Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Season 21 Renewal from The CW But Will the Cast Return?

(Photo: The CW)

The CW has released its fall schedule, and somewhat surprisingly, Whose Line Is It Anyway? is on it. The comedy series has been a staple on the network for a long time but it was reportedly coming to an end this season. Now, it’s been renewed for a 21st season (the 13th on The CW). What happened?

A comedy improv series, the Whose Line Is It Anyway? TV show is hosted by Aisha Tyler. Each episode typically features show veterans Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, Wayne Brady, and a guest performer. The foursome tests their comedic reflexes by participating in spontaneous improv games. After each round, Tyler doles out points to the performers, and she then declares a winner at the end of every episode (not that the points matter). Guests in season 20 (the 12th on The CW) include Candice Accola, Mark Ballas, Rachel Bloom, Maile Brady, Tiffany Coyne, Kat Graham, Tiffany Haddish, Alyson Hannigan, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Lee, Mircea Monroe, Kaila Mullady, Marisol Nichols, Jack Osbourne, Danielle Panabaker, Penn & Teller, and Jordin Sparks.

In November 2022, Mochrie revealed on social media that the cast would be filming their final season starting in January 2023. The CW responded that a decision hadn’t been made about Whose Line’s fate yet.

In February 2023, Mochrie clarified that the producers and actors believed they were filming the final season, and if the series returned, it would likely be with a different cast.  He noted that, while the cast loves one another and making the episodes, they aren’t given fair compensation.

“We provide the content but don’t get paid as ‘writers.’ We never received residuals for a show that’s been shown around the world since its inception,” Mochrie said. “Seeing announcements about the sale of the show overseas or to HBO Max can get irritating… I hope I don’t sound bitter, because I learned long ago that this business is not fair, and being bitter about it gets you nowhere.”

A year ago, The CW’s Head of Unscripted Programming, Heather Olander, said “We have another batch of episodes coming, they wound up being able to shoot more episodes, which we ordered. Those will be coming in 2024 and after that that we don’t know [what] the future is. There was some discussion around whether the cast wanted to continue with the show or not.”

It’s unknown how many episodes were produced in 2023. They may have all aired by now, or there could be enough for the 21st season. There’s been no word about the cast working out a new deal or of new performers taking over. The page to sign up for tickets hasn’t been updated since January 2023. The CW has kept completely mum about the show’s future, other than announcing that Whose Line is returning in the fall with new episodes.

Season 21’s premiere date, and perhaps some clarification about who will be in it, will likely be revealed this summer.

What do you think? Have you enjoyed the Whose Line Is It Anyway? TV series on The CW? Would you continue to watch with a new cast?