Cast: Wayne Brady, Kathy Greenwood, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Drew Carey

Living Scenery: Ryan and Colin = businessmen arriving at a gym and health spa; Wayne and Kathy = human props
The broadcast debut of a new game. In Living Scenery, two actors play a scene while the other two performers portray all the props needed during the scene. At times, the actors playing the scene will hint to the human props what items they need to become. For example, an actor might say, "I'm going to ride this bicycle." Then one of the human props will transform into a bike. At other times, the human props will assume some shape on their own initiative based on what they anticipate might be needed, and the actors doing the scene must decide what the human prop is supposed to be and how best to use it. In this playing, Ryan and Colin were businessmen who met at a health spa for a workout. Ryan began the scene by addressing Colin with a name we haven't heard in a while on WLiiA, "Gary". Colin responded with an equally familiar but sadly long absent name by addressing Ryan as "Phil". Ryan started undressing to change into his gym clothes, and Wayne rushed in to be Ryan's clothes falling in a heap on the floor. At Colin's comment that he was going to hang his clothes up, Kathy stepped in with her arms stretched out to the sides to be a clothes rack. For some reason, Colin thought she was trying to be a mirror though. (I think Colin's mistake was genuine.) Kathy promptly changed her actions to match Colin examining himself. Ryan announces that he's going to use the treadmill. Wayne who was still on the floor, stretched out spread-eagle face down on the floor. As Ryan started "walking", Wayne raised his upper body off the stage to simulate treadmills that can provide an incline. Meanwhile, taking the initiative, Kathy offers herself as an exercise bike without prompting. This time, Colin correctly guessed what Kathy was imitating. After a few moments exercising, both men stop. Because Colin was holding Kathy's arms as handlebars, she knew when Colin had finished. Unfortunately, Wayne didn't have any physical clues that Ryan had stepped off the treadmill, so Wayne kept his actions going a little beyond Ryan's actions. While Colin is using his Kathy towel to wipe down, Ryan comes up with a line that I still have get to understand, "Hey, don't wipe it all off!" My question — why not wipe off all the sweat? Where was Ryan going with that? Wherever it was, we never find out because Ryan changes direction and announces that he's going into the sauna. Colin decides that he'll wear a towel and picks up Kathy and wraps her around his waist. Probably to avoid having to pick up Wayne, Ryan announces that he's going "au natural" which is probably a violation of the gym's health code regulations. But no matter, Colin decides to go nude as well. Ryan enters the sauna, and for the first time one of the human props makes a sound — Wayne squeaks as Ryan opens the door. Once he made his first sound, Wayne seemed to like making sound effects as a prop. Next he shooshed as the water poured unto the hot rocks and then rose up around Ryan as steam. Kathy and Colin get their signals mixed a bit again. Colin walks unannounced through the no longer existing sauna door and then mentions that he doesn't have any steam on his side. Kathy steps into the scene to assist him, but Wayne simply turns around and starts portraying steam for Colin as well. Possibly inspired by Ryan's comment that Colin needed to pour some water on the sauna rocks, Kathy crouches down into a little ball. I assume she was portraying a rock pile. Not sure what she was portraying (again genuinely, I think), Colin comments that someone left a doughnut. (I have no idea where that idea came from.)

Once the sauna is done, Colin decides to return to his exercising. He's going to use the pully-thingy. (Nice technical term, there.) With Kathy behind him, Colin starts pulling on her arms. Ryan decides to use the Jacuzzi prompting Wayne to start shaking his arms around Ryan and making bubbling sounds. Colin comments that the pully-thingy doesn't stretch too far. He stops, turns to face Kathy, and announces that he has to adjust the tension. With Colin twisting at her breasts, Kathy does a nice mime work extending her arms, bending from the waist and arching forward. The effect is convincing. (Watch Ryan's face while Colin adjusts the tension.) When Colin starts exercising again then time facing Kathy, she throws her whole body into the mime giving the impression that Colin is able to pull the springs farther this time. Ryan offers to share the Jacuzzi with Colin who declines — "Not when it's bubbling like that" (Wayne's bubbling had become rather extreme at that point.) — only to discover that he was in his own private Jacuzzi. (Kathy had acted on Ryan's prompt without Colin's knowledge.) Finished with his Jacuzzi, Ryan asks Colin if he can borrow his massage table. Colin agrees, so Ryan stretches out on the table conveniently portrayed by the lying (facedown) Kathy. Thinking that Colin might like a massage as well, Wayne lies down on the floor as well, lying spread-eagle as before but impishly face-up this time. Drew buzzed in saving Colin from having to decide how to react. After the buzzer, Colin helps the impish Wayne off the floor while Ryan offers Kathy a hand up although she doesn't see the offer.

