"Whose Line" welcomes Aisha Tyler '92

By Marina Shkuratov, The Dartmouth Staff | 7/30/13 9:00am

If you ever made your friends play Party Quirks when they came over or had a rendition of “Hoedown” as your ringtone, you were probably about as excited as I was to hear that “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” has returned for another season. And this time, you can add Dartmouth pride to the long list of reasons you watch — Aisha Tyler ’92 is the show’s new host.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2BNMuKaums

“Whose Line,” an improvisational comedy show, returned to television on July 16 after ending its eight-year run stateside in 2006. Tyler, who replaced Drew Carey as its host, performs alongside the original cast of Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie and Wayne Brady.

The half hour show consists of various short-form improvisational games like Questions Only, a scene that ends as soon as one of the actors makes a statement instead of asking a question, and Scenes from a Hat, one of the show’s most popular performances. In this game, actors must act out audience-submitted questions and ideas read during the show.

Fan reviewers have responded extremely positively to the show’s return. A reviewer on tv.com said that “Whose Line” is a show “you can’t just watch once” because it makes people fall in love with improvisational comedy. Reviews of Tyler have been mixed, as some fans miss Carey’s chemistry with the show’s staple actors.

“Whose Line” is the next step in a long and successful career for Tyler, who is the voice of Lana Kane in “Archer” and is a co-host of “The Talk.” In 2003, she appeared in nine episodes of “Friends” as Charlie Wheeler, a paleontologist who dated both Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Ross (David Schwimmer). She also appeared in “Hawaii Five-0,” “Glee,” “Ghost Whisperer” and “24.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCA0iHMNUhY

Last fall, Tyler hosted “Igniting Imagination,” a show put on for the Hopkins Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend. Tyler performed a long conversation entirely in Dartmouth lingo alongside Rachel Dratch ’88 in one of the show’s most memorable moments.

“Whose Line” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.


Marina Shkuratov, The Dartmouth Staff