The Return of "Whose Line is it Anyway"

[D'Snowth]

I guess people are thinking back to when the same scenario happened to Paul Reubens: I mean, he was Pee-wee Herman, a childhood hero to a lot of little kids who loved him, and so for "Pee-wee" to be caught doing what he was doing and where he was doing it, all of the sudden, Pee-wee was "off-limits" to kids, and even now, even though PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE was indeed a Saturday Morning children's show, just because of what he did, the show is now treated as an "adults only" show (and the fact that Cartoon Network once aired it as part of [adult swim] didn't help matters either).

Now, granted, Fred Willard isn't exactly a children's entertainer, though it's not uncommon to see him in a kiddy or family show or movie (the likes of D.C. FOLLIES and WALL-E spring to mind, for example), again, it's like people are thinking back on Pee-wee, so I think that's where the mentality towards his actions comes from. However, because Willard IS more of an adult performer, I honestly don't think this has or is going to damage his career nearly as much as Reubens: his career was NEVER the same again (though some out there still gave him a chance in roles that were completely against the Pee-wee type).

But please don't get me started on Chris Brown... I CANNOT comprehend WHY Rihanna keeps hooking back up with him all the time... but then again, I can't comprehend what's gone on with her MIND... I mean WHAT happened to her? I wouldn't say she was necessarily role-model material, but she was a fairly decent pop star there for a while, but nowadays, she's utter trash, and her work in just plain filthy... and she doesn't even seem to care... like when she shot that video of hers over in the U.K., strolling through that farmer's field completely naked, and the farmer actually went off on her, giving her a lecture about decency and morals and such, and she just shrugged it off (and in the farmer's defense, he said he had no idea who Rihanna was, or that she was a famous pop star, but said even he did know all that, he still would have done the same).

 

[Drtooth]

Pee Wee's situation is one of those stories that depends on who's telling it. Though it's starting to turn more and more likely that he did that on purpose. Mainly because he desperately wanted out of the character, who by the time it turned into a kid's show lost all the satirical edge the original stage show had. The show just ended on CBS at the time, but the downfall came just as the summer reruns were hitting. The show was going to end anyway, and Paul just wanted to put the character away and focus on something else. Seems like a strategic staged downfall. But then again, his career bounced back pretty quickly. Now he does cartoon voice over work with no incident.

But I agree. Fred Willard does do kids media from time to time, but that's not his career. That show wasn't meant to be for kids who probably didn't even know what he did in the first place. I understand firing him from the PBS show Market Warriors (even though I doubt anyone under the age of 12 would bother watching it) and the family cautious brand of Old Navy. But to kick an adult off of an adult show for doing something adult in a place for adults only... that's ABC's moral Guardian fears. And like I said, those moral guardians are pretty hateful. Why are we still letting them control our media? Heck, I bet that show made jokes more perverted than that.

Some celebrities do terrible things and they walk away from them with, at most, a slap on the wrist and a tortured comedic monologue by a late night talk show host. Some have their careers irrevocably damaged for one tiny infraction. I still don't see why Mel Gibson was on the 3 strikes system (and used all of them) and Michael Richards' career died right there with one. Not saying one's right and one's wrong... but at least equalize the wrong.

 

[D'Snowth]

a slap on the wrist and a tortured comedic monologue by a late night talk show host. Some have their careers irrevocably damaged for one tiny infraction. I still don't see why Mel Gibson was on the 3 strikes system (and used all of them) and Michael Richards' career died right there with one. Not saying one's right and one's wrong... but at least equalize the wrong.

