A pleasant discovery the other day was finding that first volumes of not only the U.S. "Drew's Line" version, but also the original UK edition of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" are now available on DVD.

I got hold of Volume 1 of the UK version, which is Seasons 1 and 2. Some thoughts:

With nothing being cut out, some skits make much more sense, while others are just plain lost to non-Brits.

It's interesting to watch Clive Anderson grow from being quite nervous to quite comfortable to taking himself and the show concept even less seriously than normal. He was such a better host than Drew Carey because he detached himself from the participants.

I'm glad they eventually got rid of John Sessions, or he got bored with it to do his one-man show, whichever. He was talented but boorish, never knowing when enough was enough.

Others who just didn't work out included Peter Cook, Griff Rhys-Jones, and Rory McGrath (who was with Jimmy Mulville behind the scenes as well). But the producers persevered and just kept getting better and better comedians, especially those well versed in improv. That's how Josie Lawrence, Paul Merton, and Tony Slattery (until his personal problems took over) became such regulars, among others.

Not only did Jimmy Mulville help run the Hat Trick production company, he would continue to have influence with the Drew's Line version.

From the get-go, there was a healthy diet of Americans, such as Archie Hahn, George McGrath, and the hilarious Mike McShane and Greg Proops.

Pass me some Twiglets!

You've been warned, so don't complain.