Cast: Greg Proops, Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Drew Carey

Let's Make a Date: Wayne = contestant; Greg = roommates from the Real World; Colin = soap opera doctor desperate not to lose another patient; Ryan = nervous old woman accidentally boarding a roller coaster
Obviously, Greg starts early. Oh, I don't mean the game. I mean drinking. ;) I liked his character. Like Wayne, I probably wouldn't have been able to guess the Real World either. But I think Wayne was close enough to Greg's portrayal that he should have been given it all by Drew. Colin's soap opera doctor was a nice piece of acting all around. And points to Wayne for getting the entire gag including the soap opera bit. Did you notice Ryan asking Colin what kind of doctor he was after the buzzer? You can see Colin whisper soap opera. Ryan had clearly figured out that Colin was a doctor but hadn't guessed it all. So Wayne did one better than Ryan. (One thing I like about Let's Make a Date is how the other players try to guess each other and incorporate the others into the separate improvs tying everything into one scene. Did that make sense??? I don't think so.) Ryan as Carol Channing riding a roller coaster. Okay, so maybe that's not what exactly what Ryan was supposed to be, but I liked Wayne's interpretation better than the real one. I think Ryan liked it better too.

Song Styles: Wayne sings to Charlie the maintenance guy in the style of TLC
This is a Ryan watching song. He really gets into this one. Especially when Wayne slinks down Charlie's leg. For a guy who's willing to do some outrageous stuff, sometimes Ryan embarrasses easily when he watches others do the same things. Odd, isn't it?

Party Quirks: Greg = host; Wayne = bickering married couple; Colin = fish from birth to fish sticks in 30 seconds; Ryan = nipples are attached to Greg's hands
I think this game shows why Greg makes such a great host for Party Quirks. Most of the other hosts I've seen can't handle the scene when the guessing goes wrong. Greg turns it into an even better joke. "I'm gonna be out here for days. I hope the next person brings pizza because this is gonna take some time." Greg is a very funny straight man. And no, that is not a contradiction in terms. (You want proof — go watch a Jack Benny performance. One of the greatest straightmen in the history of comedy. And the funniest.) Drew should have let Greg off the hook about Colin's quirk. (Pun intended.) Greg was so close; why quibble about the fish stick part? I liked how Greg got completely backwards about Ryan's quirk though. So I'm glad Greg had to spend a lot of time with Ryan. It was just too funny knowing that Greg had it wrong.

Mission Improbable: the laundry; Greg = voice on tape; Ryan and Colin act
Most people call this game THE CAT. I personally call it Ryan in Wonderland. Because that's exactly where Colin took him — down the rabbit hole and through Wonderland. Oh, what joy! Not just an episode highlight, not just a season highlight; this is one for the pantheon. This was clearly one of Colin's greatest games.

I have a special love for this because it's like an extended version of one of my favorite games which has NEVER been played in the US version. (Why??? Why???) There have been many discussions about games that we'd like to see played in the US. What most people don't realize is that some of these games had died in the UK long before there was talk of a US show. But one game, my favorite game, was played up to the US version. In fact, it was played during the tenth season that was filmed in LA with Clive as the host. And that game would be........ SECRET.

Now, I've mentioned loving Secret before, but for the readers who have never seen the UK version, here's a short description of Secret. In Secret, Ryan and Colin act out a scene set in place announced by Clive. Somewhere hidden on the "set" is a secret object. Everyone (Ryan and Colin plus us) knows where the object is hidden, but no one knows what it is. Either Ryan or Colin has to find the object about 30 seconds into the game and announce what it is. Then they have to continue the scene using the object, explaining why it's hidden, etc. When Ryan and Colin play this game, they tend to alternate who invents the secret. Ryan found a javelin in Colin's nose, for example. (Colin was Pinocchio.) Ryan's discoveries are usually some everyday object in an unusual situation. Like Tonto hiding cocktail olives and small onions. Colin's discoveries are usually absurd. And I mean absurd as in absurdist comedy — think Monty Python if you don't know what absurdist comedy is. And absurdist comedy seems to be the one style of comedy that consistently throws Ryan. Ryan is a realist. His imagination may be extreme but it is always based in reality. Colin's imagination is absurd. Out there. Not grounded in reality at all. Example: confusing battle cries — "GET MY BROWN PANTS!" Wha?????? In Secret, Colin has come up with Tooth Fairy costumes; hamsters with explosives tied to the waists, and ventriloquist dummies. And every time, Ryan loses it slightly but manages to recover.

Well, what if Colin kept throwing one absurd idea after another at Ryan???? What if, unlike in Secret, Colin didn't stop with just one???? What you'd get is Ryan losing it more and more with no time to recover in between absurdities. What you'd get is THE CAT.

For whatever reason, Colin's imagination went into overdrive and Ryan could not keep up. Greg started it off with asking Ryan and Colin to clean the Emir of Groovefunkistan's burnoose. I knew immediately that Ryan had NO clue what a burnoose was. Although I didn't realize until later that Colin didn't know either. So Ryan was already on shaky ground. And then Colin started in with his big letters and numbers. If you watch Ryan's face, you'll see the first hints of his breakdown start there. Then comes the hair, then the one long strand, and the reel. Of course, everyone can tell Ryan's in trouble by the time that Colin finds the rigged faucet. And Colin's imagination is just hotting up. What amazes me most is how well Colin kept it together himself. The only time he really came close to losing control was when he totally hosed up the Emir of Groovefunkistan's name. And of course, that just set off Ryan even more. This might just have been Ryan's worst performance ever from a professional viewpoint. But it was one of Colin's best. And it was one of WLiiA's funniest games ever.

Don't you wish we could have had a split screen during this one? I'd have liked to seen Greg and Drew's reactions without cutting away from Ryan and Colin's performance. I especially regret the cut to Drew after Colin announced that they had to use fabric softener "otherwise it'll stick to his ...... thing" — I'm sure Colin said "thing" because he'd run out of words but it was accidentally the funniest word he could have used because the mind supplied a much more descriptive image. (Well, at least my mind did, anyway.) I just reread that and realized I drifted away from the point, which was that I'd have liked to seen more of Ryan's reaction.

Three-Headed Broadway Star: Wayne, Drew, and Ryan sing "My Banana, Your Banana" from "The Monkeys Attack"
I liked this song. This is one game that I think Drew does well in. Nice upbeat tempo. Funny topic and lyrics. A good end to the episode.

Credits: Ryan is a passenger on a long flight and Colin is sitting next to him and won't shut up
Good rambling, babbling from Colin here. Colin makes a real effort to include the credits names in his readings; he always has, and he does a nice job of mixing in the names with his ramblings here.

Best Game:
If you can't guess........ Either you weren't paying attention or I totally bored you to death.

Overall comment:
This whole episode is a winner. There are only six games. But they're worth every minute. Put this episode on your most accessible video library shelf 'cuz you'll be replaying this one for years to come.

© LKK 09/18/00