Kwik Witz

Kwik Witz was a syndicated comedy program which aired in syndication, mainly on numerous NBC affiliate stations - usually in the time-slot following Saturday Night Live. The show originated from WMAQ-TV in Chicago, Illinois and was produced by Beau & Arrow Productions. The show shared studio space with Sally Jessy Raphael.

The show sought to capitalize on the popularity of the improvisational comedy television program "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and featured two teams of two performers competing against each other. The show had a live audience which voted to select the winner at the end of the program. The winning team was given a prize brought by the losing team - a token gift usually of more comedic value than monetary. Performers were scouted from various improvisational comedy and sketch comedy troupes. Comedians Wayne Brady and Ron West made appearances on "Whose Line" (West was an occasional performer on the British version; Brady later became a regular performer on the American version and appeared in a few episodes of the British show).

Although the games played on the show were familiar to fans of improvisational comedy, and the show's title and opening suggested that it was improvised, the performers in fact had advance knowledge of the challenges and had already rehearsed the sketches weeks in advance.

The show launched with a limited-run pilot season in 1995, which was distributed by Hearst-Argyle Television and Beau & Arrow to stations throughout the Midwest during the test run [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:T75x6AwPe4EJ:findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_19950530/ai_n10197102+%22kwik+witz%22+%2Bwisn&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=opera] . Nationally, the show debuted in 1997 and was canceled in the midst of its third season in 1999.