Starting in late October, rumors began spreading throughout Whoserville about an upcoming "Special Guest". Speculation runs rampant as to whom the guest would be. Naturally, the Whosers were the first to know the secret. But a secret they kept it — never telling the populace at large. Giggling and whispering like schoolgirls over the upcoming special appearance, the Whosers kept the general public from finding out. But eventually the whispers spread out among the people. And eventually, everyone knew what the Whosers had known for over half a month. The special guest was none other than Oscar-winning actor and world-class improviser, Robin Williams.

Cast: Wayne Brady, Robin Williams, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Drew Carey

Hollywood Director: Colin = director; Robin and Ryan = chefs in an Italian restaurant, making pizzas and dealing with rodents; Wayne = exterminator [styles: hillbillies; Riverdance; lust]
Robin and Ryan established a rapport from the get go in this game. Babbling at each other in accents thicker than tomato paste, they played well off each other. Ryan was definitely making a pizza while they were arguing. I think Robin was just arguing. (Which is a polite way of saying that Ryan's mime was better than Robin's.) I think Wayne's squeaky noises were meant to the rats scurrying about. I don't know if Ryan intentionally mislabeled the sounds or not though. I was a little surprised at the personality that Wayne took especially after Robin had declared that Wayne was Ryan's brother. Did Wayne just decide to ignore the whole comment? Of course, I stopped worrying about Wayne when Colin stepped into the scene. As he has done every time I've seen this game, Colin just took over the moment he came on. Colin was on top of every nuance. When Robin pipes up with "I'm having difficulty staying in character," Colin was right there without a moment to spare. When Robin made the small comment about "last night", Colin took it, built it, and carried it throughout the game. Good thinking on Colin's part. If the inside scenes (the film scenes) featured Ryan and Robin, the outside scenes featured Colin and Robin. (Where was Wayne in the game? Except for riding in on the pig, he was pretty much an observer.) The hillbilly style was a nice counterpoint to the heavy Italian. But the Riverdance style didn't do much for me. (Riverdance doesn't lend itself to dialogue very well.) However, I did like Ryan's comment that the ending was a little too much Charlie's Angels with Colin's riposte, "I WISH!" The last style worked nicely. Robin and Ryan both had that lust thing going there. Not surprisingly. Question: How many years have Ryan and Colin worked together? And in all those years, how many times has Ryan bent over in lust towards another male player? And how many more years do you think Ryan and Colin have to work together before Colin stops getting embarrassed watching Ryan do that? Colin remembered that he was on stage during that bit and tried to hide his expression, but not before he looked thoroughly embarrassed by Ryan's actions. Any guesses on why after bouncing in his chair after the game, Robin announces "Now, I'm back"?

Duet: Wayne and Robin sing to Jeremy, the air traffic controller, Gospel style
I think Robin took over this game more than any other game during the show. Wayne started out strong, but by the time of the second verse, Robin was in dominant performer. With Jeremy running a close second. Jeremy may have become more involved in his song than any other audience member we've seen yet. (Yes, I do remember Chanel, Maria, Derek, Pat the Sprinkler guy, and Chriiiisssss. And I still hold that Jeremy did more.) By the second verse, Wayne was the least important of the three people on the stage. I say "second verse" although that's a misnomer. There really wasn't a second verse. There was a scene to music. But not a Scene to Music since the scene had nothing to do with the music. But that's okay. It wasn't a great song to begin with.

Interlude: Robin sneaks up on Drew and startles him
According to people in the know, Robin genuinely surprised Drew. I wasn't there, so I'll take their word. I did notice that the interlude happened either before a Weird Newscasters or before a Greatest Hits because as Robin is running back to his chair, he passes by two stools that had been set up on the side for one of those games. (I suppose they could have been put there for a Sit Stand Bend as well, but I doubt it.) Ah, the joys of editing.