I liked this game, both the concept and the playing. Having two performers act the scene avoids much of the verbal confusion that scene games with more than two performers can produce. And although the human props are silent players, they are essential to the game. Not only do they react to the verbal prompts, but they can provide physical prompts to the actors as well. It's interesting that Wayne and Kathy approached their assignments differently. Wayne tended to stay in the main playing area at all times. If he wasn't actually portraying a prop, he would stand frozen in place until the next time he was needed. You can see this when Ryan stepped out of the Jacuzzi, for example. Kathy, on the other hand, tended to come in from the sidelines, portray the prop, and then retreat to the sidelines. She would often come in and depart bent over at the waist. I think she was imitating invisibility in essence. She didn't want to be noticed until she was in place as the prop. Then when the prop was no longer needed, Kathy tried to make it "disappear" so to speak by retreating to the sidelines. I have no idea if Living Scenery is a standard improv game, so I can't even guess which way is the more traditional approach for the human prop. Another difference between Wayne and Kathy's approach was the inclusion of sound effects. Once Wayne provided the sauna door's squeaky, he added sound effects to almost all of his props. Kathy never added any sound effects. Again, I don't know which is the more traditional approach. I'm curious though.

One final comment totally unrelated to the game itself. Although Ryan is the one famously known for his unusual shoes on WLiiA, he is not the only actor who wears special shoes on the show. His are just the most decorated. Colin and Chip both wear dress shoes with thick rubber soles for comfort and silence. (Men's dress shoes seldom have thick rubber soles.) I noticed that Kathy's soles were also unusual when Colin held her around his waist. Her shoe's hard soles are studded with small rubber dots, again for comfort and silence I assume. I've never seen a pair of women's shoes with soles like that, which is why they caught my eye

Song Styles: Wayne sings to Samantha, an aerobics instructor, in the style of Riverdance; Kathy, Colin, and Ryan provide backup
Did you notice that Cece Worral originally had her saxophone strapped to her neck then changed to the piccolo after Drew announced the Riverdance style? Speaking of the Riverdance style, this is just the purist in me but Riverdance is not a song style. It's the title of a specific song, which sounds nothing like what was on the show, by the way. What's more, what people usually think of when they think of Riverdance is not a type of music but rather a style of dance, specifically Irish step dancing. So the whole concept of Wayne singing to anyone in the style of Riverdance is kind of cock-eyed to begin with. But that's just the purist in me, I suppose. (Not to mention the Riverdance fan in me.) When Samantha came down, Ryan once again came down to greet the lady while trying to remove that darn wedding ring of his. I know it's a recurring gag of his, but I enjoy it every time I see it. When the song finally started, I made an effort to watch Ryan, Colin, and Kathy in the background. They stood motionless facing the chairs for the first verse. At the start of the second verse, Ryan started the bouncing. They turned around and danced after the second verse when Wayne cued them with "Come on! Huh!" Shortly afterwards, the game turned surprisingly interesting as Wayne pulled Samantha off the stool and urged her to dance. And she could. Extraordinarily well. In fact, Samantha outclassed all four thoroughly shocking Wayne who didn't realize at first that she was better than he was — a fact he admitted in the last verse. When the song ended, Wayne adopted the pose made Michael Flatley made famous. Colin imitated it up on the step. Unfortunately, Colin wasn't in profile like he should have been. His Riverdance pose looked more like a Nazi salute to me. After the game, as Ryan and the other two are walking to their chairs, I can hear Ryan say "Thank you very much" but I have never been able to figure out what Ryan says after that. He's not talking to Samantha, so I'm not sure whom he's thanking. When Samantha reaches her seat, a justifiably proud man puts his arm around her. Displaying a rare streak of machismo, Ryan starts pointing to his wedding ring as if to say, "You might have her, but I'm married." Then he cradles his arms and actually mouths the phrase, "I've got two little babies" which might be the first time Ryan has ever mentioned his kids on the show. (It was amazingly easy to lip-read what Ryan said that time probably because he intended to be understood for a change.) Only to have all of his one-upmanship dashed when Samantha announced that the man was her husband and he held up what looked like three fingers indicating how many children they had.

