Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
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Drew Carey's Green Screen Show is an improvisational comedy television series that aired in the fall of 2004 on The WB Television Network, and the fall of 2005 on Comedy Central. The show was hosted by Drew Carey, and was somewhat based on the show he previously hosted, Whose Line Is It Anyway?.
The distinguishing feature of the show was that the improv games were performed in front of a "green screen", with animation, music and sound effects inserted in post-production. The show was otherwise very similar to Whose Line, and featured many of the same performers and games.
Each episode featured seven or eight performers, including Carey. Unlike Whose Line, segments of the show came from multiple tapings, as evident by the cast wearing different outfits after each commercial break, removing the pretext of the former show that filming was continuous. The show was also more conspicuous in its edits during games.
The original run of the Green Screen Show was only for five weekly episodes. However, the show went back on the air on Comedy Central on September 26, 2005.
Performers appearing during the series were Drew Carey, Brad Sherwood, Colin Mochrie, Jeff Davis, Greg Proops, Chip Esten, Julie Larson, Sean Masterson, Jonathan Mangum, and Kathy Kinney; in addition, Ryan Stiles appeared at the pilot taping, although not in an episode. Because of the number of cast members and the smaller number of sketches (the sketches have to be devised to work with animation unlike on "Whose Line" which had no such restriction), many cast members only got small amounts of screen time and less time to rapport on screen. The larger cast, however, also gave the show more of a collective "ensemble" feel and a looser and more freewheeling atmosphere compared to Whose Line; one example of this is that cast members not originally specified to participate in a sketch frequently joined in whenever it seemed appropriate. Another example was a smaller focus on gimmicky games, as most of the games were very basic, and sometimes the performers simply acted a scene without any game restrictions. The high cost of animation, compositing, and the additional cast members raised the cost of the show, though; no episodes were ordered for a second season and the last episode aired in early 2006.
On an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien when "Green Screen" premiered, Drew Carey claimed to get the idea during the "Whose Line" skit "Moving people" when he thought how funny it would be if you couldn't see the people manipulating the players.
The show's theme song is La Trampa, performed by Tonino Carotone and Manu Chao.
