Thank God You're Here! on NBC Monday night

York99 · Post by **York99** » April 11th, 2007, 12:30 am

I just watched the next two scenes. The big guy with curly hair and glasses was in my class at iO. His name is Chris Tallman. I see him in things here and there. Great guy. Really funny. Prolific improviser.

Show is a bit more tolerable. Still, it hurts.

Edit: I am a snob.

Asaf · Post by **Asaf** » April 19th, 2007, 10:10 pm

Here is a great article that reviews the show and defends improv to the hilt.

http://www.slate.com/id/2164647/pagenum/all/#page_start

Also, it makes a reference to my YESand message board where we discussed it.

shando · Post by **shando** » April 19th, 2007, 10:35 pm

Asaf wrote:Here is a great article that reviews the show and defends improv to the hilt.

http://www.slate.com/id/2164647/pagenum/all/#page_start

Also, it makes a reference to my YESand message board where we discussed it.

While it defends improv to the hilt (yay), it is not a very flattering depiction of the show (?which I still haven't seen a whole episode of so who knows.)

Austin pal Jesse Parent gets quoted from Yesand in the article, and while I haven't seen the show in its entirety, I'm most down with this kind of thinking about the art form:

Jesse wrote:People thinking that this is what improv is = bad for improv.

A single game played out for 60 minutes full of bullshit and denials and parading itself as improv = bad for improv.

"Oh... like, 'Whose Line?'" now becoming "Oh... like, 'Thank God You're Here!'?" = bad for improv.

Bad improv is bad for improv.

If this show were awesome, I could deal. To me, Whose Line was pretty awesome. This show is not awesome. This show says "This is improv! Crazy, huh?!" and delivers horrifying yuck gross.

He then sends us over to Austin pal Bill Binder at Improv Resource Center:

Bill wrote:This show isn't just accepting of bad improv, of poor perception of improv etc. It is a damned celebration of it.

Whose Line, for all my eye rolling of it, was just lazy improv and it was difficult to inform people that there was more to it. Thank God takes pleasure in everything that demeans what we do. Perhaps I'm overreacting. Lord knows I've done it before.

Specifics?

Look at the title: "Thank God You're Here"
Yes, thank God. Improv isn't about listening and building together, it's about the "star" swooping in to save the scene. Right. We all trained with that one kid who was jumped into every scene, destroyed all the integrity of said scene and then told his friends how he "saved" the show. The overriding theme of this show seems to be "Hey kids? You can be a star! Just be funnier than everybody else all the time"

No, but
I think we've all moved beyond the very basic level of Yes & and can agree that saying "no" is often a powerful choice. I won't be the naive kid who claims you must always say "yes and". But good denial in a scene is a conscious choice to heighten and explore characters. The constant barrage of no's in this show were just made out of fear. Same with the pimps

I sorry! Wink
Holy crap! I have never seen so much apologetic work in my life (not true, sadly I have). If I go to see a play, If an actor misses a cue, I don't want them to giggle and tell me that they missed it. And I certainly don't want improvisors constantly reminding us how clever they are for improvising, and I don't want them reminding me of this by apologizing for it.
There's no other entertainment, art or skill that apologizes for itself so blatantly. There's a sense of "You didn't really expect quality did you? This is made up." Fuck that. Fuck that hard. If you're going to go on television and improvise, fucking do it. Make strong choices and stick to them. How can that not be better comedy?

I for one am of the camp that I don't care to wow the audience with my clever make-em-up skillz. I improvise because it's the best way for me to react honestly on stage. That's just me. Many people revel in the ability to ride the tight rope and impress the audience - I'm cool with that. But either way, pointing out your own bumbling inabilities is too easy a laugh. Take some pride in your work.

This is going to bring a whole new wave of egocentric assholes to the classroom. People who want to be a star without any work or skills as long as they can be louder than everyone on stage.

No thank you.

Shame on you for demeaning what I do for a fart joke.

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » April 20th, 2007, 12:38 am

I agree with all of that to a certain extent, though I did enjoy some of the scenes I saw. Some were dreadful, though.

And the title of the show comes from the original game, I though. That being, a naive game where someone enters an unfamiliar environment and is instantly greeted with "Thank god you're here!"

Meh whatever. I do improv on stage, without TV cameras, and I love it.

