The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1989 to 1995 on CBC in Canada, and CBS, HBO, and Comedy Central in the United States. The theme song for the show was the instrumental "Having an Average Weekend" by the Canadian band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet.
The troupe made one film, Brain Candy, which was released in 1996. The troupe reformed for various tours and comedy festivals in 2000. They later reunited for an eight-part miniseries, Death Comes to Town, in January 2010.
The name of the group came from Sid Caesar, who, if a joke didn't go over, or played worse than expected, would attribute it to "the kids in the hall", referring to a group of young writers hanging around the studio.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
Before the troupe formed, Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney were working together doing Theatresports in Calgary, performing in a group named "The Audience". Norm Hiscock, Gary Campbell, and Frank Van Keeken were co-members and later became writers on the show. At the same time, Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald were performing around Toronto (along with Luciano Casimiri) as The Kids in the Hall (KITH). In 1984, the two pairs met in Toronto, and began performing regularly as KITH, with a rotating band of members, including Paul Bellini for a short time. When Scott Thompson was invited to join in January 1985, the group had its final form. The same year, McCulloch and Foley appeared in the Anne of Green Gables series, as Diana Barry's husband and a former classmate of Anne's from the fictional Queen's College, respectively.
Not long afterwards, the Kids broke up for a short time when scouts for Saturday Night Live invited McKinney and McCulloch to New York to become writers for that show, Foley made a poorly received movie debut with High Stakes and Thompson and McDonald worked with the Second City touring group. They were reunited in 1986. After SNL's Lorne Michaels saw them perform as a troupe, plans began for a TV show. In 1987 Michaels sent them to New York to what was essentially a "Comedy Boot Camp", and in 1988 their pilot special aired on CBC Television and in the United States on HBO before debuting as a series in 1989.
Mckinney Assisted Living Video
Television show
The series first 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. Many of the sketches featured gay characters and themes; most of these sketches were written by and starred Scott Thompson, who is gay.
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 cliché 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.
Show contents
Recurring sketches and characters
"Monsieur Piedlourde" is a parody of the famous character "Monsieur Hulot" from celeb French actor, writer, film maker, Jacques Tati.
Selected other sketches
Running gags
- As the show was produced in Toronto, there are numerous references to the city's professional sports teams, the Blue Jays and the Maple Leafs.
- The phrase "took me to a Leafs game" was used as a euphemism for an attempted male-on-male sexual encounter. The gag originated in a sketch in which Scott Thompson played a homophobic man who took offense at another man's (McKinney) attempt to seduce him by taking him to a Maple Leafs game: "Every time I come to this city, some guy picks me up at the bus station, takes me to a Leaf game, gets me pissed, then tries to blow me. Why can't people like me for me?"
- In the Cheers argument, two characters argue which leading actress was better in the show, Shelley Long or Kirstie Alley. The argument stems from an inside joke between Foley and McDonald, who debated this issue in real life. Cheers and its leading ladies are mentioned in multiple episodes by multiple characters, such as Francesca Fiore, the Police Department officers, and even the Kids portraying themselves.
Episodes
There were 102 episodes produced plus 9 compilation episodes. Some episodes had two versions, an American version and a Canadian version, often with alternate sketches.
DVD releases
A&E Home Video released the entire series as a Region 1 20-disc DVD box set titled The Kids in the Hall: Complete Series Megaset 1989-1994, on October 31, 2006. The HBO special pilot was released on DVD on August 14, 2007 through Medialink Entertainment, a VDI Entertainment Company, in a special "Headcrushing" edition. It had never been released on home video before. Medium Rare Entertainment released a Region 2 "best of" DVD on September 24, 2007. Rights to The Kids in the Hall are owned by Broadway Video. A tour-exclusive DVD, produced in cooperation with Crackle and released as a part of the "Live As We'll Ever Be!" tour (2008), features the 50-minute retrospective and Q&A held on January 26, 2008.
End of the show and beyond
The final episode featured resolutions for several recurring characters, including Armada, Buddy Cole, and the secretaries of AT & Love. As the closing credits play, the cast is shown being buried alive, below a headstone reading The Kids in the Hall TV Show 1989-1995 (though the pilot aired in 1988). At the episode's conclusion, guest character Paul Bellini, one of the show's writers, dances on their grave and speaks for the first time: "Thank God that's finally over!"