Party Quirks: Colin = host; Wayne = a sitcom with Richard Simmons, Charo, and Mr. T as roommates; Robin = fashion police rounding up citizens for crimes against fashion; Ryan = thinks people's butts are Magic 8-balls
Anybody want to bet that when the last two quirks were created, that Robin's quirk was originally made for Ryan and Ryan's quirk was originally Colin's? They just sounded like quirks those two would have gotten this season. And let's start a new policy, shall we? Let's make it a rule that ANY quirk that requires three lines at a smaller font to print is simply too long to be guessed or played. Or even read at first pass. "Fashion police rounding up citizens for crimes against fashion". Good Lord.

For a man who hasn't hosted a party in nearly a decade, I thought Colin did quite well as host. Certainly, his party preparations were unique. I doubt any other party in WLiiA history begins with a live chicken blood sacrifice. Very odd and very Colin. He also handled himself nicely once the guests started arriving. He'd step out of the spotlight when a player was demonstrating a quirk, but would come right back in with a strong presence when the performance ended. I guess all those times on the other side of the fence helped. (I'm going to review the quirks in the order that Colin guessed them.)

I think Colin had Ryan's quirk even earlier than he guessed. I think Colin had the quirk right after Ryan said, "Ask again" which is the classic Magic 8-ball phrase. Colin just looks at Ryan in that knowing way of his and shakes his head slightly before turning to face Wayne. I doubt Colin needed Ryan's second line in order to guess, but he let Ryan give it anyway because it fit the scene so well. I'm not sure why Ryan made Colin repeat the guess. Maybe he genuinely didn't understand Colin the first time. Or maybe Ryan thought Drew didn't hear Colin. Or maybe he wanted to give Colin a little more spotlight. But if you watch Ryan, you can see him nod his head and clench his hands in a kind of "YES" motion when Colin repeats his guess.

I think the people who created Robin's quirk (or Ryan's originally) intended for audience members to be "rounded up" like the members of the Bald Men Gang were during a Let's Make a Date. I doubt that Robin had a clue that that was the intent though. I don't mind. Party Quirks is too chaotic a game to have audience members pulled up on stage by the players. So I'm glad that Robin stuck to using the players for his fashion criminals. I thought Colin got close enough to the intent of the quirk that Drew should have given it to him on the first guess. Robin thought so too. On the other hand, I liked how Colin handled Drew's rejection. "Personal fashion advisor...." "NO!" "...that needs decaf." Then when Colin goes to pour some decaf for Robin, he gives Drew one of those Moving People looks of his. You know; the puzzled expression Colin always gets when his Moving People volunteer puts one too many of Colin's body parts into position at the beginning of the game. You know; the look that says, "What else do you want???" When Drew mentions that they have a special name, Colin totally drops character for a moment, "Yeah, they do, don't they?" But comes right back with his best line of the night: "You know, if I was a bigger celebrity, I'd have someone like you. But I have nobody." I will give points to Robin for his team player actions here. Although it didn't help Colin, Robin realized that Drew was going for the "fashion police" phrase itself. So Robin announces that he'll have to write Colin a "ticket". Colin didn't pick up on it. So Robin tries again to help Colin out by mentioning Mogan David. When Colin gets fashion consultant, Robin was not going to let Drew disallow that and jumped in, proclaiming success before Drew had a chance to react. I loved how Colin went on a little more (after all, he knows that quirks aren't that simple any more): "Angry fashion consultant who's insulting me." (Okay, who IS Mogan David? And is "fashion police" a West Coast term? An entertainment term? I've never heard it before.)

I thought Wayne's quirk was the hardest to guess. Colin probably did too since he had the most trouble with it. I loved Colin's first guess: "Every 70s guest on the Merv Griffin show?" Loved his second guess too. "Every contestant on the Gong Show?" When you think about it, those were fair guesses. Especially since it took me four replays of the tape to hear that Wayne actually mentioned the word "Roomies" when Richard Simmons came into the apartment. I doubt that Colin heard him at all. Colin did get Charo and Mr. T by name, but he never got the Richard Simmons part. Understandably. Charo and Mr. T both have catch phrases to latch onto. But I can't think of a catch phrase for Simmons. So unless Colin was paying close attention when Wayne started exercising, there really wasn't anything to identify Simmons in Wayne's performance. (I don't fault Wayne there. There is no easy way to portray Simmons.) I think Drew was right in giving Colin the roommates "hint". Especially after he denied Colin the personal fashion advisor guess for Robin. Speaking of Robin, did you notice in the background during this that he picks up a glass of water and almost drinks from it before realizing that he's picked up Wayne's glass?

