U.S. reality comedy ‘Thank God You’re Here’

Imagine a celebrity reality-show where the celebrities aren’t being annoying while stranded in the jungle or locked up in a house together. Imagine instead celebrities who have acting talent, like Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle), Jennifer Coolidge (A Mighty Wind), or Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, 3rd Rock from the Sun), getting thrust into an unknown improvisational comedy sketch.

That sounds like fun to me. It’s the premise of NBC’s Thank God You’re Here, based on the hit Australian show (IMDb page) of the same name. David Alan Grier (In Living Color, Crank Yankers) will produce and host, and Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall, News Radio) will judge.

Here’s more on the premise from the article:

In each episode of the series, celebrity guests enter different doors that lead to different comedy sketches they know nothing about, creating a mixture of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Let’s Make a Deal. Each time a celebrity enters one of the silly situations — everything from operating rooms to Egyptian tombs — they are simply greeted with the line, “Thank God you’re here!,” and then are on their own to leave the audience in stitches.

I don’t watch reality shows. While I’m sure there are good points to The Amazing Race, American Idol, and any reality show that doesn’t involve choosing spouses or eating bugs (I’m waiting for Choosing Spouses by Eating Bugs!), I’m just not interested. However, Thank God You’re Here sounds great. I’ll be checking it out.

They filmed a pilot last November (2006) and should film the additional six episodes starting February 2007, so it may be ready to air by this spring (Northern Hemisphere).

Here’s (and There’s) a Language Note:

The German version is “Thank God . . . That You Are There!” (Gott sei Dank . . . dass Sie da sind!), and the Dutch version is “Luckily You Are There” (Gelukkig je bent er).