Would I Lie To You? (US) - General Discussion

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

US version of the UK comedy panel show that elevates the "art of lying.” Lightning-quick team captains are joined by a stellar cast of celebrity guests who weave elaborate tales . . . that may or may not be the truth. Competing teams then ask questions and watch body language to determine which are crazy but true, and which are made-up stories. Coming to The CW.

 

[Kromm]

The casting choice of host and team captains is vital here.   

All three need to be really quick on their feet. They need to be committed to mercilessly mocking each other, so they can't be randomly assembled strangers--they need to know each other already. They need to be odd enough people that real life weird incidents are credible with them, but good enough storytellers to on the spot create believable fake stories too. They need to be sarcastic put down artists, not nicey-nice, but also personable to the audience too. 

Let's just say there's about a 95% chance of The CW messing this up. 

[msani19]

On 5/11/2021 at 11:49 AM, Kromm said:

Let's just say there's about a 95% chance of The CW messing this up.

I couldn't agree more. Not optimistic about this since you're right the casting of the host and team captains is critical. The more I watch the original version, the more apparent that becomes. Who is the US version of Lee Mack? David Mitchell? Rob Brydon?

Not to mention they should really get a Bob Mortimer like guest on the show as well. I adore when he's on the show!

[Kromm]

The place my mind went is the community around Thrilling Adventure Hour.  There are really clever, quick improv brains there, they all know each other already (one of my requirements), and there are some bonifide weirdos in that circle too, likely to have real incidents to use. 

Paul F. Thomkins definitely as one team Captain. A few of the others might fit as the second Captain. Hal Lublin or Mark Gagliardi, maybe. Or go adjacent, but parallel, to that group and get Doug Benson. 

Marc Evan Jackson hosting, maybe. 

Other people from that improv comedian circle as the usual guests. Avoid the Whose Line folks though. They're good, but very played out (especially on The CW).  Avoid "regular" stand up comedians for the most part too. 

 

[msani19]

I like the idea of reaching within the improv community, which has some very talented performers. I worry that because it's a network show they will go for some big names. Paul F Tompkins would be an interesting choice.

Let's hope the network heads don't mess this up!

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, Kromm said:

Marc Evan Jackson hosting, maybe. 

Okay, that would get me to give it a go. No way can it live up to the UK version though. It is interesting because a lot of American's love British comedies, but when the US tries to recreate a British comedy they aren't always successful. British humour just seems to work better with the accent I guess. lol 

[msani19]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

Okay, that would get me to give it a go. No way can it live up to the UK version though. It is interesting because a lot of American's love British comedies, but when the US tries to recreate a British comedy they aren't always successful. British humour just seems to work better with the accent I guess. lol 

Maybe it is the accent!  You're so right that the shows just don't translate when they cross the pond. I'm sure many smart people have written why. Of course they have lots of terrible shows there too, so it's not just us that suffer through that. I suspect a good part of the issue is going from 6-8 episodes in a series to 22-26 (now sometimes 13) episodes in a season. American TV makes 3-4 years worth of a British show in one year! it's so much content to generate and it can't align with the original concept.

My original horror was the American version of Coupling. I will still never forget trying to watch that abysmal attempt to reproduce the show. Stripped it of everything that made the show charming and funny and enjoyable. *shudders remembering it*

[Mabinogia]

20 hours ago, msani19 said:

My original horror was the American version of Coupling. I will still never forget trying to watch that abysmal attempt to reproduce the show. Stripped it of everything that made the show charming and funny and enjoyable. *shudders remembering it*

That is a fascinating case study as, other than a couple lines, it was word for word the same script as the UK version and while I still hurt myself from laughing so hard at the UK version, I suffered silently through the US version (only ep one, I honestly couldn't go any further). It shows just how important a cast is. The UK cast just nailed their characters in  away the US actors just couldn't. And I don't think it's as simple as saying the UK actors are better actors, I don't think that's true of the entire casts, both US and UK, but they just...worked. 

I feel the same with the Would I Lie to You crew. The Angus Deaton eps are good, funny, some hilarious, but OMG when Rob Brydon took over hosting duties it just became...magical. Lee, Dave and Rob work so well off each other, and when you add some of the regular guests, like Rhod Gilbert or the one of a kind, king of the unbelievable story, Bob Mortimer, it is transcendent. 

I also have been slightly scarred by the US version of Taskmaster. If this is anything like that, I will, like that, pretend it doesn't exist and continue to watch the UK version. 

[msani19]

5 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

That is a fascinating case study as, other than a couple lines, it was word for word the same script as the UK version and while I still hurt myself from laughing so hard at the UK version, I suffered silently through the US version (only ep one, I honestly couldn't go any further). It shows just how important a cast is. The UK cast just nailed their characters in  away the US actors just couldn't. And I don't think it's as simple as saying the UK actors are better actors, I don't think that's true of the entire casts, both US and UK, but they just...worked. 

