Hoedown was a game played on both the British and American editions of Whose Line.
Considered by many to be one of the most iconic Whose Line games, it involved all four performers (Earlier in the American edition, it often replaced one performer with Drew Carey) having to contribute verses to a hoedown on a subject decided by the audience. The subject was generally decided with prompting such as "Something you wanted to be when you grew up" or "A place to go on holiday".
The hoedown tune was simple, although it changed slightly over the course of the British episodes, allowing each performer the chance to demonstrate their creative sides. As a result, many performers became famous for their style of hoedowns - Steve Frost being unable to come up with a sensible final rhyme, Colin Mochrie beginning his career with an inability to finish a hoedown (and thus "fainting") but eventually demonstrating a keen knack for convoluted puns and Ryan Stiles frequently referencing his penis. While Clive Anderson was requently insulted in the British playings of the game, the American hoedowns often took advantage of the rhyme between "Drew Carey" and "scary" or "hairy".
Iconic moments of this game include Ryan's hysterics at his pronunciation of the word "creature" (roughly "critch-ear" to rhyme with his pronunciation of "mirror"), Greg Proops' restarted verse and the hoedown about Colin himself (featuring Greg doing an impression of Colin).
Despite Drew Carey's calling it "Our favorite game in the whole wide world," all three of the American regulars openly expressed dislike for it. Wayne Brady named it the hardest game in an appearance outside of television. Clive Anderson once called it "everyone's favorite game except for the performers." It was often featured as the last game probably because host Drew Carey could play it just about as well as the others. Despite being the most musically talented regular, Wayne Brady occassionally got to sit out hoedowns.
Ryan Stiles usually did the last verse, whose last line was repeated by all four participants. Ryan more than once completely ignored the subject given by the audience to sing a song completely off-topic like how he hated or couldn't do hoedowns, how he was rich, well-endowed or some such.
According to the number of games played on the US version, Hoedown was the 2nd most played game.
Appearances[]
UK Appearances[]
Series 3: 10 and 15.
Series 4: 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 13
Series 5: 1, 2, and 4
Series 6: 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, and 11
Series 7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, and 12
Series 8: 1, 2, 3, 9, and 14
Series 9: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 17
Series 10: 2, 6, and 11
Red Nose Day 2011
US Appearances[]
Season 1: 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 17
Season 2: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 25, 27, 31, 32, 34, 38, and 39
Season 3: 7, 8, 15, 16, 17, 20, 23, 27, 29, 31, 33, 36, 37, and 38
Season 4: 2, 7, 9, 10, 12, 19, 25, 27, and 30
Season 5: 6, 13, 16, 22, 24, 26, and 33.
Season 6: 4, 5, and 9.
Season 7: 15, 19, and 22
Season 8: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, and 20
Season 10: 7, 13, 19
Season 11: 9
Trivia[]
- Only three performers have ever sung in every Hoedown placement: Mike McShane, Chip Esten, and Greg Proops.
- Chip is the only person to sing in all four positions in the US version alone.
- Because Mike never performed in the American version, his were all in the UK.
- Ryan Stiles participated in every Hoedown except for four: Pony Trekking, Affair, Rubix Cube, and Food.