Whose Line Is It Anyway? (USA)

Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Premiere	August 5, 1998
Finale	December 15, 2007
Creator	Dan Patterson, Mark Leveson
Host	Drew Carey
Network/Provider	ABC (seasons 1-6) ABC Family (seasons 7-8)
Style	30-minute improvisational comedy
Company	Hat Trick Productions
Seasons	8
Episodes	219 (1 unaired) (List of episodes)
Origin	USA

This is for the original 1998 series that aired on ABC/ABC Family. For the 2013 CW version, see Whose Line Is It Anyway? (2013)

Whose Line Is It Anyway?, or Whose Line for short, is the US version of the British improvised comedy show with the same name. It is hosted by Drew Carey. It started on ABC in 1998 and was cancelled in 2003, but remaining episodes were aired throughout 2004.

The show consists of several sketches improvised by the actors, and sometimes participants from the audience. There are several concepts for sketches, yet the subject is either selected by Carey without informing the actors prior to the show, or asked to the audience. There are four actors. Three of them are Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and, starting in season two, Wayne Brady, who are permanent participants to the show. The fourth one is a guest comedian. Frequent guests are Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood, Chip Esten and Kathy Greenwood. Several big time stars like Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams also appeared on the show as guest comedians. It should also be noted that, except for Carey, most of the regulars were also present in the British version of the show.

The show also features the pianist Laura Hall for musical acts, later joined by Linda Taylor and Cece Rubin.

When the show ended in 2004, ABC decided to re-run the show on its subsidiary channel ABC Family. Surprisingly, these reruns gathered many viewers, and as a result, ABC Family decided to conjure up new episodes of Whose Line from unused material that was left from previous shootings. These episodes form seasons seven and eight.

Many of the show's participants went on to appear in Drew Carey's Green Screen Show after Whose Line ended.

Performerst

Performer		Duration
Main		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Ryan Stiles		*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Colin Mochrie		*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Wayne Brady		o	*	*	*	*	*	*	o
Orange/Red/o indicates a recurring or guest role during that season. Dark Green indicates top billing during that season.
Recurring		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Greg Proops		*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Brad Sherwood		*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Chip Esten			*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Kathy Greenwood			*	*	*	*		*	*
Jeff Davis				*	*	*		*	*
Musicians		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Laura Hall		*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
ABC
Season One	August 5, 1998	March 24, 1999				21
Season Two	September 16, 1999	May 18, 2000				39
Season Three	October 12, 2000	June 21, 2001				39
Season Four	September 6, 2001	April 11, 2002				31
Season Five	September 9, 2002	September 5, 2003				34
Season Six	June 24, 2004	September 4, 2004				10
ABC Family
Season Seven	January 17, 2005	May 23, 2005				25
Season Eight	October 3, 2005	December 15, 2007				21

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Season Sets  (Region 1)
Season One, Volume 1			September 26, 2006	purchase		2
Season One, Volume 2			October 9, 2007	purchase		2
Episode Collections  (Region 1)
The Best of Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Uncensored!			June 9, 2009	purchase		2

External Sites

• The Whose Line Wiki
• WTATA Forums