I’ve claimed that Seinfeld looks outdated. It just looks old – and it is. My parents were into Seinfeld when I was a kid and now I’m a huge fan. It is without argument, a classic- hell it premiered in 1990. Twenty years ago! I was three! Dear god, I’m 23 now. I need a real job.

But we know Seinfeld looks old, what worries me is that Whose Line Is It Anyways is beginning to look old. I remember tuning in to watch new episodes of Whose Line when I was eleven years old. I’d watch it with my parents on Wednesday (?) nights on ABC (coulda been Thursdays). I loved it: improv comedy with music and an arbitrary points system. It’s a win-win-win.

The show started on British radio and eventually took off on British television in 1988. Then, much akin to “The Office,” it was picked up on American Television, and took off. Go America!

Whose Line was a success, among various reasons, because the cast of the Drew Carey Show essentially worked overtime to appear on both shows simultaneously. Thank God Christa Miller didn’t sign that contract. If you’re not familiar with the Christa Miller or even with the Drew Carey Show it’s probably because it aired past your bedtime: Like I said, we’re getting old.

So the pudgy Drew Carey sits behind a desk with thick-rimmed glasses, an annoying – and unnecessary – buzzer and an infinite amount of points, an oh-so original concept where the “winner” of the show gets to (has to) read the closing credits like a drill sergeant, or an auctioneer, or a field reporter. What an honor. Then you have Ryan Stiles, another DCS expat, who, for a lack of an all-star cast, became a leading man and mainstay on the show. But his humor stems from one of two things; (1) his height, or (2) his comically large feet, both of which stem from the fact that he is a large individual. Aesthetically, he’s just a few yellow feather’s short of Big Bird.

You can’t mention Ryan Stiles without also touching on Colin Mochrie. I am unaware of Mochrie’s sexual orientation, but if he were a woman, he would undoubtedly be a lesbian. Loose flowing Hawaiian shirts, leaning his head on others’ shoulders, the flailing limbs and the pallor of his forearms. None of these things ring a heterosexual bell. Brad Sherwood has been making appearances across the U.S. with Mochrie, clenching with white knuckles any shred of comedic skills and stageworthiness they have left. Sherwood, with his pastel oxford shirts and gelled hair (ah, the ’90s) looks like that kid (any kid) you would always ignore at parties. A segment on the show involves a random audience member having a love song sung to them on stage. Sherwood takes it too far, guiltily crossing the line from humor to creepiness, ending said ballads with a soft-spoken “I… Love… Youuuuu…” Funny given the context of the sketch, but disturbing, considering how desperate he looks as the audience member leaves the stool on the stage and returns to their seat. Given the chance, he would sleep with that mother of two human resources worker from Milwaukee.

And the gamut of other characters: Wayne Brady, TBG with a knack for rhyming, and erratic gesticulations. There’s Greg Proops – they guy with goofy hair, whacky glasses and a look that makes you think he does great rodent and varmint impressions. And of course Laura Hall on piano. Was she blind? Or a burn victim? Maybe she just stood out because she was the only female on stage.

or, Saving Big Bird

I just watched Whose Line for the first time in years. Allow me to be critical. i just hope that when I watch The Office in 2018, I won’t look at it so cruelly.