I feel the same with the Would I Lie to You crew. The Angus Deaton eps are good, funny, some hilarious, but OMG when Rob Brydon took over hosting duties it just became...magical. Lee, Dave and Rob work so well off each other, and when you add some of the regular guests, like Rhod Gilbert or the one of a kind, king of the unbelievable story, Bob Mortimer, it is transcendent. 

I also have been slightly scarred by the US version of Taskmaster. If this is anything like that, I will, like that, pretend it doesn't exist and continue to watch the UK version. 

Applause to every word you wrote. I don't want to belabour Coupling too much but when that first episode was the literal word for word copy of the original, that's when I knew it was going to be a terrible show. You're right the actors weren't "better" however there is an alchemy when you get the right people together. Lee, Dave and Rob are magical! Such a perfect word for it. YOu can't recreate that by throwing similar ingredients in. I'm just so apprehensive at what will be shown. 

I only just started seeing Taskmasters, thanks to YouTube putting episodes in for me. I didn't even realize they brought it over here. It's not good? Shocking. 

At least we will always have the original episodes to enjoy. 

[Kromm]

15 hours ago, msani19 said:

I only just started seeing Taskmasters, thanks to YouTube putting episodes in for me. I didn't even realize they brought it over here. It's not good? Shocking. 

The US Taskmaster is bad for much different reasons than the US Coupling. I suppose both failures were rooted in not really understanding why a show worked, but the details are pretty different.  Coupling was pure laziness.  It worked here, maybe it will work there appeared to be the total thought process.  Even the question of if a better thought out version might have worked is moot. Because the US had already had Friends.  Maybe the tone of the shows was different, but undeniably Coupling US was just as much a lazy attempt to re-summon the success of Friends as anything else. It was always a bad idea, and it being a lazy attempt just clarified that quicker. 

Taskmaster US could have worked. Alex Horne himself was on the spot, and certainly understood his own show. But seemingly there was the opposite problem from Coupling. It seemed to not be willing to adhere close enough to the original.  Reggie Watts is a nice guy, but was pretty much the worst possible choice for Greg Davis' role. While I understand not bringing Greg over, there are any number of cantankerous yet loveable comedic personalities they could have cast.  Reggie's kind of spacey weirdness?  I just don't understand the casting. 

The contestant casting was equally bad, although there's also a layer beyond that.  The UK contestants either understand or are made to understand that any competitiveness they show has to be funneled directly into comedy. Get frustrated. Bicker.  Mouth off to the host. But check yourself constantly to make sure it's funny and change course if it's not. Nobody seems to have told the US cast this. Ideally, this being on Comedy Central, one thinks they should have realized themselves, but... no. They weren't a good group of people anyway, I can think of literally hundreds of US comedians and pop culture figures who would have worked better, but the show didn't even realize it just came off as mean and aggressive rather than fun-loving. Part of that has to fall on Alex, both as show creator and person right there for all of the tasks. I suppose he also relied on US casting agents too. In the US, it probably would have been better to partner with someone in comedy with a circle of comedy aquitaineces to invite on rather than casting agents. Do we really think it's a coincidence that either Greg or Alex have previously worked with so many Taskmaster contestants?  Of course not. 

[Mabinogia]

I could not have said that any better. 

2 hours ago, Kromm said:

The UK contestants either understand or are made to understand that any competitiveness they show has to be funneled directly into comedy. Get frustrated. Bicker.  Mouth off to the host. But check yourself constantly to make sure it's funny and change course if it's not. Nobody seems to have told the US cast this.

This is key. To make a US WILTY work the panelists are going to have to know that part of what makes the UK version work is not taking yourself too seriously and being 100% willing to look the fool. I mean, come on, the UK version had a guy admit he saves his nail clippings for forks sake! Rob is constantly the butt of short jokes and joins right in, and will also use any excuse to do an impersonation, they all know it, and they all encourage it while at the same time teasing him about it. 

I don't know if it will work with just any random group of comedians. I think there has to be some level of knowing each other. WILTY always feels like hanging out with the old gang. It feels like after the show they would all go hang out at the pub and share a few laughs. 

I felt bad for Reggie Watts hosting US Taskmaster. No one can be a taskmaster quite as well as 6'8" former English teacher Greg Davies. He's got such a presence and such a sense of childlike wonder at some of the tasks, he is just perfect in the role. I think host of WILTY is slightly easier to recast though it won't be the same without Rob Brydon. 

