brightened up the previous episode.  I also got a bonus laugh this viewing, when Mike as Santa shot at his "worst enemy, Donald Trump."  If not my favorite episode, certainly in the Top Three.


*I'd learn years later that Paul was feeling very stressed out around this time, so perhaps his intention of "sodding off and going home" is not entirely a joke.  This may also explain why he laughs and smiles a lot more than usual, as if swinging into a manic phase.