NBC gives improv a shot — and not necessarily for the right reasons
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- January
- 29
Remember the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” in which Drew Carey promised that improvisers’ points in games didn’t matter? Well, it appears that they will matter in NBC’s upcoming improv experiment.
Last Wednesday, it was announced that NBC ordered six episodes of “Thank God You’re Here,” an improvisational comedy series that started in Australia and has the backing of FremantleMedia North America, the producers of “American Idol.”
With celebrity guests competing without a script, the show will be hosted and produced by “In Living Color” alum David Alan Grier and judged by “The Kids In The Hall” alum Dave Foley. The pilot episode features Jennifer Coolidge, Bryan Cranston, Joel McHale and Wayne Knight.
Before improv nuts (like me) can celebrate what could be perceived as continued legitimization of scriptless thee-ay-ter, Variety brings us back down to earth. Find out why after the break.
According to Variety, “The acquisition is part of NBC’s stated policy of looking for more cost-effective solutions for its 8 to 9 p.m. slots, rather than relying exclusively on expensive laffers or dramas.”
In other words, scripts—and more accurately, writers—are considered too costly. Who needs writers anyway?
Hopefully, my boss still does.
This entry was posted
on Monday, January 29th, 2007 at 4:17 pm by Chris Serico.
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