1988-2010
Starring: DAVE FOLEY, BRUCE McCULLOCH, KEVIN McDONALD, MARK McKINNEY, and SCOTT THOMPSON
Mill Creek Entertainment will release the complete collection of The Kids In The Hall content on DVD February 6, 2018. This complete collection will include all 100+ episodes from the show’s five-season run in addition to the reunion series Death Comes to Town with a host of bonus features including interviews, commentaries, archival footage and more! This disarming comedy show will be offered in a 12-DVD set and will be available for a list price of $69.98.
The Canadian-bred comic geniuses stretched sketch comedy to its ultimate limits with hilariously off-the-wall results achieving critical and fan acclaim. From the infamous Chicken Lady and Cabbage Head to Buddy Cole and the Headcrusher, the pioneering, edgy and ever-charming comedians created the most unhinged, unprecedented and unpredictable acclaimed cult series.
The series debuted as a one-hour pilot special which aired on HBO and CBC Television in 1988, and began airing as a regular weekly series on both services in 1989. The regular series premiered July 21, 1989 on HBO, and September 14 on CBC. In the U.S., the first three seasons were on HBO before it moved to CBS in 1993, where it stayed for two more seasons airing late Friday nights. CBC aired the show for the whole duration of its run.
Despite their SNL connection, the show's sketches were more reminiscent of Monty Python's Flying Circus: often quirky or surreal, frequently utilizing drag, with very few celebrity impressions or pop culture parodies; the only recurring celebrity impression was of Queen Elizabeth II, played by Thompson. A recurring character was Mr. Tyzik, played by McKinney, who pretended to crush people's heads from a distance with his fingers. McKinney also played Chicken Lady, a shrill-voiced sexually excitable human-chicken hybrid. Another prominent recurring character was Cabbage Head, played by McCulloch, who was a gruff-voiced cigar-smoking misogynist who would frequently use the fact that he had cabbage in place of hair as a means to generate pity in the hopes of getting women into bed.
The Kids frequently appeared as themselves rather than as characters, and some sketches dealt directly with the fact that they were a comedy troupe producing a TV show. For example, Kevin McDonald announces that if the next sketch (which he has written) is not successful, the others are considering kicking him out of the group. In another episode, Thompson declares that he isn't gay anymore, which throws the other Kids into a panic, as they fear that the news will alienate the troupe's considerable gay fanbase. In yet another sketch (in which an employee, Foley, asks his boss, McDonald, for a raise) McDonald complains the setup is clichΓ© and his character one-dimensional.
Monologues were a staple of the show. Scott Thompson's Buddy Cole monologues are the best known, but the other Kids performed solo pieces as well. McCulloch in particular performed monologues that consisted of him, acting as himself, telling hyperbolic stories of the struggles and day to day experiences in his life and/or the lives of others. Prominent examples from the other Kids include Foley describing his positive attitude toward menstruation, McKinney in character as a high-pitched recluse who's describing with intense fascination his hideously infected and bruised toe, and in a gag reminiscent of Bob Newhart, a distraught McDonald calling a best friend's young son to tell him his father died, only to have the child end up consoling him, even going so far as quoting famous philosophers on the ultimate emptiness of life.
The show originated in Canada, and the content was at times edited slightly for U.S. broadcast tastes. Sketches mocking religion were sometimes cut down or removed, necessitating the addition of material from other episodes to round out the half-hour. Some US channels censored the occasional nudity as well, such as when Foley revealed to Thompson he had inexplicably grown breasts. Among the more controversial sketches was the final sketch of Season 1, "Dr. Seuss Bible", in which the troupe tells the story of Jesus Christ's crucifixion in the style of children's author Dr. Seuss.
Though the show occasionally featured guest actors (notably Neve Campbell and Nicole de Boer well before they became famous), the Kids played nearly all parts, both male and female, themselves. In contrast to Monty Python, where the members often donned drag to portray older women but usually utilized women such as Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth to play young and attractive female characters, all the Kids regularly played both old and young women; the frequent cross-dressing would become one of the show's trademarks. Female impersonation had begun during their stage show, because they found themselves writing female characters but had no female member to play them. As Scott Thompson explained, "The way we played women ... we weren't winking at the audience ... We were never, like, going, 'Oh, look at me! I'm a guy in a dress!' Never. We would always try to be real, and that, I think, freaked people out..."
The CBC aired the show through its entire run. Seasons 1–3 aired on HBO. In the fall of 1992, CBS picked up the show and aired it on late-night Fridays showing repeats, while HBO aired new episodes of season three. In 1993, CBS aired new episodes starting with season four. The final season aired on Fridays after The Late Show with David Letterman. The series finale aired in November 1994. In January 1995, it was replaced with The Late Late Show.
All five of the original cast members - Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson - have gone on to achieve individual fame through a variety of solo work in both television and film, but the troupe continues to bring their unequaled brand of humor to stage and screen whenever their busy schedules allow.
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