ImprovMiami.com Announces Television Nominees for the 2004 Impys Awards For Excellence

Aventura, Florida, October 25, 2004 – ImprovMiami.com, a guide for South Florida improvisational theatre, announces the nominations for the best improvised television shows for The Improv Miami Prizes 2004, or "Impys'.

The Impys are dedicated to the promotion of the improvisational art form and to recognize excellence both on and off stage. The event, to be held on December 4th, will include almost all of the troupes in South Florida for an evening that will raise the standards of improv and have the audiences roaring with laughter as only an improvised award show could.

Nominations in the television categories are for the Best Improv TV Series and the Best Scripted Improvised TV Show.

Best Improv TV Series
This category is for the best television series shown as being improv. These usually involve short form games and the suggestions are shown being given to the actors. The voting criteria are the best shows for performance and their positive impact on the public acceptance of improv as an artform.

The nominees are:

Green Screen
Drew Carey returns to the improv world in this series where actors perform improvised pieces based on suggestions and then computer generated elements are added post-production giving environment and props to the actors. This advance in technology has definitely impacted the improv world and is giving substance to the imaginations of the actors.

Whose Line Is It Anyway
The institution that is the category. Though canceled prior to this year, popular demand made ABC go into their well to find old unaired episodes that first aired in 2004, making them eligible in this category. The show features some of TV's best improvisers performing in their natural medium.

World Cup Comedy
Teams compete for the "World Cup Comedy…cup" in a collection of two minute scenes based on an odd mixture of a purpose combined with a genre that doesn't quite fit. Some of the greatest improvisers that never got their shot on TV finally have their chance to strut their stuff in front of the camera. A lot of recognizable names and faces show up and fight it out in PAX TV's contribution to the improv world. This should be a strong contender and with auditions already being held for next years show, it's probably going to be a mainstay in this category for the next few years.

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Best Scripted Improvised TV Show
This category is for the best television series that fundamentally relies upon improv for dialogue, and yet audiences might not be aware of its improvisational nature.

The nominees are:

Arrested Development
Fox tapped the creative skills of a team led by Ron Howard to produce a series that is surreal, bizzarre, fascinating and captivating. The pilot used a lot of improv and the set has been described as being a collaborative effort as ideas are thrown together and played with "on the fly". With the expansion into regular broadcast television of improv, can more shows be far behind?

Curb Your Enthusiasm
This is an extremely popular effort by Seinfeld originator, Larry David, to use improv to generate extremely funny situations and reactions that would otherwise not be possible. With the support of HBO, Curb Your Enthusiasm has turned into a lightening rod for new developments in improvised television.

Reno 911
Character dialogue is almost completely improvised in this send-up of police reality shows on Comedy Central. With truly outlandish plot lines and hilarious characters, the popularity of the show makes it a strong contender among a field of contenders that have received more critical acclaim.

Details about all the nominations are available on the improvmiami.com website at:
http://www.improvmiami.com/2004nominees.htm

Details about the venue and show time will be presented as they become available.

ABOUT IMPROVMIAMI.COM
ImprovMiami.com, a guide for South Florida improvisational theatre, is a website dedicated to the promotion of the improvisational art form in South Florida and recognizing excellence both on and off stage. The site is a guide to performances from various troupes and has information designed to educate audiences about improv and to legitimize the art form to the arts community of South Florida. More information is available at www.improvmiami.com.

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