I’ve been on a run of Whose Line Is It Anyway? watching lately. It’s the show where everything’s made up, and the points don’t matter.
That’s right, the points are like the complaints I’ve heard from the occasional actor about how the show isn’t “real” improv.
Those complaints don’t matter when the show is as funny as it is.
Despite a brief hiatus, Whose Line is now approaching its 20th season, though Colin Mochrie recently said the show is filming its final season in January.
And with nearly 400 episodes in the bag, surely there must be SOME references to basketball or appearances from famous hoops players, right?
RIGHT. Now let’s check out basketball on Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Telethon for NBA Players
Telethon is an underrated Whose Line game — the cast implores the viewing audience to donate to groups of people who don’t need the money.
Even 20 years ago, “NBA players” was a good suggestion.
This might be Ryan and Colin’s finest performance in this game, saying lines like “that’s right, we’ve been up for six hours straight!” with perfect disgust and chastising viewers for raising only $386 million.
Then, Brad and Wayne imitate about a half-dozen musicians encouraging donations — Wayne’s Stevie Wonder and Brad’s take on The B-52s are the top highlights. It’s glorious teamwork all around.
Appearances from Matt Barnes and Lisa Leslie
A few seasons into the original run of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the show introduced guest stars. In many cases, the guests, like Hugh Hefner or Lassie, just sat there while the performers talked and/or sang around them.
But sometimes, the guest would be an experienced actor, such as when Florence Henderson graced the stage. Those moments were the most wonderful.
Today, Whose Line employs guests in basically every episode. And sometimes, that includes NBA and WNBA players.
Lisa Leslie appeared on a Season 9 episode (joining the stage around 5:30 and 16:00). She has strong acting chops, which are perhaps most evident in Uncle Drew, but alas, she doesn’t get much to do here.
The highlight of her first game, Song Styles, is a delightful moment where she questions one of Wayne’s lyrics. He tells her to let him use his own analogies, all the while impersonating Justin Timberlake.
In her second game, Living Scenery, Ryan and Colin use Leslie and Heather Anne Campbell as props for a scene on a rapidly descending airplane. Leslie at least gets some solid physical comedy in here.
Matt Barnes joined a Season 10 episode, prompting Gary Anthony Williams to say Barnes makes him feel very fat and short. I can relate.
You can watch the full thing here; Barnes’s appearances come at about 6 minutes and 19 minutes in. He also has someone sing a song to him (this one is about being invisible) and plays Helping Hands with Ryan and Colin.
Neither game requires a ton of improv on his end, though Barnes still gets in some quality one-liners in Helping Hands, while Ryan has to tolerate whatever Colin sticks in his mouth.
Trust Us With Your Life
Okay, this is cheating a bit, since Trust Us With Your Life is a different show than Whose Line Is It Anyway?
But let’s be real — this game, Sideways Scene, is featured in the Whose Line reboot, which…uh, rebooted just a year after this show aired. And Trust Us With Your Life includes Colin Mochrie, Wayne Brady, and Jonathan Mangum, all of whom currently appear on modern-day Whose Line Is It Anyway?
So, you’re getting to see the glory here. Enjoy two minutes of terrific physical comedy interwoven with scenes of Mark Cuban laughing uproariously.