The Office and 25 TV shows that were never supposed to be hits
By Kareem Gantt
14. Whose Line Is It Anyway? (ABC/The CW)
Series run: 1998-Present (14 seasons/327 episodes)
It’s a game show, but not really a game show.
There are still some people out there who don’t really get the gist of Whose Line Is It Anyway, and for those confused souls, let me try my best to explain what this show is all about.
First off, it’s not a game show, but an improvisational comedy show that focuses on professional comedians improvising skits giving out by the host the show. For the American version, that host was Drew Carey on the ABC version, and Aisha Tyler when it moved to The CW.
Yes, I said “American version,” because Whose Line Is It Anyway is actually a British import.
Over in the UK, Whose Line Is It Anyway began as a radio program on the BBC, but then, in 1988, the show was revived on Channel 4. It was a rating success, and 10 years later, ABC, who was hunting for hit programs at the time, took a chance on creating an American version to the hit British show.
They tapped Carey, who was still in the ethos of his hit show The Drew Carey Show on the same network, to host the show and expand his star power, and the show was a surprising rating success. The show would run on ABC until 2004 when it moved to ABC Family for a couple of seasons. The ratings fell off, and the show got canceled.
It stayed off the air until 2013, when The CW revived the show, with some new twists.