{"id":5410,"date":"2017-02-20T12:12:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-20T17:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/"},"modified":"2017-02-22T09:50:43","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T14:50:43","slug":"case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Sarah Tong, the director of sales at Hat Trick International, talks to<\/em> TV Formats <em>about the company\u2019s success with the unscripted comedy format <\/em>Whose Line Is It Anyway?<\/p>\n<p>Cast members and guest performers use improvisation and audience suggestions to compete in a variety of games on\u00a0<em>Whose Line Is It Anyway?<\/em>, an unscripted comedy format sold by Hat Trick International. The show started life as a British radio program before debuting on TV in the U.K. \u201cJimmy Mulville [Hat Trick\u2019s co-founder and managing director] became involved when he took the format to Channel 4, which commissioned the first series in 1988, and it\u2019s been in production ever since,\u201d says Sarah Tong, Hat Trick\u2019s director of sales.<\/p>\n<p>A decade later, ABC in the U.S. placed an order for an American version that remained on the air until 2007. Games played included voicing over a clip from a movie without the soundtrack, inventing a song about an audience member, and using props in amusing ways. The show saw host Drew Carey award an arbitrary amount of points \u201cthat don\u2019t matter\u201d to the best players, with the \u201cwinner\u201d getting to read the closing credits out loud in a funny style. In 2013, The CW revived\u00a0<em>Whose Line Is It Anyway?<\/em>, which is now presented by Aisha Tyler and sees original cast members Wayne Brady,\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/i6.cmail20.com\/ei\/r\/BD\/31C\/73F\/022100\/csimport\/2017-02-20-whose-line-is-it-anyway_5.jpg\" alt=\"***Image***\" width=\"250\" height=\"187\" align=\"right\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"8\" vspace=\"8\" \/>Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie perform alongside new talent and celebrity guests.<\/p>\n<p>Hat Trick has secured finished-tape sales for both the U.K. and new U.S. versions of the format. \u201cThey sell very well internationally (to a total of 102 countries), both to TV and VOD platforms,\u201d says Tong.<\/p>\n<p><em>Whose Line Is It Anyway?<\/em>\u00a0has also been adapted in 13 other territories, including France, Germany, Spain, Russia and the Netherlands. \u201cThe series has been extremely successful in the Netherlands, where they\u2019ve made nine seasons as well as a number of stage shows, which [has also been] done in the U.K.,\u201d notes Tong. \u201cAs well as more international versions for TV, we are looking at doing more live stage shows after having two successful runs in London\u2019s West End. We are looking at opportunities in the U.K. and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most recent local treatments of the format were ordered in Vietnam and Australia. \u201cIn Australia, The Comedy Channel commissioned a 10-part series hosted by Tommy Little, with an ensemble cast including Rhys Darby, Susie Youssef and Steen Raskopoulos,\u201d says Tong.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few minor differences between the various versions of\u00a0<em>Whose Line Is It Anyway?\u00a0<\/em>\u201cSome use music more than others, some have more than four chairs (we allow up to six), some use the same four chairs (performers) each week and some rotate,\u201d says Tong. \u201cSome have created their own spin-offs of our games and some have used social media and live suggestions for games online.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regarding what makes the format easy to adapt, Tong notes that \u201cexcellent consultancy and a comprehensive bible\u201d are very important to have. She says the concept has been a hit \u201cbecause it combines well-known talent with the best in exciting new talent playing a variety of hilarious games. And it\u2019s unpredictable. But best of all, it\u2019s successful because it makes you laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tong adds: \u201cAlthough there have been a few copycat formats over the years, the forerunner to all of those\u2014<em>Whose Line Is It Anyway?<\/em>\u2014has stood the test of time and will continue to be a global hit for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sarah Tong, the director of sales at Hat Trick International, talks about the company\u2019s success with the unscripted comedy format.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":479,"featured_media":5411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[873,874,875],"class_list":["post-5410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-hat-trick-international","tag-sarah-tong","tag-whose-line-is-it-anyway","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway? - TVFORMATS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway? - TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sarah Tong, the director of sales at Hat Trick International, talks about the company\u2019s success with the unscripted comedy format.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-20T17:12:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-22T14:50:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/02\/2017-02-20-Whose-Line-Is-It-Anyway.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joanna Padovano Tong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joanna Padovano Tong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/\",\"name\":\"Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway? - TVFORMATS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-20T17:12:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-22T14:50:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/32988e9e383343ccc4b66993cc2d85e2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\",\"name\":\"TVFORMATS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/32988e9e383343ccc4b66993cc2d85e2\",\"name\":\"Joanna Padovano Tong\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/author\/simon-weaver-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway? - TVFORMATS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway? - TVFORMATS","og_description":"Sarah Tong, the director of sales at Hat Trick International, talks about the company\u2019s success with the unscripted comedy format.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/","og_site_name":"TVFORMATS","article_published_time":"2017-02-20T17:12:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-22T14:50:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/02\/2017-02-20-Whose-Line-Is-It-Anyway.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joanna Padovano Tong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joanna Padovano Tong","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/","name":"Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway? - TVFORMATS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-02-20T17:12:45+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-22T14:50:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/32988e9e383343ccc4b66993cc2d85e2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/case-study-of-whose-line-is-it-anyway\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Case Study of Whose Line Is It Anyway?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/","name":"TVFORMATS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/32988e9e383343ccc4b66993cc2d85e2","name":"Joanna Padovano Tong","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/author\/simon-weaver-2\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/479"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}