Though, it did amuse me when I finally saw the first season with Angus Deayton because all I knew of Angus was that Susan from Coupling (it's hard to escape Coupling lol) thought he could pull off "naked in socks" lol Personally I think Rob could. 😉

[Kromm]

I have nothing against Rob Brydon, but he's far less essential than Lee Mack or David Mitchell on that show. The good part is he's comfortable breaking into the banter with his own comments. That has less to do with him being especially funny than it does him knowing them all so well.  A presenter/host is never unimportant, but being such on this show is far less important than being the Taskmaster, for example. With this show, the Team Captains do the heaviest lifting. Not only doing a good portion of the lying and/or storytelling, but also having the regular task of mocking the other Team Captain, helping stand-out panelists like Bob Mortimer milk every last drop of comedy out of their stories with timely interjections, and during the guessing phases, often literally rolling their eyes at certain things the person on the other team said. 

On many more tightly guided shows the host still matters most. Here he's the second (third?) banana. 

[Mabinogia]

16 minutes ago, Kromm said:

I have nothing against Rob Brydon, but he's far less essential than Lee Mack or David Mitchell on that show.

That's true. I think it's the trio that really make it work. I base liking Rob on the fact that the show wasn't quite as special with Angus as the host. The host's job here is to back up the two team captains and Brydon does that so well. I don't know how well the three knew each other outside the show, but they came off as having known each other for years. 

I wonder, if the US version does last, will they have a revolving door of "regulars" who keep coming back? Because for me that is a lot of what makes the UK version work. Rhod and Bob Mortimer are the two that come easiest to mind but several have come back again and again. It helps because they are a known entity so it is more fun trying to determine if it's a lie. If it's just a constantly new crop of random funny people I think it's not going to quite work. 

I have no clue, but I have a feeling the UK comedy world is a lot smaller than the US comedy world, and that a lot of them "across the pond" do know each other. There are several comedians who seem to make a career out of panel shows and have worked together in similar formats before. We don't have that so much here. 

[Kromm]

That's why I suggested people from a common Improv troupe or even better a specific endeavor like Thrilling Adventure Hour. To shrink that circle and ensure a supply of people who all already know each other. 

Clearly they can't know each other so well they know all of the intimate details of each other's home lives though, or there's no bluffing. So "work well", not real life well. They can't know each other's neighbors, hangouts, specific opinions of each other's spouses, childhood friends, etc.  But they should know each other's comedy. 

[peachmangosteen]

It's premiering Saturday, April 9 at 8:30 pm et.

[msani19]

On 2/21/2022 at 10:00 AM, peachmangosteen said:

It's premiering Saturday, April 9 at 8:30 pm et.

Oh dear. What network and who are the host and the team captains? 

I can rewatch episodes of the original even though I know the outcome, because I just enjoy the back and forth. If I need a good belly laugh, I'll watch a few Bob episodes. 

[peachmangosteen]

12 hours ago, msani19 said:

Oh dear. What network and who are the host and the team captains? 

‘Would I Lie To You’: Aasif Mandvi, Matt Walsh & Sabrina Jalees To Lead The CW Adaptation Of British Format, Celebrity Guests Set

[msani19]

Interesting.

Aasif was on the Daily Show which where I remember him from and I enjoyed him on there. I know Matt Walsh from Veep (although I didn't recognize the name until I saw his picture), I am not familiar with Sabrina Jalees at all.  Have the producers any experience with comedy, I've only seen them doing dramas, which bothers me.

If they are able to have the back and forth and the quick wit from the original show then it could be good. LOL, it probably won't be good! 

Why can't we have nice things!

[peachmangosteen]

I assume I'll love it but, in general, I don't have a problem with US remakes of British shows.

10 minutes ago, msani19 said:

Have the producers any experience with comedy, I've only seen them doing dramas, which bothers me.

The only show I watched that they've done is BrainDead and it was very funny but in a specific, strange way.

[msani19]

19 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

The only show I watched that they've done is BrainDead and it was very funny but in a specific, strange way.

I'm not familiar with that show, but it's good to know that they have some experience in comedies

[SnarkShark]

 

 

 

John Hodgeman and Michael Ian-Black GUESTING makes we wish they were the team Captains. 

 

 

 

 

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 3/20/2022 at 8:35 PM, SnarkShark said:

 

 

 

John Hodgeman and Michael Ian-Black GUESTING makes we wish they were the team Captains. 

 

 

 

 

 

Did I see Jordan Carlos in there? Loved him on The Nightly Show. 

I watched the debut tonight and although it didn't feel quite right I admit I did laugh out loud several times. Richard Kind's story was a lot of fun.

I think I wanted Aasif to let the teams ask the questions more. I know Rob Brydon does ask questions often but I think I don't mind because his familiarity seems earned. Here I don't have a feel for Matt and Sabrina and Aasif's characters and roles which are obviously different from Lee and David and Rob's. 

