Whose Line Is It Anyway?: 1995 Compilation

Caroline Quentin and Paul Merton

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: 1995 Compilation
Channel Four
26 December 1995*
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Like the rest of the episodes this year, this one stays at that not-bad level, with probably Questions Only the top game.  But with Northover as director and the cast definitely settled in, there just aren't any real highs or lows anymore.  By this point, I certainly wasn't eagerly awaiting new episodes, and my ex-husband stopped taping them, or much else, for me soon after this. The programme would go on, into the present, but in various forms.  I'd catch up with it again later in the decade, when it had changed continents and hosts, so the story doesn't quite end here, although it does for most of the contestants.  (I'm omitting Caroline from the overcrowded tags.)

*This is the date on Wikipedia, where it's the second of two compilations for the seventh series.  IMDB has them as airing in the first half of October, but I don't know that it matters all that much.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 7.6

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 7.6
Channel Four
1 September 1995
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

The undoubted highlight here is the Party Quirks, where Colin is all Seven Dwarves and Ryan is Animals Crossing a Road; even though I'm not big on physical humor, I could see why Mike (In Love with Cameras) keeps cracking up, and of course Tony is baffled most of the time.  Runner-up is Bar Scene, especially Tony referencing Mrs. Slocum's love for her "pussy" on Are You Being Served?

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 7.5

Charlie's Angels

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 7.5
Channel Four
25 August 1995
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Unless it turns up on an unexpected tape, it looks like I'm missing Episode 7.4.  Other than the Clive & Greg teasing, my favorite part here is the premiere of Let's Make a Date, a variation on Party Quirks.  It's not hilarious and, as Clive notes, Greg fails to guess everyone (or to actually pick a bachelor), but it's interesting to see how it plays out.  Note that Richard Vranch appears at the end but the Comedy Central version my ex taped doesn't actually include any musical games.  Unless I've counted wrong, this is my 100th show from Channel Four.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 7.2

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 7.2
Channel Four
4 August 1995
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Other than the Clive & Greg bickering of course, my favorite thing here is probably Greg & Mike's sci-fi/horror Scene to Music.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Series Six Compilation

Working out the balance

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Series Six Compilation
Channel Four
2 September 1994
Improv Game Show
VHS
C

I feel like none of the games in this really get going, like Remote Control, where Josie's Coronation Street isn't bad but of course keeps getting interrupted.  (And poor Mike gets only one turn to do The Muppet Show.)  According to IMDB and Wikipedia, there was a Part Two for the Compilation, which aired either on 9 September or the following January.  In any case, I don't appear to own it, although of course it might pop up later as I continue through my videotapes.  This is as good a place as any to say that Series Six of WLIIA is a bit of a let-down, if not a shark-jump.  It ranges from C to B-, averaging out to a C+ like Series Five, but a low C+.  I do have at least some of Series Seven on tape, and I think it was again more of the same, but with new additions like Caroline Quentin.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 6.7

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 6.7
Channel Four
12 August 1994
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Yeah, Bremner is back, after six years, and his impressions still don't impress me, although it's nice to see Tony react to Rory imitating him in Party Quirks.  Mostly of course I watch this for the interaction among Tony, Josie, and Mike, teasing and playing and flirting.  The highlight is of course Helping Hands, where Josie bites Tony's finger and he retaliates, by fondling her breast!  Mike's reaction is priceless.  And note that Tony references Nixon's death and tells Clive it'll still be topical when this airs.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 6.4

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 6.4
Channel Four
22 July 1994
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Not everything works here, but I like the line-up and the Bartender is great, from Ryan and Tony's problems (his wardrobe and being in love with an inflatable pig) to the reactions of the contestants and Clive.  Also, notice how the suggestion of "Richard Nixon back from the dead" (Nixon died the previous April) is incorporated by Greg into Superheroes, after he and Clive clash over two other suggestions.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 6.2

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 6.2
Channel Four
8 July 1994
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

While this isn't as memorable, Kitty Litter Duet aside, as the '93 version of this line-up, it is still nice to see the chemistry, platonic and not, still strong among this foursome.  (And Greg and Clive still bickering of course.)  If I had to pick a favorite game, it would be Funeral, dirge and all.  Note that I believe that, while this aired in July in the UK (and later that summer on Comedy Central), it was probably taped before O.J. Simpson's Bronco chase on June 17th, since there's little crowd reaction to the passing reference to Simpson in Greg & Mike's FATS.

This is the 2400th TV show I've reviewed.  Yes, we will hit 2500.

The Unnaturals

Around that time

The Unnaturals
Ha!
1991
Sketch Comedy
VHS
C+

This Mike-centered show is more interesting than funny.  At least Jane Brucker is better than she was on Whose Line Is It Anyway?  There are moments that I like, such as Mike imitating a French ambulance, and there is a certain what-the-hell-why-not quality to the proceedings.  Still, I probably would've gone with a C if not for the Mark Mothersbaugh theme, which is used not only at opening and closing but between scenes.  And, yes, this was made for Ha! but taped two years later on Ha!'s merger with the Comedy Channel: Comedy Central.

The Full Wax: Episode 1.6

The Full Wax: Episode 1.6
BBC
1991
Talk Show
VHS
C

Other than a couple quips from McShane (one about Walt Disney), this episode with Joan Rivers et al. is pretty forgettable.

The Full Wax: Episode 1.5

The Full Wax: Episode 1.5
BBC
1991
Talk Show
VHS
C+

It's hard to know what to make of this, from Taffy Turner (Mo Gaffney)'s beauty pageant piece to the segment on buying a breast job for a viewer.  I taped it because of co-host McShane, who of course isn't given enough to do.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Series 5 Compilation

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Series 5 Compilation
Channel Four
30 April 1993
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

My favorite games here are Tony & Mike's Alphabet and Ryan & Josie's Film Dubbing, but there are some other nice moments.  Pity they couldn't find a scene from Paul Merton.

Over half of Series Five of Whose Line Is It Anyway? gets a C+, and the C and B-s don't have much effect on the average.  The show is still watchable and there aren't some of the painful lows of even '92, but there aren't really any amazing highs.  I don't know if this is due to the new director, or if the show was just on an even keel.  I recall Series Six as more of the same, but we'll see....