Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
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Drew Carey's Green Screen Show was 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" (similar to "Newsflash" game from Whose Line?), 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.
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[edit] History
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, both Ryan Stiles and Kaitlin Olson 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, Carey claimed that he got 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 was La Trampa, performed by Tonino Carotone and Manu Chao.
[edit] Program Format
Although the show had no direct format the show would generally start with Drew Carey walking on to the stage with some sort of animation in the background, then Drew Carey would explain that in reality the entire screen was green. The show would usually have 4-5 games in episode, with an occasional side game which involved no explanation, but you were simply thrown into the middle of a scene.
[edit] Show Information
"Drew Carey's Green Screen Show" premiered on The WB network on October 7, 2004. Along with the show's debut, Drew participated in a number of promotional appearances such as guest hosting "The Late Late Show" on CBS, visiting "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on NBC, and starring in a special episode of "Blue Collar TV," The WB's lead-in for "Green Screen." The promising series aired for 5 weeks, but on November 8, The WB announced it was temporarily pulling "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show" from its schedule for November sweeps after it averaged 2.7 million viewers per week. In a news article, it was reported that the show would "remain in production" and was "expected to return in a new time period later this season." Due to its tough Thursday night time slot (up against CBS's "Survivor," NBC's "Will & Grace," FOX's "The OC"), the new series didn't have a fair chance at gaining a loyal audience. Fans waited through the entire 2004-2005 season for The WB to deliver their promise of new episodes, but it never happened. They finally confirmed it as canceled in May 2005 at their 2005-06 fall presentation. As a result, Drew Carey and executive producer Ron Diamond, took the show to Comedy Central.
