Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza

Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza
Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza logo
Format	Improvisational Comedy
Created by	Drew Carey
Presented by	Drew Carey
Starring	Drew Carey Ryan Stiles Colin Mochrie Jeff Davis Chip Esten Jonathan Mangum Greg Proops Kathy Kinney Brad Sherwood Heather Anne Campbell Sean Masterson Bob Derkach
Narrated by	Rich Fields
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	40 (List of episodes)
Production
Location(s)	MGM Grand Las Vegas, Nevada
Running time	20 - 24 Minutes
Production company(s)	Three Foot Giant Productions Revolution Television International Mammoth Television
Broadcast
Original channel	GSN
Original run	April 11, 2011 (2011-04-11) – June 3, 2011
Chronology
Related shows	Whose Line Is It Anyway? Green Screen Show

Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza is an improvisational comedy television program that aired in the United States on the Game Show Network. The program was hosted by Drew Carey from CBS's The Price Is Right and former host of ABC's Whose Line Is It Anyway? and was produced at the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada. The show premiered on April 11, 2011 at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Cast

Performers

• Drew Carey - 40 episodes
• Ryan Stiles - 34 episodes
• Jeff Davis - 32 episodes
• Chip Esten - 32 episodes
• Colin Mochrie - 21 episodes
• Jonathan Mangum - 20 episodes
• Greg Proops - 20 episodes
• Kathy Kinney - 19 episodes
• Brad Sherwood - 17 episodes
• Heather Anne Campbell - 8 episodes
• Sean Masterson - 3 episodes

Note: Drew Carey is the only performer to have appeared in every televised episode.

Special guests/performers

• Wayne Brady - 5 episodes
• Charlie Sheen
• Rich Fields
• Rachel Reynolds
• Manuela Arbeláez
• Gwendolyn Osborne
• Steve Kamer

Other cast members

• Rich Fields (announcer) - 40 episodes
• Bob Derkach (music director) - 40 episodes

Premise

Similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, the show features the performers acting in improvisational comedy sketches in front of a live audience using audience suggestions and audience participation. Many of the U.S. Whose Line alumni return for this show. Each episode consists of three or four improv games, each one introduced by a different cast member, with each game taking up an entire segment. Unlike Whose Line, the show is filmed at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. Instead of Drew Carey hosting and awarding "points", Drew is now a performer and takes part in games, and other performers take turns in "hosting" a game.

Games

• Sound Effects - Two performers start a scene while two audience members provide the sound effects for this scene.
• Compilation Album (aka Greatest Hits) - Two to three performers try to sell a compilation album with songs that have to do with the subject suggested by the audience. Two or three performers will sing the songs suggested by the other performers.
• Sentences (aka Whose Line)^[1] - Two performers perform a scene, occasionally using random lines that audience members have previously written on slips of paper.
• New Choice (aka Quick Change) - Two performers perform a scene; at any time, a third performer can say "new choice" and the previous line or action must be changed.
• Song for a Lady (aka Duet, Song to an Audience Member) - One to three performers sing a song to an audience member, incorporating details of her life provided through a pre-song interview.
• Moving People/Moving Bodies - Two or three performers start a scene with an audience member selected to move each performer. The performers can talk but cannot move at all unless moved by their audience member.
• Options (aka Film, TV and Theatre Styles)^[1] - Two performers start a regular scene; a third occasionally stops the scene and adds a style such as television, literature, music, or film to the scene and the performers must incorporate those styles into the scene.
• Freeze Tag - two people start in a scene in positions determined by the audience. At any time, anyone else can yell "freeze!", tap one of the performers to switch with them, and then change the scene. A performer has the option to not tag anyone out, and may tag out more than one person, but there are always at least two performers in play.
• Question This! (aka Improv Jeopardy!) - One player plays the host and four others play as contestants on a game show patterned after Jeopardy!, where the audience gives the answer, and the performers provides humorous questions, often using puns.
• Forward/Reverse - Players act out a scene, where at any time a third performer can say forward (act the scene as normal), reverse (act the scene backwards), swap, or other options.
• Two-Headed Expert - A pair of players (who talk either in unison or saying every other word) acts as an expert on a topic suggested by the audience while another pair (with the opposite restrictions) either is interviewing or learning from the first pair.
• Conducted Story/Fairy Tale - After asking for a name of a fairy tale to the audience, a player sits down in front of the other players and points at them spontaneously to create a story made up at that point. The player that is pointed has to keep telling the story where it is left off. The story can be interrupted any time by the sitting player.
• Bob's Call (aka Show Stopping Number) - Two performers start a scene and anytime Bob Derkach hears a line that sounds like a title to a song, Bob starts playing the piano and the performer must sing a song based on what they just said.
• First Date - A married couple is selected from the audience and is interviewed about their first date and some parts are acted out by the cast. If the fact is acted out correctly, the couple rings a bell; if incorrect, the couple honks a horn.
• Mousetraps - Two players act out a scene barefoot and blindfolded on a stage littered with live mousetraps.
• Kick It! - A revised version of "Scene to Rap", two players act out a scene and must start rapping when a third calls out "Kick it!"; the song continues until the caller says "Word!".
• Playbook (aka Every Other Line, on the UK version of "Whose Line is it Anyway?") - Two players act out a scene with one speaking freely and the other only using lines from an audience-chosen playbook.

Ratings

Although the show started off with a lot of buzz, ratings haven't been as successful. For example, the April 29, 2011 episode garnered only 183,000 viewers.^[2] In June of 2011, the series was moved from its 8p lead-off spot to 8:30.

Cancellation

On August 25, Drew Carey posted on his Twitter account that GSN would not be ordering any more episodes of Improv-A-Ganza, and so it was effectively cancelled.^[3] However, Drew owns the rights to the show so it is possible that it could be picked up by another network.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Drew Carey's Improv-A Ganza shines with Proops, Stiles, Mangum, Kinney, Mochrie, Davis". Video section. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1630737.php/Drew-Carey-s-Improv-A-Ganza-shines-with-Proops-Stiles-Mangum-Kinney-Mochrie-Davis. 
2. ^ Grosvenor, Carrie Grosvenor. "What's Going On With Improv-A-Ganza?". http://gameshows.about.com/b/2011/05/04/whats-going-on-with-improv-a-ganza.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
3. ^ "Drew Carey's Twitter". https://twitter.com/#!/DrewFromTV/status/106901847700291584. Retrieved 2011-08-25. 

External links

• GSN Show Official Website
• Improv-A-Ganza at the Internet Movie Database