Of all the forms of comedy available to the masses, my favorite has always been that of the improvisational style. That's where you get a few people in front of an audience and they are given situations, ideas and characters then are cut loose to see if they can make us laugh with a performance taken completely off the top of their heads. There is no preparation time and anything can happen. I used to go to a small theatre here in the Dallas area where I would watch a group called the "Guavabomblets." They were made up of a bunch of college friends (and occasional new recruits) that would perform every weekend. They would have a few pre-written skits, but would then turn their attention to the audience to ask for suggestions. The 'Guavas' were brilliant and I wish they were still around.

The idea of bringing improvisational comedy was brought to the small screen several years ago by a studio in England and "Whose Line is it Anyway?" was born. The show brought together several talented comics who would 'compete' for fictitious points by going through the hoops of improvisational comedy. The idea was so good, that it was adapted here in the States by comedian Drew Carey, who even brought over some of the original cast members to be in the American version. It followed Carey's enormously popular sitcom and became every bit as popular.

Carey acted as host, while comedians Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie and Wayne Brady would sit on a stage in front of a studio audience. The comics were also joined by a rotating fourth member… well the member didn’t actually rotate… they just brought in different comics each week to fill the fourth spot. Cary would then run the comics through each competition, which could be anything from having them pull strange objects out of a box and creating scenes around them to 'position justification', where audience members would put the comics in some sort of position and they would have to come up with something to explain it. (I used to do this as an exercise in my high school drama courses and it was a blast.)

Warner Brothers has finally decided to start releasing the series on DVD (and it's about time), but are not doing so in full season sets. Instead they are releasing them in 2 volumes per season. I imagine this is in an effort to keep the price down to a more manageable and acceptable level. The first release, aptly referred to as "Season 1, Volume 1" contains the first ten episodes of the series as well as a few extras. Now the episodes themselves are priceless as the first few seasons were the best, but the extras are what sold me on the set.

They are primarily made up of outtakes and gag reels, but unlike the episodes (which contain bleeps where necessary), they are totally uncensored. The content gets a lot raunchier, and to tell you the truth… a whole lot funnier. You just need to make sure that if you decide to watch the show with the kids, be sure NOT to let them watch the extra features. Their impressionable little minds will not be able to cope. As adults however, I highly recommend checking out the entire DVD.

Extras: Outtakes, Gag Reels
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date:
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Whose Line is it Anyway: Season 1, Volume 1 a B.