Well, Mel Gibson is a lot more powerful and famous than Michael Richards, it's similar to how another network JUMPED at giving Charlie Sheen a new sitcom after he went crazy and got fired from TWO AND A HALF MEN: HOW many times has Charlie gotten himself into trouble, and was never punished for it (aside from being fired from 2.5 Men)? But part of the problem too is that Michael has continually been punishing himself... people like Gibson, Sheen, AHHHNOLD, all basically shrugged their troubles off, and acted like they never happened, or that they never hurt their careers, Michael Richards on the other hand, he STILL can't shake the guilt off over what he did, and even Jerry Seinfeld took him aside and told him he can't keep letting this hold him back, it's in the past, what's done is done, and he doesn't have to hold it against himself. I always give Jerry a great deal of credit for that, he may have acted like a ******* on SEINFELD, but in real life, he's really got a heart of gold, and he always reaches out to his friends, no matter how deep a hole they've dug themselves into; he was quick to come to Michael's defense after his tirade happened, and he's still behind him and supporting him as it continues to haunt him after all these years.

And, from what I understand, some network out there is actually FINALLY giving Michael a chance at another new sitcom for himself; not sure which network, or what the sitcom is going to be about, but it's happening.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

That's the same sitation Ren & Stimpy went through. For about 3 years after the Adult Party Cartoon premiered, Nickelodeon completely disowned it as one of their shows. The DVDs don't have the Nickelodeon logo on them at all and I assume the episodes Nick produced themselves were stripped of that logo for their DVDs too. Granted, unlike Pee-wee Herman, the show is now embraced as Nickelodeon show again. But still, it was viewed as an "adults-only" cartoon for a short period.

 

[Animal'sBunny]

Kathy Greenwood I can kind of understand, she's kind of like one of those personalities whose face your recognize more than the name, but you're honestly the first Canadian I've ever encountered who hadn't at least heard of Colin Mochrie. ><

I've only heard of him because of WLiiA. Trust me, you'd be surprised. I bet I could EASILY find you 20 people who'd never heard of him... Sad truth.

 

[mr3urious]

And, from what I understand, some network out there is actually FINALLY giving Michael a chance at another new sitcom for himself; not sure which network, or what the sitcom is going to be about, but it's happening.

Though it could most likely suffer the Seinfeld Curse like all the others.

 

[D'Snowth]

Though it could most likely suffer the Seinfeld Curse like all the others.

After all these years? Probably not.

The problem with the "Seinfeld Curse" is that they ALL (save for Jerry himself) tried to getting their own new shows IMMEDIATELY after the show ended, when viewers were still coming down from SEINFELD's demise, and ultimately, weren't ready to accept the actors in new completely new roles as completely new characters. Julia Louis-Dreyfus has had TWO successful series since the demise of SEINFELD, but both of them didn't start until well after the former had ended, and thus, people had time to get over her being Elaine Benes. Jason Alexander has had a moderately successful post-SEINFELD career doing voice acting and appearing on Broadway... Michael's really the only one who hasn't risen above the curse yet, not just because of his unfortunate episode at that comedy club, because immediately after SEINFELD, he went on to do his own show where he basically played a character who was like a carbon copy of Kramer, only as a cop or detective... it just doesn't work.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Jerry Seinfeld wasn't completely safe from the Seinfeld Curse. Remember, I know Bee Movie has it's fans but we can't forget that it basically failed critically and was one of DreamWorks' lowest-grossing CG films.

 

[D'Snowth]

I think the problem with BEE MOVIE was kind of the same problem with ROVER DANGERFIELD... you kind of have to understand, and get their sense of humor in order to really appreciate those movies.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm not surprised in the least that so many people are whining about Drew Carey not hosting.

And you know what? I'm more than willing to bet a lot of them are some of the same people who were whining about Clive Anderson not hosting when the U.S. version of WLiiA? debuted back in 1998.

One thing that does surprise me, however, is that they actually have the exact same backdrop on their set behind the performers' seats that they had back when the show was still in taping. The rest of the set's been updated and looks really snazzy, but still the exact same backdrop, I'm floored.

I'm just wondering when they're going to bring in some of the alumni like Greg Proops or Brad Sherwood; so far, they've mostly had performers who are currently relevent in mainstream media.