US Would I Lie to You

[David Bruggeman]

I finished the 13th episode this past weekend.  While I can't confirm it, I am assuming that the season had a 13-episode order.  I've heard nothing about a renewal, but I think the CW would be willing to take a chance on it to join "Whose Line" and its magic shows.

For the most part, my initial reactions haven't changed much.  I prefer the British show, but this is certainly enjoyable.  I think if you compared the first season of the British show to the first season of the US show that the gap would be smaller.

The US show has kind of standardized it's episodes.  But the half hour with commercials is still a little too short.  They get in four stories on average.

Generally speaking, the few non-comedians or non-actors that have appeared have been non-entities.  The actors do better, but can be hit or miss.

While the US captains don't have the David Mitchell - Lee Mack relationship on screen, they do pretty well.  Aasif Mandvi has grown into the host role.  I still think Richard Kind would be a natural regular on the show.  I'd add Michael Ian Black and Allie Wentworth to that list, as both shined (IMO) in their episodes.

Regards,

David

[Diner]

I've seen all 13 episodes, but had not been exposed to the foreign versions.

My overall verdict: it's.... okay. It's not a horrible way to spend a half hour, but it doesn't really grab me as much as I would like.

My biggest problem with it is that it's edited within an inch of its life, and it feels so rushed that I'm very conscious that a lot is missing. That's a big difference between this show and Whose Line - they're both heavily edited, but on Whose Line I never feel as if I'm missing anything.

On Would I Lie to You, the first round has the four guest panelists telling a story, but because of time and commercial limitations they usually only fit in three of the stories. (Sometimes excerpts of the fourth story are shown during the closing credits.) This week Krysta Rodriguez's story was cut, and as a result she barely registered as a presence. 

And then at the end of the first act Aasif says "Sabrina's team is in the lead" and I think "Well, of course they are, we only saw 3 of the 4 stories." (And what are they leading by? 3 to 1? 4 to 0?)

I agree with your comments about Richard Kind, Michael Ian Black and Allie Wentworth. All excellent panelists.

And I do like their use of New York stage actors like Dylan Baker, Becky Ann Baker, Laura Benanti and Nikki M. James - it reminds me of how Goodson-Todman used stage actors so extensively on their New York panel shows.

-Tim

[Brad Beam]

I believe “Everything’s made up and the points don’t matter” would more accurately apply to this show….

Sent from my iPhone