S10.E11: Rob Gronkowski

[FormerMod-a1]

Wayne Brady, Jonathan Mangum, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles

 

Yay!  Jonathan Mangum!

 

 

[peeayebee]

Ugh. Rob Gronkowski was awful. I didn't like watching him "dance," and he was simply unfunny in Helping Hands. I hate it when guests try to be funny. Plus, he was gross.

 

There wasn't too much I liked in this ep. One thing I liked was Ryan explaining what electrolytes were.

 

In Let's Make a Date, one of the three guys Wayne brought up looked very familiar. It was the short guy. Oh, and Wayne saying, "Copernicus! Galileo! Tim!" was pretty funny.

[bros402]

The part with Ryan running around as a moose had me in stitches.

[Actionmage]

I enjoyed this ep. I ignore the bits I'm tired of (lookin' at you, Helping Hands) and enjoy most of the rest.

 

Yes, the way Wayne said "Gallileo! Copernicus! Tim!" was very funny. I also liked how Wayne made sure no one was blocking anyone else.

 

I don't mind the guest getting into the act for Duets or Song Style, but I agree with peeayebee, that Gronkowski didn't seem too funny in the Helping Hands sketch. As for grossness, any of the Helping Hands sketches from the last two seasons have been gross. I don't see it getting better or going away soon, though.

 

Purses, on the other hand, seems to be fun. I just wish it was more than Colin and Ryan getting that sweet, sweet purse action, Proops or Wayne could kill,. Actually, seeing Gary Anthony Williams doing Purses would make my season!

 

I think I like the shows a bit more when TPTB allow us to see the nutty side-trails some of the games take us on. When the games aren't edited down to bare bones. Like tonight's  Let's Make A Date. 

[Good Queen Jane]

"Tim" was well named. The other two were really getting into being back-up dancers while "Tim" was just "Whaaa?" I wish that they would get more people in the audience involved. They can be funnier that the guest star.

[BookThief]

 

As for grossness, any of the Helping Hands sketches from the last two seasons have been gross. I don't see it getting better or going away soon, though.

I don't mean to speak for peeayebee, but I think they meant that he was gross about the breasts thing (at least, I thought he was).  He brought it up once, which, OK, it was awkward and Ryan moved it along, but then he brought it up again.  He himself was gross.  But I do wish they would stop with the Helping Hands for a bit.  There are TONS of other things to do, but I feel like I see the same ones over and over again.  And I'm sure that these "celebs" they bring on aren't bringing new eyeballs to the show--go with audience participation instead.  It always served them well before and those people are exciting and nervous about being on stage and that usually only makes Ryan and Colin funnier.

[peeayebee]

I don't mean to speak for peeayebee, but I think they meant that he was gross about the breasts thing (at least, I thought he was).

You speak well for me. :) Yes, that's what I was referring to. BTW I've never heard of this guy -- I'm not too knowledgeable about football -- so what was so special about him that he'd be on WL?

[Fukui San]

He's a giant kid, basically. I mean, he's one of the best in the game at his position, but has a total meathead persona.

[ABay]

I record the show and watch later just so I can fast-forward through Helping Hands and Moving Scenery (and commercials). Watching the YouTube clips of Ryan & Colin from the Drew Carey years...so much more variety in games. They need to get some of those back into rotation.

[Poirot]

I record the show and watch later just so I can fast-forward through Helping Hands and Moving Scenery (and commercials). Watching the YouTube clips of Ryan & Colin from the Drew Carey years...so much more variety in games. They need to get some of those back into rotation.

Agree 100%

 

I'm quickly losing interest in this CW version of the show, which is sad, because it's one of my favorite shows.    This latest episode was one of the worst yet.

 

I wanted to see if it was just me, so I pulled up a couple random episodes from the Drew Carey era, and the worst of those was better than any single episode the CW version has had yet.  

 

I hope they make some improvements.  A greater variety of quicker games, less focus on guests, some type of chemistry with Aisha and the cast members not named Wayne, etc...

[Actionmage]

No probs, Book Thief and peeayebee! I watch live, so I tune out as soon as it looks like Helping Hands is coming. I didn't pay attention to whatever grossness the football guy was doing/saying. I tend to tune out Helping Hands because I like to keep my food and drink down.

 

That Gronkowski was acting like a stereotype doesn't surprise me, but makes me wonder about the desperation of some higher-up to make these "guest stars" a thing. Two seasons in and it seems like CW cross-promotion and random actors will continue to reign (sorry for the unintentional pun that I'm going to leave in.)

[Amarsir]

I think you guys might be a little too hard on Gronkowski.  Yes, one "breast" joke was questionable and two was a bad idea.  And I completely agree that the show doesn't need guests and Helping Hands is a poor choice of games.  But they invite him in and put him in a no-win situation.  If he stands still it sucks the life out of the scene, and if he participates (as he could reasonably think is expected) then he's upstaging the talent.

 

The guy embraced the concept and gave Ryan something to react to.  I can't fault him for that.  I will, however, take my seat on the "might as well skip this game" bandwagon.

 

(Incidentally, I just went through a Three Headed Broadway Star playlist on YouTube and man do I miss that game.  Please get rid of the forced concept stuff and bring that back.)

[peeayebee]

Oh man, Three-Headed Broadway Star was so great. I definitely agree with you about the forced-concept games -- I never thought of that description, but it's perfect. I just love seeing what these improv'ers do with a simple setup. I sometimes get the feeling that the producers don't think the audience will appreciate the simple, low-concept games. I always loved Moving People, the Alphabet game, Questions Only, Frozen Expressions (or whatever that was called)… and so many others like that.

 

I do disagree about Gronkowski. I don't think he was in a no-win situation. I always feel that the guest star needs to follow the regulars' leads instead of trying to be funny on their own. They need to wait for setups.

[Actionmage]

The introductions were: Wayne-- Raging Bull, Jonathan--Sultan of Swat, Colin--The Refrigerator, and Ryan--The Little Ice Princess.

Games: Let's Make A Date, Duet, What's In The Bag?, Props, and Helping Hands.

 

Katrina and Grace helped the guys out with What's In The Bag?, where Colin and Ryan are astronauts ( or ass-tronauts, hm?) trying to repair their station and their malfunctioning robot, Wayne.

 

But they invite him in and put him in a no-win situation.

IA with peeaybee in that that was not a no-win situation. There is a spectrum of actions one can take on shows like this. One is to stand still and do nothing. Another option is to  start bits. There is a middle ground where you, the guest, follows the person(s) who make their living doing this.  Our guys would not actually tell Mr. Gronkowski how to handle certain plays. (Yes, but lots of folks yell at their tvs when frustrated.) He thought he was being clever. He wasn't, but Ryan rolled with it and kept the game on track. There was plenty of him to do/say without being gross about which breasts he eats.

 

He's a giant kid, basically. I mean, he's one of the best in the game at his position, but has a total meathead persona.

Neither of those excuse him from being an adult.