This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Lord Aaronus: ...shouldn't there be a list of examples of tropes somewhere on the page? Off the top of my head, Hilarity Ensues, Throw It In!, Running Gag, Memetic Outfit (Drew, Greg, Jeff's suit, Ryan's shoes), maybe Five-Man Band at a stretch...
- Bored On Board (Ryan about the hoedowns)
- The Smurfette Principle (fairly straightforward)
- Ensemble Dark Horse (Wayne, no offence)
- Insufferable Genius (parodied by Colin's Hollywood Director thing)
- Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming: one Newsflash game had Colin standing in front of clips with all kinds of rats, and Ryan's clues included 'mistakenly' calling Colin 'Ben', and even slipping in lyrics from the early Michael Jackson song. Colin guessed it at that point, but Drew didn't get it at all at the end of the game, which prompted Colin and Ryan to sing the next line in the song, completely unplanned, and in perfect timing. Crosses into Crowning Moment Of Awesome as it defined the level of chemistry between them, while leaving no doubt that they were the masters of the art.Watch it here.
I was wondering for sometime if a Characters page would work for a show like this. Like it or not, the players have become larger than life mostly by being themselves, or possibly not, they've officially blurred the line where this is concerned. Off the top of my head, UK side:
- Clive Anderson: The Napoleon, Deadpan Snarker, Not So Stoic (getting him to crack up is a challenge of sorts)
- John Sessions: First Installment Wins
- Mike McShane: The Big Guy
- Josie Lawrence: The Smurfette Principle, Butt-Monkey to Paul and Tony, Ship Tease with Mike McShane, I Was Quite a Fashion Victim
- Sandi Toksvig: Affirmative Action Girl, The Lad-ette, The Napoleon
- Paul Merton: Cloud Cuckoo Lander, Deadpan Snarker, Only Sane Man (parodied)
- Tony Slattery: Large Ham, Lovable Sex Maniac, The Cast Showoff (he was pulling dance moves long before Wayne Brady)
- Steve Frost: Violent Glaswegian, Refuge in Audacity (actually lowered his pants for a laugh twice), Boisterous Bruiser
- Drew Carey: Memetic Outfit (not just the suit but the suspenders struggling with his pants), Nerd Glasses
- Colin Mochrie: Bald Of Awesome, The Woobie, Crosses the Line Twice, Canada Eh, Beware the Nice Ones, Incredibly Lame Pun
- Greg Proops: Smug Snake, Kichiku Megane, Memetic Outfit (the suit, especially the jacket that Wayne borrows at times)
- Brad Sherwood: The Big Guy, Refuge in Audacity
- Ryan Stiles: The Lancer to Drew, Memetic Outfit (the shoes), Gag Penis (as often as his John Wayne impressions)
- Wayne Brady: Mr. Fanservice, Token Minority (first regular black dude) Beware the Nice Ones, Keet, The Cast Showoff, N-Word Privileges (lampshaded in his repertoire of impressions) Funny Afro (mimes having these, see prev.)
- Karen Maruyama: Token Minority (Asian), N-Word Privileges (her Me Love You Long Time routines)
- Denny Seigel: Token Minority (Jewish), Cloud Cuckoo Lander (not just in-character, note some of her answers during guessing-type games)
- Kathy Greenwood: The Smurfette Principle, The Scrappy
- Chip Esten: Mr. Fanservice, Keet, Put on a Bus (first appeared in the UK version, then took a long hiatus before reappearing in the US one)
- Jeff Davis: Mr. Fanservice, Memetic Outfit (the shinyish suit), Twinkle Smile
- Laura Hall: Affirmative Action Girl (first regular female musician, a job arguably harder than the actual improv)
Mark Lungo: Sounds good to me.