Scenes from a Hat: [scenes = unlikely superheroes; world's worst subject for an interpretive dance; if entertainers worked funerals; famous Hollywood roles as played by Carol Channing; things you don't expect to hear when you put a seashell to your ear; bad choices to make when a genie grants you three wishes; inappropriate anecdotes for a talk show; what Robin is thinking right now]
Don't worry, friends. I'm not going to write as much about every scene as I just did for Party Quirks. For one thing, quick blackout sketches demand quick analysis. You're not supposed to think too much about them. And for another thing, some on them simply weren't very memorable. These would include the superheroes one — other than I thought that Robin's idea was a rip off of Colin's idea; things you don't expect to hear from a seashell; and what Robin is thinking right now. I wanted a companion scene: What the audience is thinking right now — what's up with Robin's hair? (Additional comment: the audience suggestions for Scenes from a Hat have always been augmented by the production team's suggestions. But the production team's entries were VERY obvious this time. The Robin Williams suggestion and the Carol Channing one stood out big time.)

I loved both interpretive dance entries. Both dances fit the subjects. And both subjects were definitely world's worst. The entries in the funeral entertainers category were interesting. Robin's entry sounded like he was the host of an infomercial for a new wonder product more than an entertainer. Wayne's entry was okay. I liked Colin's balloon dog entry. And loved Ryan's head in the mouth entry. Although it was definitely a nose-wrinkling Eww idea. Ryan's ventriloquist dummy has been an old standby for him since the Reading of the Will Hoe-down at least. (Based on Colin's reaction in that Hoe-down, I'd guess that was the joke's debut.) But I thought his mime was one of the best he's done with the joke. And clearly, Robin wasn't familiar with the joke, so I guess it's only repetitive to Whosers. Colin's three wishes were unquestionably a bad choice, but it was a cute quick laugh.

The two best scenes were the Carol Channing and the inappropriate anecdotes (which Drew mispronounced, by the way). The anecdotes started off slow, but climbed quickly when Robin came on with "Get off me Grandma!" Points to Wayne for building on the joke with his "And then I saw Robin and his grandma..." Ending with Ryan's totally different, but no less inappropriate, take "to make a long story short, and this is the stone I passed." All three were high on the Eww and laugh scales.

As I said before, Carol Channing was clearly put there for Ryan (watch Colin acknowledge that it's Ryan's scene by patting him on the back) and possibly Robin as well. I don't think Ryan really likes doing the Carol Channing imitation. He didn't seem too thrilled with topic. Or maybe he just doesn't like being cornered into doing something; preferring to pick and choose when he does what. Regardless of how he felt, Ryan delivered an almost unbeatable scene. Carol Channing as Dirty Harry. Oh my stars. Almost unbeatable. Unless of course, your competitor is Robin who proceeds to do Carol Channing in a Biblical epic: "Surely, you must be the Son of God". But Ryan wouldn't be Ryan if he left that challenge unanswered. He might not like doing Carol Channing, but he wasn't going to let someone else do her better than him. Coming in with the game's highlight line: "I'm Sparticus." The only thing missing from Ryan's performance was Carol's pure white bob.

Props: Wayne and Robin = 2 black and white shag pile carpet samples; Ryan and Drew = 2 large stylized question marks
Did you notice that Colin was the one who showed Robin the buzzer buttons on Drew's desk. Until Colin points them out, Robin was just ringing the doorbell. And why would there be two buttons for each sound on the desk? In case of them doesn't work, maybe? Anyway, props has never been a major game for me. So here are the ones I remember liking. Folks, don't ever let Wayne near your puppies. He'll step on them. Riddle me this — was Ryan doing Frank Gorshin, John Austin, Jim Carey, or a generic Riddler? Santa's sleigh has been decorated since I last saw it. And my, hasn't Rudolph grown? I wonder if the car wash will wash the dye from Robin's hair? And I'll take a ride in Ryan's gondola but only if Drew's singing is on tape and not live.

