''Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza'' is an American

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

television program that aired in the United States on the Game Show Network (GSN). Produced at the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada, the series was hosted by

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, '' The Drew Carey Show'', an ...

, host of the original American version of ''

Whose Line Is It Anyway? ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show originating as a British radio programme, before moving to British television in 1988. Following the conclusion of the British run in 1999, ABC began airing an American ...

'', a similar show that featured several of the same cast members. The show premiered on April 11, 2011, airing 40 episodes in total. The series completed its eight-week run on June 3, 2011. Despite only lasting for one season, critical reception of the show was generally positive.

Format

Similar to ''

'' and ''

Drew Carey's Green Screen Show ''Drew Carey's Green Screen Show'' is an American improvisational comedy television series that aired in the fall of 2004 on The WB, and the fall of 2005 on Comedy Central. The show was hosted by Drew Carey, and was somewhat a follow-up to the s ...

'', the program features the performers acting in improvisational comedy sketches in front of a live audience using suggestions and participation from the live studio audience viewers. Many American ''Whose Line'' alumni return for this show. Each episode consists of three or four improv games, each one introduced by a different cast member, with each game taking up an entire segment. Unlike ''Whose Line'', the series is filmed at the

MGM Grand Las Vegas The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by number of roo ...

in Paradise, Nevada. Carey himself is a performer and takes part in games with the other cast members. The series also interacted with the viewing audience by allowing viewers to enter a sweepstakes to win a trip for two to Las Vegas and a stay in the MGM Grand Hotel. One random winner was selected per day for each episode aired.

Cast

In addition to hosting the show, Carey also serves as one of the main performers. Other members of the cast include Heather Anne Campbell, Jeff Davis,

Chip Esten Charles Esten Puskar III (born September 9, 1965), also known professionally as Charles Esten, and Chip Esten, is an American actor, musician and comedian. Esten played the role of country singer Deacon Claybourne on the ABC/ CMT drama ''Nashvi ...

Kathy Kinney Kathy Kinney (born November 3, 1954, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin) is an American actress, voice actress, and comedian. She gained considerable popularity in the late 1990s for playing Mimi Bobeck, the outrageously made-up, flamboyantly vulgar, a ...

Jonathan Mangum Jonathan Mangum (born January 16, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of the variety show '' The Wayne Brady Show'' and is the announcer for the game show ''Let's Make a Deal''. Early life Mangum was born in Charleston ...

, Sean Masterson, Colin Mochrie,

Greg Proops Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops (born October 3, 1959) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his guest appearances on the U.K. and U.S. versions of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. He has also voiced the ...

Brad Sherwood Bradley Sherwood is an American actor, singer, comedian, game show host and writer. Career His first acting job was a recurring role on '' L.A. Law'' as Ned Barron, which lasted for six episodes from 1991 to 1992. Sherwood was introduced to i ...

Ryan Stiles Ryan Lee Stiles (born April 22, 1959) is an American-Canadian actor, comedian, and producer whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his work on the original British series and American version of '' Wh ...

, and series musician Bob Derkach. Guest performers include

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of ...

Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...

, Steve Kamer, series announcer

Rich Fields Richard Wayne Fields (born November 30, 1960) is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer, and meteorologist. He is best known for a seven-season stint in which he announced for the American version of ''The Price Is Right''. Early life and ...

, and ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

'' models Rachel Reynolds, Manuela Arbeláez,

Gwendolyn Osborne Gwendolyn Osborne-Smith (born 7 August 1978)
PRWeb, 8 September 2006, retrieved 28 March 2 ...

Production

The series, its cast members, and its premiere date were announced on January 10, 2011. On February 16, 2011, GSN announced that the show would premiere alongside '' Love Triangle''. The show premiered on April 11, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. EDT. On August 25, 2011, Carey announced through

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that the show was effectively canceled as GSN would not be ordering any more episodes of ''Improv-A-Ganza''. From November 16, 2012 to January 4, 2013, reruns of the show aired on GSN. The two-hour time slot allowed GSN to air the entire 40 episodes in a 10-week stretch. Laff acquired the rights to the show in 2015, airing it on Saturday nights. The series has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray, nor has it been made available through online streaming services.

Reception

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

''s Ryan McGee believed fans of improv would enjoy the show, writing, "what escapes through this series' run should give fans of improv enough pleasure to justify checking in whenever possible." Melinda Houston of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' found the premise of the show "deceptively simple,” but she was "in awe of the intellectual effort involved." She added, "When the laughs do come, they're all the more satisfying for being so surprising and spontaneous. Thoroughly entertaining."

References

External links

* at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...