The ‘Whose Line Is it Anyway?’ Game the Hosts Absolutely Despised
Whose Line Is It Anyway is one of the most beloved improvisational comedy shows in the history of American television. The unique style of the show includes the best improv comics in the world competing for points in a series of hilarious and fully improvised games.
These games have varying levels of popularity, both amongst fans and cast members. One of the musical-based games is especially disliked by two of the long-time members of the show, for several understandable and relatable reasons.
What is ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’
Whose Line Is It Anyway is an improv-comedy show, which has had several iterations both in America and England. The original show ran on ABC from 1998 to 2007. There was also a British version of the show, in which many of the same cast members appeared in.
An American reboot of the show began on the CW network in 2013 and is still on the air today. In the show, the cast members compete in a series of short-form improv games and are awarded points at the host’s discretion.
The long-running twist of a pointless game show and improv comedy show has a large following, mainly due to the talented comedians that make up the show’s cast.
Who are the cast members of ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’
Many of the greatest improv comedians make up the cast of the show and have appeared in each of the versions of the show.
The original American version was hosted by Drew Carey, and the current host of the program is Aisha Tyler. Both Carey and Tyler are exceptionally funny and have done a great job managing the unstructured format of the show.
Besides the two hosts, the three comedians most associated with the show are Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and Wayne Brady.
Each episode also featured a special fourth guest, which is sometimes another improv comedian, and sometimes a high-profile celebrity guest. Some of these special appearances include legendary figures in the world of entertainment such as Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Cedric the Entertainer, Stephen Colbert, and many more. These special guests compete to the best of their ability in the improv games, including the hated “Hoedown” singing competition.
Why did the cast members hate the hoe-down game?
Although the show is self-described as “the show where everything is made up and the points don’t matter,” one of the games is extremely disliked by members of the cast. Several of the games in the show are music-based, one of which is the despised “Hoedown.” In the singing game, the cast members stand in a line and sing an improvised hoe-down style song based on an audience suggestion.
The game was played on many of the show’s episodes through the years, despite being disliked by cast members, especially Stiles and Mochrie. Stiles has expressed his dislike for the game so often that it has become a running joke in the show. This has led to Stiles and Mochrie to mock the host and the game itself while playing hoe-down.
Part of the reason the long-time cast members hate to hoe-down is the fact that they have little singing ability. They also think of the game as nonsensical, or more nonsensical than the rest of the unstructured competition. As anyone who hates doing karaoke can relate to, having to hear yourself sing can be quite annoying.
More popular singing games played on the show include “Greatest Hits,” and “Show-Stopping Number.” The last time the “Hoedown” game was played was during the fourth episode of the fifteenth season, which was the only time the game was played during the season. For Stiles and Mochrie’s sake, hopefully, this is one of the last times they are forced to sing the jaunty Southern tune.
