Watch the Original Whose Line Is It Anyway? on Hulu

I haven’t been down with the current iteration of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which airs on The CW. Ever since the show began incorporating “special guests” (that’s usually just shorthand for cast members from a fellow CW program) who pop in and take part in a game or two with these veteran improvisers, the whole thing feels like a cringe-fest. Then again, even when it was on ABC with host Drew Carey working the buzzer, the American version always paled in comparison to the British original. Airing from 1988 to 1998 on BBC’s Channel 4, the show had Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops and other North American folk going toe to toe with British funny people, including on-the-spot songbird Josie Lawrence, Hawaiian-shirt-wearing comic Steve Frost and dapper, mischievous bon vivant Tony Slattery. You can watch the original program’s last four seasons — including a final season that was shot in L.A., which proved that Stateside audiences would dig this kind of comedy — on Hulu. CRAIG D. LINDSEY