Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally!! The best comedy show ever is now on DVD!, 20 Dec 2007
Having waited and waited for this show to be released, my prayers have finally been answered. This is the original British version of the tv show. Originally shown on Channel 4, this was always my favourite show even when Channel 4 used to have a good comedy line up.
The show was based on improv, meaning the comedy could range from very high brow satire or intellectual humour, through to simple swearing and satire. Yet even with the vast scope of comic genres Whose line was always one thing: unbelievably funny!
Whether you are sat bemused at how John Sessions and Johnathon Pryce can act out a style you've never heard of ( I know as a child that that was a regular thing for me )or sat in awe at how Josey Lawrence or Mike McShane could make up perfect sounding song in a heartbeat, or just laughing out loud at the childish exploits of Tony Slattery, this show is just funny. If you don't laugh at this then you probably have a problem with your sense of humour.
Three pieces of warning for you though:
1, If you are a fan of the American version, this will feel very different. None of your annoying american audience screeching out delight at obvious jokes, the uk show at times can be very clever humour. None of listening to the inane ramblings of the deeply unfunny Drew Carey ( we know the points don't matter, you don't have to tell us every time!), but instead the host is a reserved and sarcastic Clive Anderson.
But most importantly, Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie are not residents in this show. When they appear, they are guests and obviously new to the genre. You may think that they are not as smooth as they are in the later episodes, and certainly not like they are in the american version, but the episodes benefit from this. My biggest complaint about the American show was always that the improv became repetative, and you could almost tell what Colin and Ryan (two of the best guests in the UK Whose Line )were going to say. The show lost its edge, and at times it felt like a poorly rehearsed sketch show. That is not something you could say about the british version. The British show could jump in any direction at any time, and that added to the genius of the show.
2, This is not the edited version shown on UKTV Gold 2 or Dave. This is the full version, without the cuts when the show gets rude. You would not believe how annoyed I get with the cuts on the freeview channels when you know the best joke of the show has been cut out. The full unedited version is great for comedy, but not so great for younger kids.
3, This is the first two seasons of the British show. As such some of the performers look nervous, and the flow is not achieved in the games until somewhere in the second half of the first series. Not that there aren't funny moments in every episodes, but at times it feels like no one knows what is going on. It is on the second series you start to see the show at its absolute best.
Whose line is it anyway? is a British institution. One of the funniest shows that was ever on tv. Buy this show and laugh for days. Although subsequent series are funnier, it is more than worth getting this edition to see how the show developed.
(This is a review based on viewing the Region 1 DVD, which may have some different features, but the episodes will be the same. )
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Charm is in the Choking, 17 Jan 2008
I rarely trust 5-star reviews. They tend to be children in their early teens who fancy the lead singer or actor or have studied the book at school and got an A. The enthusiasm of their endorsements is outdone only by their frequency... and amplitude. They claim that their chosen product is flawless, or to use the rather more accurate vernacular, AMAZING!
This is so untrue of "Whose Line..?" and anyone thinking of suggesting that the improvisation in the early series is in any way flawless should stop writing Amazon reviews and get back to revising for their SATs. The comedians corpse, lose inspiration, scrabble desperately for ideas and generally proceed to fail spectacularly. Unlike in the conveniently polished and amiably predictable US series, mistakes are commonplace. Instead of slick routines and joke-a-minute confidence which can prompt an audience to say "I could do that", "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" shows how difficult it really is to craft a really superb and witty improvisation. What you're given at times is in fact the original and ultimate reality television - people doing what they do well, badly. The failure is funny... and yet, unlike real "reality television", the programme is not a finger-pointing glee in others' failure; rather, it's a celebration of when it DOES work - funny when it doesn't, but utterly glorious when it does. The wonder of a winning sketch isn't simply that the audience thinks, "That was funny; I laughed," but also "What an achievement!"
How thoroughly marvellous - and yes, I admit: AMAZING!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh So Brilliant, 17 Jan 2008
What can I say about Whose Line? It's brilliant, ever so much, that's about it really. I'd advise everyone in the world to buy the DVD, just for the hilarity of it. I'm only a teenager, but I just love the silly humour- plus the sophisticated stuff.
It's also wonderful to see how the programme first started off, the begins of such a great and wonderful show, and to see the very first, pilot episode where the contestants are almost quaking in their boots! Also, to know what they're like in later series is very funny aswell, just to see how sweet and slightly innocent they are on their first episode.
Long live Whose Line!
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