Two Line Vocabulary: Ryan and Wayne = engineers at a nuclear plant; Colin = senior engineer called in to help when a leak is reported [Wayne's lines = "That's not what you said earlier" and "What does that do?"; Ryan's lines = "Oops, I did it again" and "Are you enjoying this?"]
Ryan starts off the game with his "oops" line, which brings in the senior engineer rather quickly. Colin announces that they will have to contain that. If you notice, Wayne tries to get in one of his lines but Ryan beats him out asking Colin if he is enjoying the problem. Colin says no adding that Ryan's error can result in death and destruction. As he is saying the end of his line, Colin very deliberately turns to face Wayne. It's a nice demonstration of how good Colin is at orchestrating this game and making sure that both of his partners have a chance to participate. Wayne uses the opportunity to point out that "That's not what you said yesterday". Although Wayne changed the sentence from "earlier" to "yesterday" (and would continue to make the mistake throughout the game), the change didn't phase Colin who replies that there was nothing wrong yesterday. Right then, whatever Ryan did wrong, he apparently did again so Colin orders him away from the console. Now, it's Ryan's turn to change his assigned sentence turning his question "Are you enjoying this?" into a statement "you're enjoying this." Colin: "Not as much as you think." Ever inquisitive, Wayne wanted to know what this switch did. Slightly stumped for ideas, Colin says it turns on the air-conditioner. (The air-conditioner, Colin?) To protect themselves, Colin announces they should put on their containment suits. Wayne reminds him that he didn't say that yesterday with just the slightest hint of sexual innuendo. Colin takes the suggestion one step further with his "shut up, shut up" tone; Ryan completes the thought by slowly and suggestively pulling his suit up his legs. Ryan: "Are you enjoying this?" Colin: "I'm not that hard up." Wayne has wandered over to Drew's desk and makes a small mistake for my tastes. Pointing directly at Drew, he asks what does that do. I've said before there are times when I don't want the actors to reference Drew. Scene games are one of those times because referencing Drew during a scene breaks the illusion. Colin neatly sidesteps Wayne's question and pulls us back into the illusion by saying that it's only there for show. Suddenly Colin realizes that Ryan has spilt coffee on the controls. Wayne must go into the sector. Why? I don't know; Colin never gets a chance to explain since Wayne interrupts him. Furious now that Wayne can't comprehend the danger, Colin slaps him, "Does that clear that little thing you call a mind?" Wailing and almost in tears, Wayne: "That's not what you said yesterday!" And for some odd reason, Ryan walks over and slaps Wayne as well. I don't understand why Ryan did that, but it was a good time for Drew to end the game I thought. This wasn't the best playing of Two Line Vocabulary that I've seen, but it was still a good round.

Infomercial: products to eliminate bad breath; Ryan and Colin sell
Ryan was so generous to help Colin with the props box at the beginning of the game, wasn't he? Announcing that they could smell the viewer's breath through the camera, Ryan and Colin offer to sell a cheap ten-step system that will totally eliminate the viewer's bad breath. (The viewer will just have to trust them on the price question since they never bothered to mention a dollar figure.) Tired of using a snorkel and mask to blow your bad breath up into the air? After using their bad breath system, Ryan promises that you will never need to use that snorkel mask again. Oh, and did you know that Colin is proud flag-waving Canadian? Colin pulls out a back massager consisting of wooden rollers prompting Ryan to comment that it looks like something magnified a thousand times. Why so it is! Colin points out that the little wooden balls are bad breath molecules. See how they are all aligned? Notice how they're all together? That's because "stink clumps" (great line). And you don't need a nose as big as Ryan's in order to smell that. With a little difficulty ("this will work when you buy it"), Ryan manages to get the first bad breath removal product working. Spinning the bad breath scraper across the tongue will scrape all the bad breath molecules away. After subjecting his tongue to a demonstration, Colin's breath smells like a bed of roses. (I have yet to understand what Colin says after having his tongue scraped.) By the way, what do green dinosaur feet have to do with bad breath? Colin doesn't know and neither do I.

