UKTV has acquired exclusive UK rights to 50 episodes of the US version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the award-winning, improvisational comedy series hosted by popular US talk show host, actress and comedian Aisha Tyler.
The deal was brokered by Hat Trick International’s (HTI) Cassandra Toller and UKTV’s Global Acquisitions Manager, Daniel Thomas. The series will launch on the network’s Dave channel this February in a prime-time evening slot, stripped across the week. The series features Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie as well as celebrity guests including Mel B, Kevin McHale, Nolan Gould and Jack Osbourne, and is produced by Hat Trick Productions and Angst Productions for The CW.
13 international adaptations of the long-running comedy format have been produced around the world, including Australia (Foxtel), Finland (MTV3), Holland (BNN-Vara), Vietnam (Dong Tay Promotion) and Egypt (TeN TV).
HTI has also secured sales deals for comedy show Hypothetical, now in its third series on Dave in the UK. Produced by Hat Trick Productions, the series has sold and aired on BBC Studios’ Global channels in Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and also SBS Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand.
Whose Line is it Anyway? USA (170 x ½ hour) is an unscripted comedy show in which four guest performers improvise their way through a series of games, including voicing over a clip from a film which has had the soundtrack removed, inventing a song about a member of the audience, finding entertaining ways of using props or acting a scene in a variety of styles. Performers are awarded points by the host on an entirely arbitrary basis. The “prize” for the “winner” is to read out the closing credits in a style demanded by the host.
Hypothetical (22 x 1 hour) is a popular comedy panel show hosted by Josh Widdicome (The Last Leg) and James Acaster (Repertoire). Over four hilarious rounds, top comedians are posed increasingly absurd hypothetical situations and scored on how well they would deal with them.
