S11.E15: Nina Agdal

[Actionmage]

Supermodel Nina Agdal; guest comedian Heather Anne Campbell.

 

Yay! Heather Anne!

 

added:

 

Intros: Wayne- Enjoy your flight, Heather Anne- Right on schedule, Colin- Upgraded to 1st Class and Ryan- Stuck in the toilet.

Games: World's Worst, Song Style, Dead Bodies, Scenes From a Hat and Helping Hands.

 

Ms. Agdal was game, but not engaged, imo. She seemed to understand Dead Bodies a bit better than La Gifford, but seemed the standard non-reactive guest that usually ends up playing Helping Hands. I understand the frustration with misperceptions of Denmark, but she could have used that to playfully shove some foodstuff into Ryan's face. 

 

I think that is why I am so over Helping Hands-- Ryan and Colin are waiting to play but hardly anyone will play with them. After two plus seasons, if the guests aren't really dynamic, even in freaking HH, then just leave them to two games and do another quickfire. When the set-up is given and the guest abandons the premise? I can get on board with it. If the guest then doesn't engage/ play with the concept of the game? You're doin' it boring. That is the biggest sin of improv, being boring. Helping Hands has been the last ditch game for guests that, for whatever reason, don't give in to the spirit of the games. I believe that is why most of us here are bored beyond the telling. Jack Osbourne, Adelaide Kane, Kathie Lee Gifford and maybe one or two others have made the game fun and were delightfully silly with Ryan and Colin.

 

World's Worst and Scenes From a Hat had big chuckle moments for the DH and myself. I sort of wish there had been more than two goes at SFaH, though.

 

Dead Bodies was fun, but I can see where it could quickly end up the new Living Scenery.  Colin was very funny and I like the sometimes sniping between them.

 

Despite Helping Hands, it was a fun, quick-feeling episode that I enjoyed overall.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Actionmage

[The Luvly Junkie]

     First order of business: The hugs! Sure, Nina Agdal didn't engage on the same level as previous guests, but for what she did is passable. My soft spot for certain celebrity guests is their style of "entrance", and I couldn't resist her urge of getting every hug from the cast. The same reason goes for why I loved Kathie Lee's episode, even though her entrance was more lewd, promiscuous and crazy hilarious than Nina's.

 

     Nice to see Dead Bodies and World's Worst again. So great to see Heather involved in the former, and the latter doesn't bug me with its cast setup than last time since I enjoyed the game. And that little flub is evident that Ryan is getting old. Can't say that about Colin thanks to his weekly impenetrable physical feats. 

 

     Yes, women can be doctors, too. And nice to see Aisha jump in near the end of Scenes from a Hat. From what the producers are giving her, I hope in the future she'll be fully involved in playing a game with the improvisers just like Drew did in the previous version. She's got the potential and she's already close to the others.

 

      My bitter hate for Helping Hands still linger the more it's played. A tip of the hat for expressing it, Actionmage. However, my only regret with that game is that the cake wasn't chocolate. Could've been a silly follow-up to Song Styles.

 

      It's a pretty standard episode, ruined by a few, obvious repetitive nitpicks and of course, everybody winning AGAIN. On the bright side, next week: another guest less episode with Brad! Hoorays! 

[Amarsir]

Jeff would have rocked the Dr Seuss SFAH. They were all great anyway, but it's a strength he's played to before.

 

Hooray for Heather and for her jumping in a lot during Worlds Worst and SFAH. In past appearances I noticed she wasn't as forthcoming during those games as the others, and this time she absolutely was.

[BookThief]

I appreciated Heather flipping Ryan off later in the game when he made the comment he was looking for a doctor but when Heather popped up he said how she was a nurse. I also liked that the audience booed him! But I didn't love this one much.The guest could have been good, but I agree that she was too defensive about Denmark--not the right moment!! Helping Hands does nothing for me anymore. Colin tries to throw something around and catch it, Colin makes Ryan eat something weird...rinse, repeat.

 

Does anyone know why they are so intent on these guests? I realize many are CW stars and so cross-promotion is at work but it gets a bit tiresome. Are people really tuning in because CW Star They've (Probably) Never Heard Of will be guest starring? I miss the original format. I'll still keep watching this, but they seemed to have fixed what wasn't broken (at least for me). Oh, and am I crazy, or does anyone feel an "edge" with some of the cast vs. Aisha? I may be making it up in my head and it's all in good fun, but I swear sometimes the comments seem slightly more barbed than I'd expect otherwise.

[peeayebee]

I wasn't so crazy about this ep. The guest really bugged me. She was game for anything and apparently very at ease, but I'm just annoyed when the guests try to lead. 

 

Helping Hands needs to be retired. I'm tired of Colin making Ryan eat all manner of things. I'm tired of Ryan making some comment like, "Ohhh! That's real booze," or "Eww, that's cream cheese. I thought it was frosting." The only thing I liked in this, and maybe my favorite part of the ep, was when he asked Nina what Denmark was like, and as she started to answer he interrupted and said, "That was a great story, ok...."