Sometimes though, the person with bad breath isn't willing to subject himself to the gerbil wheel, I mean, bad breath scraper. For those people, Ryan suggests that you use a clamp to grab the tongue out to be scraped. (At first I thought Colin was just miming that bit, but I watched again and his tongue really was between the two prongs.) To check for bad breath, Colin offers the bad breath indicator. If it turns black, get help immediately. And as an extra bonus, Ryan will throw in a home pregnancy test. (Right afterwards, we get a shot of Drew — usually a sign that something in the game has been edited out. In this case, you can just barely see Ryan putting a clear pitcher down into the used items box. It looks like the pitchers that automatic coffee makers use. You'll need to watch in slow motion to see it well.) Sometimes though the bad breath problem is so severe that it has to be rooted out. Colin: "Ryan, swallow this entire thing." As Ryan is "swallowing" the green mesh (and ensuring that it disappears behind his back to add to the illusion), Colin comes around, grabs the mesh, runs it through Ryan's legs front to back, "goes through the entire body", and starts pulling it up at Ryan's rear. An inspired moment. As Drew is buzzing the game, a surprised, amused, and amusingly embarrassed Ryan turns to Colin, "oh man!" Sitting down, Ryan echoes his surprise, "Oh God!" and covers his face, which is turning an interesting shade of red from the suppressed laughter. Drew says that they will be selling that mesh for five dollars per foot after the show. It'll probably show up on Ebay. One last comment, as Ryan and Colin turn to go back to their chairs, drop your eyes down the screen to the used props box on the floor. There, you'll see another item that was used during the game but not during the broadcast. The white feather clump that we see on top of the unused props pile at the beginning of the game has been mysteriously teleported to the used props pile by the end of the game.

Scenes from a Hat: [scenes = things your mom says or does that make you think she used to be a stripper; conversation topics that will derail a dinner party; things bald men are sick of hearing; if Rainman had different jobs; hillbilly dating service videos]
For the stripper topic, Ryan takes a fairly low-key approach; he hands Colin his roast beef and then hints for a tip in his waistband. Wayne goes all out though using his mop as a dance pole. Colin and especially Ryan seemed to like Wayne's scene better. So did I. Remind me not to eat dinner at any of the WLiiA cast members' houses. Ryan will discuss how something was coming out of everywhere. (He didn't specify just what was coming out. That's a probably good thing.) If Colin doesn't serve you human flesh, he will regale you with discussions on how it tastes. (What is it with Colin and cannibalism anyway? He mentions it often enough that I worry sometimes.) In an amusing piece of mixed signals, both Kathy and Wayne step down to join Ryan at the dinner table. Kathy holds the stage leaving Wayne to notice another dinner guest and wander off bemusedly. Meanwhile, Ryan promises Kathy that they won't have any more trouble with the Hendersons' dog. And promptly takes a bite. Of the dog itself, perhaps? Colin unveils a new impersonation in this game — Rainman. It's a remarkably good impersonation for a man who isn't very good with impersonations. I think Colin did so well with Rainman because it's more of an acting style than an outright vocal mimic. In fact, I liked Colin's impersonation more than I liked Ryan's even though Ryan is normally the better impressionist of the two. I also liked Colin's joke better, mostly because I just can't picture Rainman pole dancing. Even after Ryan showed me, I still can't picture it. And did anyone else feel as if they had heard Colin's hillbilly dating joke before? I haven't researched it but I would bet money that I could find a game of Hats somewhere where Colin says "I'd like to meet someone outside of the family" if I tried.

The highlight and longest sequence of Scenes from a Hat was definitely the things that bald men are sick of hearing. The joke was written at Colin's expense, obviously, but Colin neatly grabbed the scene and turned it around managing to make the other person — mainly Wayne — more uncomfortable than him. Colin steps down; Wayne walks up to join him, and using that stare of his, Colin silently challenges Wayne to insult him. Wayne backs down, hugs Colin, and walks away. Only to steel his courage enough to try again. Calling Colin down, Wayne courageously delivers a nicely delivered zinger, "We need your head to bounce the laser off of for the satellite." Colin writes Wayne's name down on his little list. Perhaps learning from Wayne's first mistake, Ryan doesn't give Colin the chance to stare him down. Literally stopping Colin mid-stride, Ryan directs Colin back to center stage and puts Colin's head under his armpit effectively turning Colin into Tom Hanks' friend Wilson from the movie Castaway. "You're my only friend on this island." The joke was a nice reprise of Ryan's Let's Make a Date quirk and credits reading from an earlier taping (possibly from the same taping weekend) which we saw as the last episode of Season 3. A little bonus in-joke for regular viewers. And for the players too; did you notice Ryan's grin to Colin as he stepped back up on the step? Wayne calls Colin back down again and just like the first time Colin challenges him to continue. And just like the last time, Wayne backs down. "No, I don't want... I just had one." Adding zest to his challenge, Colin replies, "No, go on. It's comedy." Perhaps Colin should have reconsidered that last challenge as Wayne comes up with a real winner of a zing. Grabbing Colin's head and shaking it like a Magic 8-Ball, he asks, "Will Johnny take me to the prom?" We never do find out what answer Colin's head gave. Finally Drew ends the teasing. Colin: "Yeah, stop at ten, I say." A sequence of personal insults like that can be uncomfortable to watch. But since I felt that Colin ruled the sequence virtually all the time, I just sat back and enjoyed Colin exacting his sweet revenge.

