Whose Line Is It Anyway? Star Calls Final Episode of Series "Bittersweet"
Last November, Colin Mochrie surprised improv fans everywhere when he let it be known on his Twitter Whose Line Is It Anyway? was canceled by The CW. The network has since said the decades-old improv show has yet to be sent to the chopping block, with Mochrie now clarifying his comments in new interview. According to the comedian, if Whose Line were to return, the cast would have to look entirely different.
"Everyone at the show – producers and actors – are calling this the last taping. The short answer is that if it comes back, it probably won't be with this cast. There is a complicated relationship with the show," Mochrie said in his chat with Vulture. "The cast loves each other, and the actual shooting is always fun. We are all grateful that the show gave us a showcase and allowed us to be able to tour. The downside is that we never received fair compensation for the success of the show. We provide the content but don't get paid as 'writers." We never received residuals for a show that's been shown around the world since its inception. Seeing announcements about the sale to the show overseas or to HBO Max can get irritating."
Mochrie then said he was blessed to have been involved with the show since its inception, adding that he's disappointed in how the recent revival of the show has been marketed.
"I also find it odd that any publicizing of the show comes through our social media. Every day a tweet shows up: 'You guys should bring that show back!' Every season for the last nine years we've had to remind folks that we are on," Mochrie added. "So the short answer is, as of now, this is the last season with this cast. The longer, more vague answer is that it's like the Mafia: It keeps pulling us back, so who knows?"
Nonetheless, Mochrie said taping the show's final season has been "bittersweet," pointing out his first episode on the show came out two months after his daughter's birth, who now just turned 32.
"Through the show, I met all these great people who have become my best friends, and I managed to make a career out of something that wasn't a career before that show came along," the comedian concluded. "When all the other successful sitcoms ended, there was a two-hour retrospective of their best moments and interviews with everyone in the cast. We don't get that."
New episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? can be seen on The CW while the old catalog is streaming through HBO Max.