 

I usually enjoy Dead Bodies, but there was nothing much here. The bit where Colin makes them say they want to make love or kiss or whatever isn't funny anymore. Oh, I did like when he made Ryan say, "My last erection broke my hip."

 

And I'm tired of them saying things like Dr Seuss. 

[BrittaBot]

I'm sorry to say this, but I find Heather painfully unfunny. I groaned when I saw it was her.

 

Although I am glad she called Ryan out for his sexist nurse comment.

[peeayebee]

I don't care for her on the show either. I seem to remember reading that she's much better on long-form improv.

[Amarsir]

I don't care for her on the show either. I seem to remember reading that she's much better on long-form improv.

I'll back that up from what I've seen of her. She brings characters in where others might not think to (for example playing younger or older than herself even if it's not in the premise), and that can make routine, longer bits more interesting. But snappy jokes may not be as much her thing.

[AllAboutMBTV]

If they *must* have guests, please have them on only once a month and let them all be Scott Porter.

[Actionmage]

I realize many are CW stars and so cross-promotion is at work but it gets a bit tiresome. Are people really tuning in because CW Star They've (Probably) Never Heard Of will be guest starring?

 

There actually haven't been as many CW actors/celebrities on the show as one might presume. (I mean, free pub for your show makes corporate PR sense.) This season-- 11th over all and 3rd on the CW-- is holding the line of CW Stars not really being shoved down our throats.

 

Season 9, the first CW season, had three CW guests: Candice Accola (TVD, Ep. 3), Wilson Bethel (HoD, Ep. 6) and Maggie Q (Nikita, Ep. 10). That is out of 12 episodes. The biggest number came from sports- 5 athletic guests made the scene: the Olympic Synchronized swimmers, Lisa Leslie, Laila Ali, LFL's two female football stars, and Olympian Shawn Johnson.

 

Season 10 saw four CW guests: Kat Graham (TVD, Ep. 1), Mircea Monroe ( HoD, Ep. 8), Robbie Amell (TTP, Ep. 12) and Mischa Collins ( SPN, Ep. 13). Four episodes out of 24, so only a sixth of the season, as opposed to a fourth. The largest group for Season 10 was Non-CW TV actors with 6, or a fourth of the season. They were, in order: Darren Criss (Glee, Fox) , Michael Weatherly (NCIS, CBS), Nolan Gould (Modern Family, ABC), Sheryl Underwood(The Talk, CBS), Kunal Nayyar (TBBT, CBS) and Wendy McClendon-Covey ( The Goldbergs, ABC).  I could be persuaded to move Ms. Underwood into the Reality Show guest category, but then Non-CWs would tie Sports at five each.

 

Out of the episodes shown as of today (15), there have been four CW stars: Adelaide Kane, Jaime Camil, Scott Porter, and Gina Rodriguez. If you want to be picky, add Cedric the entertainer and Penn & Teller, but they are hosts of reality competition shows, so I would slot them under Reality Show guests. So we are back to not-quite a fourth of the guest roster, in an unfinished season that is presumed to have another 24 episode order. So far, the next biggest group is a tie between Reality Show guests and 4th Chair-centric episodes, with three each. Besides the two mentions I gave, there was Willie Robertson for reality shows. For 4th chairs, there were episodes with Keegan-Michael Key, Jeff Davis and Gary Anthony Williams. (We are supposed to have a Brad Sherwood episode next!) 

 

In reply to AllAboutMBTV, I'm okay with the guests, but I would prefer guests that really want to be there and can follow the spirit of the games. Not unlike Hollywood Game Night, you can tell who's there because it was someone else's idea and who really wants to play. Certain celebrities may not have been Oliviers of improv, but you could tell they were having fun and adding to the fun. Then there are some, who like this episode's guest, seemed to expect...::shrugs::neon-lit clues? To be treated like they were above the silliness? (Not necessarily Nina.) There should be an easier path than zero guests and every episode. The no-guest/4th Chair-centrics should not be happy surprises.  The Drew run had practically no guests, the guests were memorable for varied reasons, but the revolving 4ths were the big sell (if I am reading everyone else correctly.) If anyone is interested in continuing this, I'll take my seasonal notes over to the All Seasons thread.

[needschocolate]

I have heard that they film a bunch of segments/games in a day of taping and split them between episodes.  It makes sense that they have to fit all the ones with the same guest into the same episode. Games that contain a running joke have to be part of the same episode too. So we get an episode with the guest, and an episode (or two) with the regulars, but all taped in the same day.  

 

They also tape games we don't see because they weren't funny enough.  IMO, this episode's segment of helping hands is one that should never have been shown.  

 

Then again, I feel that way about almsot every helping hands.  It is usually just the same jokes over and over again.