Before...
...and after
Newsflash is a game in which one performer plays a "reporter in the field" standing in front of a green screen onto which a video is chroma keyed for the audience. Other performers play news anchors interviewing the reporter, though he does not know what was going on. The anchors provide clues through their questioning, and when the host thinks it's time, the reporter must guess what is happening.
- For stills from every "Newsflash", see Newsflash/Gallery.
Colin excelled at this game. He both had a knack for providing appropriate reactions and comments, as well the ability to guess the scene from surprisingly few clues.
One common device was to use scenes that elicited strong feelings from the audience, such as maggots, cockroaches, roller coasters, and grossly overweight strippers, so that the audience reactions became a big part of the joke.
Much like "Press Conference", much of the humor of Newsflash came with the reporter's frequently-inappropriate answers to questions. Ryan Stiles and Colin developed the technique of asking "How did this begin?" which resulted in a series of unusual scene-setting responses by Colin.
Another running gag had the anchors pretend to have been having a conversation, not realizing that they were live on the air.
One famous rendition of this game featured Colin standing in front of a projection of his own appearances on Whose Line? including things such as his "dinosaur" act. When asked how the scene began, Colin replied, "It all started with a badly-timed bald joke," one of the most accidentally humorous lines in Whose Line? history. In response to Drew Carey's question of what he was standing in front of, Colin's response was, "I hope it's me with my clothes on." This idea was used again with Colin in front of clips of Ryan, and with Ryan giving hints about himself.
- Similar to "Press Conference" and "Interrogation"
Appearances[]
UK[]
- UK Season 8 episodes: 01, 11, 13
- UK Season 9 episodes: 01, 04, 13
US[]
- Season 1 episodes: 03, 10, 12, 18
- Season 2 episodes: 02, 06, 08, 10, 20, 21, 28, 30, 33, 34, 39
- Season 3 episodes: 04, 08, 20
- Season 4 episodes: 06, 11, 12, 25, 29
- Season 5 episodes: 06, 12, 17, 19, 22, 23, 26, 33
- Season 6 episodes: 07, 10
- Season 7 episodes: 19
- Season 8 episodes: 09, 10, 14, 15
- Season 9 episodes: 07, 10
- Season 10 episodes: 05, 19, 24
- Season 11 episodes: 03, 06, 09, 17
- Season 12 episodes: 07, 19
- Season 14 episodes: 03, 06, 07, 09, 11
- Season 15 episodes: 07
- Season 16 episodes: 07, 12, 17, 19, 20
- Season 17 episodes: 05
- Season 18 episodes: 07, 09
- Season 19 episodes: 08, 09, 13
- Season 20 episodes: 08, 09
AU[]
- AU Season 1 episodes: 02, 03, 09