Credits: all four = Riverdancers
I'm giving this credits reading a fairly low rating even on the US credits scale. Ryan getting a cramp in his leg was a nice cop out. I don't think he saw that Colin shot him because he kept on with the cramp act. (I guess Colin figured that if you shoot a horse with a lame leg, you should shoot a Riverdancer, too?) The other brief enjoyable moment was the ending poses. Definitely a so-so credits reading.

Best Game:
Do you expect me to say Scenes from a Hat? I know most people loved that one the most. But I think I'll pick Director. Scenes from a Hat had some of the funniest moments, but Director was more consistently funny throughout. Director also had some of the best performer interplay of the games — Ryan and Robin for the filmed scenes, Colin and Robin for the between scenes.

Thoughts on Robin:
There were a lot of questions raised when Robin was announced as the special guest. How would he interact with the other players? Would he try to steal the show? How would the censors take to him? So here are my totally subjective and completely personal thoughts on his performance. (As if this whole review weren't already filled with totally subjective and completely personal thoughts.) Whenever Robin was actually involved a game, he seemed to try very hard to be a team player. I feel that he "took over" the duet from Wayne, but Wayne held his own during Props. By its very nature, Scenes from a Hat is a single player game. But on the two team games, Director and Party Quirks, Robin made a conscious effort to work with the others. This was particularly noticeable in Party Quirks where he was clearly trying to help Colin guess his quirk.

On the other hand, when he wasn't involved with a game, Robin made no effort to restrain himself. Once the games stop, Robin was like a kid running around in a toy store. He wanted everything. If anyone wants to charge him with the crime of attempted show theft, it is in the between game moments, they'll find their strongest proof. Some viewers might find his seemingly endless manic energy tiring. Others will find it invigorating. I'm in the first category. I posted that I wanted to glue his feet to the floor just to keep him in one place for a little while.

How did the censors take him? Well, whatever censorship happened (and I'm sure there was censorship), it was so well edited that I didn't notice it. Oddly enough, I don't remember seeing anything that I thought might be potentially censurable. Despite the fact that the episode came with a parental advisory for extremely suggestive situations and dialogue. Wha? Did I see the same show?

Finally, what about the other players? Clearly, Drew and Robin got along great. Ryan and Robin had an acting rapport that served them well in Director. Especially in their first style as Italian chefs. Wayne seemed mostly in awe of Robin, but he became more comfortable around Robin as the show progressed. It was the relationship between Colin and Robin that fascinated me the most. (Okay, so I'm a Colin fan. Sue me.) Colin seemed to be the only player who could stop Robin dead in his tracks. Colin would come out with something, and Robin would just stop cold and stare, disbelievingly. Now, Colin often has that effect on his co-workers, but I was surprised to see him effect Robin that way too. You're probably wondering what caused me to make that statement. Watch Robin during Director and Party Quirks. Watch him after Colin announces he's seen better character development on Match Game. Then watch Robin when Colin repeats Ryan's hillbillies and Italians are too alike line. (I doubt Robin heard Ryan say it. I didn't at first.) Watch him when Colin takes the "last night" comment and carry it throughout the game. Then rewatch Party Quirks. Focusing on Robin's reactions again. Watch his face after Colin's bigger celebrity comment. Every time, Robin's face goes blank as if Colin genuinely surprises him. I said before the show aired that I thought Colin's and Robin's performing styles were very different. But I didn't expect Colin to surprise Robin the way he seemed to do.

Overall Comments:
Some people think this episode is the best ever US WLiiA yet. I'm not one of them. Some people think this episode is the best Season 3 episode yet. I'm not one of those either. I'm not saying that either group is wrong. Nor am I saying that this episode wasn't funny, enjoyable, or memorable. But this episode didn't offer me enough of what I watch WLiiA for to make me put it at the top of my personal favorite list. For some people, maybe you, this episode will be rated 5 gold stars. And if you rate this episode that way, that's cool with me.

© LKK 11/14/00