[peachmangosteen]

Well shit, for some reason I thought this premiered in July lol. Oh well, I'll just start watching with the second ep.

ETA: Just checked and the premiere is airing again tonight at 9:30 pm et.

[SnarkShark]

Half hour.  In the CW App it was 27 minutes.  That time makes no sense to me, because every half hour show has 7 minutes of commercials.

 

Even at 27 minutes you could tell they farked this up because the stories can't BREATHE like on the UK show.  If they insisted on such a short runtime, they needed to cut a round.  Either the Captains never tell stories, or they cut the round with the person one of them knows.  Then give them more time to talk in the first round.

Can't judge on the Captains from this little.  I will say Richard Kind wad ten times more interesting than anyone else, and he's only on one episode.  Ergo, this show may have a problem if the other episodes don't have someone as great as him.

On 4/10/2022 at 9:48 AM, peachmangosteen said:

Well shit, for some reason I thought this premiered in July lol. Oh well, I'll just start watching with the second ep.

ETA: Just checked and the premiere is airing again tonight at 9:30 pm et.

It's on the CW app if you can stand to use it.

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, SnarkShark said:

It's on the CW app if you can stand to use it.

I can not lol. I just recorded the reairing so I can fast forward the commercials.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Why would a 14-year-old be getting her keys out of her car when she was exiting church?  Was she going to drive home? She (Dulce) was clearly lying, but no one (as far as we heard) picked up on that.

If she had said she was 24, her story would have been believable.

Edited April 14, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[SomeTameGazelle]

48 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Why would a 14-year-old be getting her keys out of her car when she was exiting church?  Was she going to drive home? She (Dulce) was clearly lying, but no one (as far as we heard) picked up on that.

If she had said she was 24, her story would have been believable.

Car keys are not the only kind of keys. I often feel for my housekeys before I leave a place to make sure I know they're there. The other team should have quizzed her about the details though. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Car keys are not the only kind of keys. I often feel for my housekeys before I leave a place to make sure I know they're there. The other team should have quizzed her about the details though. 

I'm not so sure that a 14-year-old would have been concerned about getting back into her house (presumably, she was with at least one family member), but they did miss a chance to ask her about that.

[SomeTameGazelle]

The most recent ep had John Hodgman, Jordan Klepper, Nikki M James, and Michael Urie. I thought it had a great flow, lots of back-and-forth and trying to poke holes in the stories. If they could all be like this I would be ecstatic.

One thing I don't recall ever seeing in the UK version: Aasif told a story and then each of the two teams declared whether they thought it was a lie. Has Rob ever had a story?

[Corgi-ears]

7 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Has Rob ever had a story?

Yes, he has. Examples:

 

 

[msani19]

19 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I thought it had a great flow, lots of back-and-forth and trying to poke holes in the stories. If they could all be like this I would be ecstatic.

After watching the first 2 episodes, I was re-watched some of the original episodes of WILTY. One of the things that stood out to me was how there wasn't the back and forth between the teams as with the UK panels. This version has been almost like an interrogation? It also clocks in at around 20 minutes which is pretty short. The fun and the magic happen when they all get into the story and we learn random asides that make things funnier or more ridiculous. Any Bob Mortimer story will do that! They need a Bob! 

 

[ajsnaves]

On 4/25/2022 at 11:18 AM, msani19 said:

Any Bob Mortimer story will do that! They need a Bob! 

I think Richard Kind would fill that role nicely.  He seems like he’s led an interesting life, and I have no trouble believing any weird thing could happen to him.

[oldCJ]

On 4/25/2022 at 7:18 PM, msani19 said:

Any Bob Mortimer story will do that! They need a Bob! 

Please no. Remember when Bob admitted he used to pee in the kettles in his hotel room? 🤢

[SnarkShark]

On 4/25/2022 at 12:18 PM, msani19 said:

After watching the first 2 episodes, I was re-watched some of the original episodes of WILTY. One of the things that stood out to me was how there wasn't the back and forth between the teams as with the UK panels. This version has been almost like an interrogation? It also clocks in at around 20 minutes which is pretty short. The fun and the magic happen when they all get into the story and we learn random asides that make things funnier or more ridiculous. Any Bob Mortimer story will do that! They need a Bob! 

 

Its just not enough time.

 

An hour show (meaning 45 minutes aired) would have been.

On 5/3/2022 at 1:25 PM, ajsnaves said:

I think Richard Kind would fill that role nicely.  He seems like he’s led an interesting life, and I have no trouble believing any weird thing could happen to him.

Richard Kind, John Hodgeman, Michael Ian Black... these are great guests...

 

Just not being given enough time to tell stories.

[msani19]

1 hour ago, SnarkShark said:

Just not being given enough time to tell stories.

Agreed, way too short