Jessica · Post by **Jessica** » April 20th, 2007, 9:26 am

So... does this look like a fun game to do (in short form) maybe in Maestro? I generally see audiences absolutely eat it up when you can do something they've seen on TV only you do it much better. It sounds like it might be fun.

To react to something said earlier...When I went to the "plays well with other's" show one thing they did was really push that this was a unique show. In fact, we as an audience, named the show. They refered to this during the show and at the end reminded everyone again that this was "your show, Mike." That pointed out one of the special aspects of the show with out apologizing for it.

sara farr · Post by **sara farr** » April 20th, 2007, 6:23 pm

Shana said stars from the show were on Oprah (yesterday??). She said it came off as fun and good promo for [the show/ improv in general??]... (ask Shana for deets).

smerlin · Post by **smerlin** » April 22nd, 2007, 9:43 am

"I improvise everday!" -- Oprah Winfrey

http://www.oprah.com/tows/slide/200704/ ... _102.jhtml

Roy Janik · Post by **Roy Janik** » May 16th, 2007, 1:21 pm

And...

It's been cancelled.

York99 · Post by **York99** » May 16th, 2007, 4:11 pm

Roy Janik wrote:And...

It's been cancelled.

Mixed emotions. I don't like it, but if it takes a cheesy pop song to get a kid into music who eventually turns out to be a kick ass rock star or a kick ass composer, then I can accept it.

Did anyone not follow that analogy?

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » May 16th, 2007, 4:24 pm

York99 wrote:Mixed emotions. I don't like it, but if it takes a cheesy pop song to get a kid into music who eventually turns out to be a kick ass rock star or a kick ass composer, then I can accept it.

Did anyone not follow that analogy?

Completely. That's sort of been my attitude about all of the TV gamey improv shows.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » May 21st, 2007, 4:47 pm

York99 wrote:
Roy Janik wrote:And...

It's been cancelled.
Mixed emotions. I don't like it, but if it takes a cheesy pop song to get a kid into music who eventually turns out to be a kick ass rock star or a kick ass composer, then I can accept it.

Did anyone not follow that analogy?

I understand the analogy, but my opinion is that bad TV can just suck it. Good riddance, as such. Give me more Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job and Wonder Showzen and Drinky Crow. Not improv, granted, but funny!

When I was a kid, and I was listening to lame music because I was a kid, I actually knew I was listening to lame music. I KNEW there had to be some better stuff out there than Mr. Mister and The Power Station. I had to hunt down the good stuff. And I would've appreciated it if, during my hunt (and thereafter for the rest of my life), I didn't ever have to hear another song by Richard Marx.

Thank God You're Here is Richard Marx to me.

All of you people are crazy delicious awesomer than that.

shando · Post by **shando** » May 21st, 2007, 4:50 pm

The Brigadier wrote:Give me more Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job and Wonder Showzen and Drinky Crow. Not improv, granted, but funny!

I still haven't seem Tim and Eric, but amen on those other two. Did Drinky Crow get picked up by Adult Swim? God I hope so. Now, for an Achewood animated series....

York99 · Post by **York99** » May 21st, 2007, 6:30 pm

The Brigadier wrote:When I was a kid, and I was listening to lame music because I was a kid, I actually knew I was listening to lame music.

Unfortunately, you are the exception and not the rule.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » May 22nd, 2007, 3:33 pm

shando wrote:
The Brigadier wrote:Give me more Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job and Wonder Showzen and Drinky Crow. Not improv, granted, but funny!

I still haven't seem Tim and Eric, but amen on those other two. Did Drinky Crow get picked up by Adult Swim? God I hope so. Now, for an Achewood animated series....

If I understood Adult Swim's most recent semi-Dada black-screen white-type bumper announcements correctly, then yes, they have cleared Drinky Crow for a full season.

shando · Post by **shando** » May 22nd, 2007, 4:05 pm

The Brigadier wrote:
shando wrote:
The Brigadier wrote:Give me more Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job and Wonder Showzen and Drinky Crow. Not improv, granted, but funny!

I still haven't seem Tim and Eric, but amen on those other two. Did Drinky Crow get picked up by Adult Swim? God I hope so. Now, for an Achewood animated series....
If I understood Adult Swim's most recent semi-Dada black-screen white-type bumper announcements correctly, then yes, they have cleared Drinky Crow for a full season.

Hella sweet. I have some Maakies books if anyone wants to borrow and get ready.

Favorite Drinky Crow insult ever: Why don't you crawl back inside your mother and start over.