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Thank God You're HerePutting improv on TV? Hardly.

By Dan KoisPosted Thursday, April 19, 2007, at 12:33 PM ET

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And Knight is one of the lucky ones whose offers are merely ignored. Consider poor Mo'Nique, a guest in the show's second episode, who is contradicted over and over in a manner seemingly designed to make her look and feel horrible. Placed onstage as the co-host of a game show, Mo'Nique is asked what special event Rachel, a contestant, is celebrating. She gamely guesses that Rachel is marking two years sober. "Actually, it's my birthday," snipes Rachel.

That's not "Yes, and … "—that's "No, and also, screw you." Leave aside the fact that Rachel's denial of Mo'Nique's offers hangs the celebrity guest out to dry. Which is the scene you'd rather see: someone celebrating her birthday on a game show or someone celebrating her two-year AA anniversary on a game show?

A guest's success on Thank God has less to do with his talent at improvisation than with how willing he is to take charge of a scene and grub for laughs despite the lack of support. Jennifer Coolidge, a veteran of Los Angeles' legendary Groundlings improv troupe and Christopher Guest's films, seems flustered by her scene partners' refusal to run with any of her offers and, denied the opportunity to develop the scene organically, settles for the occasional lukewarm joke. Meanwhile, Malcolm in the Middle's Bryan Cranston, who (as far as I can tell) has taken some improv classes but never performed improv comedy, dives headfirst into his scene as a leather-clad rocker—ripe British accent, deep kisses for every single co-star—and comes out the other end the winner of the show's pilot episode. (The show is arbitrarily "judged" by a wan-looking Dave Foley.) Cranston is not unfunny, but his go-it-alone performance ignores all of the things that make improv not just funny but astonishing. It's funny to see someone come up with a quick-witted joke; it's astonishing to see a team invent an entire well-structured, hilarious scene from scratch.

It's no surprise that posters on improv-comedy message boards are already grumpily complaining about the show, with one calling Thank God You're Here "pimprov" and another declaring, "Improv just got set back 20 years as an art form." But they're not the only ones getting shortchanged. Real improv should make for great TV; seasoned improv performers can cook up 30-minute scenes onstage that are wilder, funnier, and more emotional than most sitcoms can dream of being—and sitcom actors don't have audiences rooting wholeheartedly for their success.

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So, even though Thank God has thus far posted solid if not spectacular ratings, I think it's due for an overhaul. In addition to the poor trodden-upon supporting players on Thank God, the airwaves are full of accomplished, inspired improvisers who are only rarely given a chance to shine: I've seen miraculous live improv shows starring Jack McBrayer of 30 Rock, Rob Huebel of MTV's Human Giant, Amy Poehler of Saturday Night Live, ubiquitous commercial actor Ptolemy Slocum, and half the talking heads on Best Week Ever. Why doesn't NBC ditch the scripts, turn on the cameras, and let these performers do what they do best? Why won't TV say "Yes, and … " to some real improv?