''Thank God You're Here'' is a partially

improvised 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, based on the Australian TV show, broadcast by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. The show was hosted by David Alan Grier and presided over by judge

Dave Foley David Scott Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and ...

. The

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

was shot on November 9, 2006, and NBC initially ordered six episodes. The show debuted with a two-hour, double-episode premiere on Monday, April 9, 2007, at 9pm ET. It was produced by

FremantleMedia North America Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in ...

, with Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Fremantle, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small as executive producers. The show aired on Mondays for its first 2 weeks. It was moved to Wednesdays on April 18, 2007. On May 14, 2007, after the initial order of 7 episodes aired, the series was officially cancelled by NBC.

Summary

''Thank God You're Here'' showcased the improvisational skills of a group of four actors each week, as they walked into a live sketch without having seen a script for it. The only clue the actors had as to the content of the sketch, and the role they would be playing within the sketch, was their costume. Upon entering the sketch, the actors were greeted with "Thank God you're here!" from another actor in the sketch. Outside of the principal actor, all actors in the sketch had a script which they more or less followed, depending on the improvisations. Sketches had no set ending point — instead, they went on until the judge (Foley) stopped them with a buzzer. Also, in each episode one of the skits would feature David Alan Grier in a surprise cameo. At the end of the show, the judge chose a winner from among the four actor contestants. The winner was awarded a trophy. Unlike the Australian version, no honorable or dishonorable mentions were chosen.

Cast

* David Alan Grier — Host *

— Judge *

Chris Tallman Christian Tallman (born September 22, 1970) is an American actor and comedian best known for his regular appearances on the Comedy Central programs '' Crossballs'' and ''Reno 911!''. Tallman was also the creator of the popular Channel 101 serie ...

– Ensemble *

Maribeth Monroe Maribeth Monroe (born March 25, 1978) is an American actress, writer and comedian. She is known for portraying Alice Murphy on Comedy Central's sitcom ''Workaholics'', Mindy St. Claire on NBC's sitcom,''The Good Place'', and Christina Wheeler on ...

– Ensemble *

Brian Palermo Brian Palermo is an American character actor, science communicator, and comedian. He has appeared in a number of television shows, commercials and movies. Palermo is also a writer whose credits include Warner Brothers' ''Histeria!'' and Disney's ...

– Ensemble * Nyima Funk - Ensemble

List of episodes

Episode 1: April 9, 2007 (9 PM)

Episode 2: April 9, 2007 (10 PM)

Episode 3: April 16, 2007

Episode 4: April 18, 2007

Episode 5: May 2, 2007

Episode 6: May 9, 2007

Episode 7: May 16, 2007

Notes: This episode featured an appearance by

Jerry Springer Gerald Norman Springer (born February 13, 1944) is a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, former lawyer, and politician. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Jerry Springer'' between September 30, 1991 and July 26, 2018, an ...

and was originally supposed to feature Alanis Morissette, who ended up pulling out.

References

External links

Official Website
* {{IMDb title, 0983782, Thank God You're Here 2007 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings 2000s American sketch comedy television series NBC original programming Television series by Fremantle (company) American television series based on Australian television series Improvisational television series