r/ScenesFromAHat Jul 30 '25

Mod Post IMPORTANT SUB ANNOUNCEMENT: *ALL Post Submissions Will Now Be Automatically Held For Mod Approval.*

20 Upvotes

Starting today, when you submit a prompt, it will NOT be posted to the sub unless approved after being reviewed by a mod first to make sure it follows posting rules.

For submissions that do not get accepted, a reason for such will be provided, otherwise you may message the mods to ask for one. You may also ask for further clarification on a post not being accepted even if you are provided a reason.

There are a couple reasons why we have decided to make this change:

  • To hopefully save more time for the mods to focus more on checking post replies. Pretty self-explantory.
  • To inform users about any decision to not accept a post without it ever going live and possibly accuring many replies. We've received some complaints from you guys about your prompts being removed after already receiving a lot of engagement, and your frustrations are understandable. We obviously want everyone to follow the posting rules here, but more ideally, to understand them before their submission ever goes out for others to see.
  • It is more in line with how things were done on the real-life Scenes From A Hat game on 'Whose Line Is It Anyway.' Drew Carey and Aisha Tyler would often have to sift through the 'bad' prompts in the hat first before pulling out and reading the good ones.

One final important thing on this change: Even if a post gets approved beforehand, it DOES NOT mean it can't be removed later if another mod still feels it doesn't follow posting rules.

Certain prompts can be worded in such a way where they might toe the line between what is acceptable or not based on the rules. Since prompt quality isn't exactly something that can be fully concretely measured, sometimes whether prompts are deemed acceptable or not is based more on a judgment call. Even us mods have not always agreed on decisions over prompts.

Fortunately, this sort of situation doesn't happen frequently. To make things as fair as possible, we will try to only remove prompts if they have too many rule-breaking replies AND it itself is deemed to be breaking the rules.

Locking otherwise 'good' prompts for having too many rule-breaking replies WILL still continue.


r/ScenesFromAHat Aug 02 '25

Mod Post A note on one particular argument in rebuttal to post reply rules:

14 Upvotes

I wanted to address a comment that we've gotten a couple times recently in response to the 'no blurted answers rule' that I suspect might also be shared by some others here if they were asked about it.

Rebuttal: "But on 'Whose Line Is It Anyway,' they sometimes blurt answers out in response to prompts!"

While it is technically true that there were occasional instances on the show where performers would respond to a prompt by just stating an answer as their only form of dialogue, there is ONE major difference between responding to a prompt in real life versus in an online format like this one - the ability for the performers to utilize nonverbal cues like voice inflection and body language such as gestures and facial expressions​ to further convey and add more comedic effect to their scenes. All those things can't be fully replicated within an online format.

The closest way we try to make up for that limitation is by allowing people to write out stage directions in their replies, like actions or sound effects for anything that can't be acted out solely through dialogue.

And even though it is not wrong to say that just blurting an answer was not necessarily forbidden on the show, acting out prompts through dialogue and/or actions was still the MOST common way of responding to prompts, by a mile. In the sub, we can expect to see at least several blurted answers to prompts almost every day.

There's also usually a second part to the rebuttal:

"If the point of the game is to be funny, why should it matter HOW people respond?"

Saying that the main point of the game is to be funny is somewhat oversimplifying the objective here. Being funny is obviously important, but it still has to be done within reply rules. This sub isn't 'FunnyAskReddit' or a place where you simply respond with whatever funny or pertinent answer pops into your head first.

Perhaps some of the complaint is due to the thought that for a reply to be considered a 'scene', it must have at least several lines of Hollywood comedy-quality dialogue or else it will be removed. We're not asking anyone to write a movie script for us nor knock our socks off with the most perfect, brilliant, one-liners. Just one short sentence of dialogue is enough in almost all cases.

Will this mean that replying to certain prompts could take a little more thought and consideration? Sure, but at least to me, part of the fun of this sub is that people can be a little more creative with their replies than just stating an answer. One of our mods, Aeri73 had a pretty good summation the other day on the different types of acceptable versus not acceptable replies.

Look, we understand for a lot of you this sub is a place where you can wind down, ​be entertained, or maybe speak a little more freely than you might otherwise be permitted to in your personal lives. But at some point, we still have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. Or else we wouldn't be doing our jobs as mods. We of course want to be fair to everyone here, but still stay true to the spirit of the game as much as possible.

You don't have to agree with our rules, but make sure to keep complaints civil and respectful. And you're always free to leave this community at any time or create your own community with your own rules :)


r/ScenesFromAHat 6h ago

Indications you are watching an off-brand / knock-off movie instead of the real thing

9 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 2h ago

When you first realized that your date was still stuck in the 1990's

3 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1h ago

Your on trial, but judge is a baby

Upvotes

Remember to act it out


r/ScenesFromAHat 19h ago

Best times to say "I have to poop"

23 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 12h ago

things you can say at your local gym that you can't say about your partner

4 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 16h ago

SFAH: Possible lyrics if Elton John's songs were about plumbing

7 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 13h ago

World worst person to rule the country.

5 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 23h ago

Locked: most responses blurt out an answer Non offensive words that immature people will giggle at

21 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 16h ago

SFAH Reasons you like to find hair in your food

3 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

Signs your blind date just got out of prison

19 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 23h ago

Locked: most responses blurt out an answer Rejected Disneyland/Disney World Attractions

6 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

Weird people to be endorsing processed meat products

10 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 16h ago

SFAH: Lyrics from a North Korean metal band

1 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

What your phone can say about you?

13 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

The wrong time to roll your eyes.

2 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

SFAH: If Your GPS Had a Nervous Breakdown Mid-Road Trip

2 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

Things not to say when your teacher says you have to stay after school.

20 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 2d ago

Odd things for a cashier to say when giving you your change

41 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

The worst person to hire as an entertainer for a kids party

6 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

SFAH: A punk rock band plays a preschool

4 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

Worst times to blast your party music mix

7 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

SFAH: Disney characters becoming the latest "Special Friend" of Yakko, Wakko and Dot

3 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 2d ago

Locked: most responses blurt out an answer Worst person to be stuck in a bunker (at the end of the world) with

12 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 1d ago

Two narcissists try to out-narcissist each other.

Post image
4 Upvotes

r/ScenesFromAHat 2d ago

SFAH: Subtle signs your Doctor is broke

13 Upvotes