TVSquad

I've been thinking . . . yes, yes, you smell something burning. Ha, ha. Done laughing? Thank you. After watching a few episodes of Thank God You're Here, I got to thinking about some of the commentators on my review of the premiere episode who said that the Australian version of this program was much funnier. So, using our trusty pal YouTube, I was able to turn up a plethora of clips from the Down Under version of TGYH. And, after viewing a number of them I can truly say that it is funnier. Well, in most cases, that is.

Once again, it comes down to how the unscripted actor reacts to his or her unknown environment. Most of the Aussie TGYH clips I watched had performers who took control of the situation and messed with the scripted actors. Then there were others who just seemed to be thinking for the right answer to the question the scripted actors were giving them. In the American version of the show it seems the improvising actors are not grabbing onto the whole scene. They're still thinking as actors rather than going with the flow of everything. There are exceptions, though, like Kevin Nealon in the second episode, and Harland Williams this past week.

Don't take my word for this, though. View these two clips from the Australian version of TGYH and let me know if you think they are funnier or not. Both scenes were used in the American version of the series, with Edie McClurg and previously mentioned Harland Williams.

Harland Williams was the only funny thing about Monday night's episode of Thank God You're Here. And he was so damn funny that my abs got a workout as I laughed my way through his entire improved scene. Unlike the other players, who waited to see what the stage actors had planned for them, Harland walked into the scene and took control.

Harland got a little dirty near the end (improv ain't funny 'less it's dirty, folks) and NBC censored him several times. In fact, the very end of his scene had a joke completely edited out because the censors apparently couldn't make it fly by just bleeping him. Did anyone else find it interesting that the censors left in references to drugs, but edited out the sexual references?

The edited portion of his scene is in this video. And the uncensored version of another part of his scene is here. Both videos are also after the jump.