Kwik Witz is an American syndicated comedy program which aired in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

, mainly on numerous

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affiliate stations—usually in the time-slot following ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''. The show originated from the

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studios of

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Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and was produced by Beau & Arrow Productions. The show shared studio space with ''

The Jenny Jones Show ''The Jenny Jones Show'' is an American syndicated daytime tabloid talk show that was hosted by comedian/actress/singer Jenny Jones. It was produced by Quincy Jones-David Salzman Entertainment and Telepictures Productions and was distributed b ...

'', which was located immediately across from ''

The Jerry Springer Show ''Jerry Springer'' is an American scripted syndicated tabloid talk show that aired from September 30, 1991 to July 26, 2018. Produced and hosted by its namesake, Jerry Springer, it aired for 27 seasons and nearly 5,000 episodes. The television ...

'' studio.

Format

An improvisational comedy, it 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 sketch (usually four in a given program), with teams earning points based on the percentage of votes they got in each sketch. 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 Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

and sketch comedy troupes. Comedians

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of ...

—frequently teamed with Frank Maciel—and Ron West made appearances on ''

Whose Line is it Anyway ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show originating as a British radio programme, before moving to British television in 1988. Following the conclusion of the British run in 1999, ABC began airing an American ...

'' (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).

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

appeared as a contestant on at least one episode, that being in March, 1997, along with Robert Covarrubias, Dan O'Connor, and John Rubano. One episode in April 1997 featured Judith Scott, Dave Razowsky, Jackie Hoffman, and Joe Liss. The May 3rd, 1997 show featured

, Dave Razowsky, Theresa Mulligan, and Clare Sera. During this time frame, the emcee was Andi Matheny. 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. (As the show's hosts explained at the beginning of each episode while laying out the rules, "we allow he contestantsto cheat," although how much time the contestants were given to rehearse was never specified on air.) The show launched with a limited-run pilot season in 1995, which was distributed by

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(via their Milwaukee station,

WISN-TV WISN-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, it is the second-oldest television station to remain with the company in all of its various iterations behind f ...

, which helped to coordinate the pilot tapings) and Beau & Arrow to stations throughout the Midwest during the test run. Nationally, the show debuted on September 20, 1996 and was canceled in the midst of its third season in 1999 (during which time the spelling of its title was altered to ''Quick Witz'').

References

David Schwartz, Steve Ryan & Fred Wostbrock ''The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows – 3rd Edition'' Checkmark Books {{ISBN, 0-8160-3846-5 1996 American television series debuts 1999 American television series endings 1990s American comedy game shows American panel games First-run syndicated television programs in the United States