Hoe-down: first kiss; Wayne, Drew, Colin, and Ryan
Wayne's Hoe-down discussed how his first kiss wasn't from a girl in high school but from his mom. To be honest, I didn't get the joke at first since a mother's kiss is usually the first kiss a baby receives. It wasn't until I started thinking of a sexual kiss that I realized Wayne was going for an incest joke. By then, the moment had passed, and the whole Hoe-down fell flat. I don't know if anyone else had that reaction, but Wayne's Hoe-down just didn't work for me. Or more accurately, it didn't work fast enough for me. Drew's Hoe-down on the other hand was bang on. Yes, when I heard the word "sass" I knew what the rhyme word would be. So in that sense I could see the joke coming. But Drew's sassy delivery made up for any predictability. I liked his Hoe-down. I liked Colin's as well, both for the lyric and the punch line. Using the phrase "luscious and wet" is a good way to guarantee points from me since you don't often hear that in a song. Plus, by moving the joke out of the rhyme, Colin made the joke less predictable. Good job, Colin. The beginning of Ryan's Hoe-down got a little lost in the logic department. His first kiss was when he was really drunk. But she wouldn't kiss him because his breath stunk. Wait — then was it your first kiss or not, Ryan? My thinking is that it would have been his first kiss but it didn't actually happen since Ryan didn't have any string to run through his mouth and out his butt. I liked the reference back to Infomercial there. The looping back added a nice finish to the show.

Credits: all four = taking an aerobics class with Samantha
Quite frankly, I had hoped the habit of bringing back the audience member for the credits reading was dead since most of the later Season 3 episodes didn't do it. I guess some habits die harder than others do. At least Samantha wasn't expected to actually read the credits. She just leads an exercise class. Taking her cue from Wayne (although Colin actually started first), Samantha puts the cast through their paces. I've tried several times to decipher what the cast members are saying, but this reading is more difficult than normal to understand. After a while, I give up and just start watching as one by one each person drops out of the routine. Colin quits first and starts smoking, occasionally throwing out a leg. Kathy is next with Ryan close behind. Poor Ryan looks like he's having a heart attack. Only Wayne manages to keep up with Samantha and even he's panting and about to collapse. Meanwhile Samantha is as cool and crisp as a cucumber. To tell the truth, my paragraph overstates the quality of this reading because the reading really isn't worth bothering with at all.

Best Game:
Living Scenery made a very strong debut, but Infomercial was funnier and more polished. When Ryan and Colin are at the top of their game in sell mode, they're almost impossible to beat. They weren't at the summit this time, but they were very close. Very close.

Overall Comments:
Every time I watch this show, one thought always nags at me. Why did the editors arrange the games so that Kathy Greenwood never said a word? Although a significant player in Living Scenery, Kathy was supposed to be mute there. Same with Song Styles. Did she really not say anything during the entire Scenes from a Hat at the taping? Based on one of her Scenes from a Hat entries last season ("Boy, I really love this game"), I can guess that she didn't say much during Scenes from a Hat, but she has always said something in the other playings, I believe. I'm sure she must have said something this time as well. But it wasn't broadcast whatever it is. So why combine Scenes from a Hat with two other games where Kathy was supposed to be mute? Why edit the show so that one of the cast says nothing the entire time excluding the credits and some post-game laughter? Quite frankly, it seems rude.

Editorial rudeness aside, three very strong games pull this episode firmly on the plus side for me. I liked this one. I was very impressed with the debut of Living Scenery; I think it has a strong future. And Infomercial finally lived up to its potential. Scenes from a Hat and Hoe-down both had their moments although they weren't strong all the way through. And I might slow down my traditional fast-forwarding through Song Styles long enough to catch Wayne's expression when Samantha gets up and Riverdances with him. But I will definitely watch this show again.

© LKK (10/19/01)