Brain Candy
After the show ended its run, the troupe came together to produce a movie, Brain Candy, featuring a few characters from the show and many new ones. Although not a commercial success, the movie developed a cult following with their devoted fans.
Tours
2000 North American Tour
In 2000, the troupe reformed for a successful North American tour, reprising many sketches from the show. The sketch line-up for the 2000 show was:
- AT & Love Reunion
- Mr. Heavyfoot Finds His Seat
- Buddy Cole - The Year 2000
- Cops!
- Daddy's Dyin'
- Head Crusher / Face Pincher
- Jesus 2000!
- Sir Simon Milligan & Hecubus in: The Pit of Ultimate Darkness
- Gavin: Painting a chair
- Comfortable
- Sandwich People
- Chicken Lady's Date
- Power of the Suburbs
- Bloody Salty Ham
- Monologue by Brian on having a party when Fran and Gordon go on Vacation
- Love Me
- Fran: Brian's Bombshell
- Jesus Christ Superstar
- Encore: To Reg
At some shows:
- Running Faggot
- The Poker Game
The tour was chronicled in a documentary, Kids in the Hall: Same Guys, New Dresses, which followed the next year. This was then followed by the "Tour of Duty" and a DVD based on those performances, released in 2002.
"Just for Laughs" ("Juste Pour Rire") Comedy Festival
In July 2007, the troupe reunited to perform at the 25th Annual "Just for Laughs" ("Juste Pour Rire") Comedy Festival in Montreal.
The Just For Laughs show premiered around 90 minutes of new material. While certain characters made reappearances (Buddy Cole, Mr. Tyzik and McKinney and McCulloch's "smooth-talking" salesmen) the rest of the show revolved around entirely new material. Typically good-humored, the group poked numerous jokes at their own recent weight gain and the state of their post-Kids acting careers.
Among the sketches:
- The Kids plan a new show. For the opening they decide to rape McDonald to the theme from Footloose.
- Salesmen (McCulloch and McKinney) promote a device which can siphon fat from the American gut and use it to power SUVs.
- "Carfuckers": a group of mechanics who share a "love for which there is no name". The sketch was produced by an internet studio called "60Frames Entertainment".
- Gavin encounters Jehovah's Witnesses (one of two sketches recreated from the television show).
- Foley and McDonald get drunk; Foley tells McDonald he has created a time machine with which he can "defeat last call".
- Foley travels back in time to receive oral sex from his wife (McCulloch), who would only perform the act on his birthday.
- Foley travels back in time to kill Hitler (Thompson) but instead accidentally inspires his anti-semitism.
- Two exceptionally literate rat-catchers (McCulloch and McKinney) look for a used futon.
- Buddy Cole speculates that Jesus was homosexual.
- Kathy (McCulloch) and Cathy (Thompson) reunite for lunch in a restaurant, where Kathy extols the virtues of "tweeking" with methamphetamine.
- Foley is approached by a "fan" (Thompson) while waiting for the subway.
- A McCulloch monologue about how skinny Nicole Richie is.
- Foley and McCulloch fight over an imaginary girlfriend.
- The Chicken Lady has phone sex (one of two sketches recreated from the television show).
- The relationship woes of a gay couple (Foley and Thompson) are placated with the help of another married gay couple known as Peter and the Professor (McDonald and McKinney).
- Superdrunk: a superhero who stops crimes by drinking (McCulloch), assisted by his trusty sidekick, the bartender (Foley).
- The show finished with Mr. Tyzik (McKinney) mocking the mannerisms and careers of each member of the troupe, after which he promptly crushed their heads.
The group also performed on January 26-27, 2008 at the SF Sketchfest. On January 26 there was a retrospective and Q&A with the group.
2008 North American Tour
On April 4, 2008, The Kids in the Hall embarked on their first major national tour in six years. The tour ran through early June 2008 and included more than 30 cities in the US and Canada. The tour features some material from the 2007 "Just for Laughs" performance along with new material.
The 2008 tour closely mirrored the "Just for Laughs" performance, excluding the rat catchers, subway fan and Nicole Ritchie sketches. In their stead, Mark McKinney performed the monologue titled "The Modern Hero" from Season 1 of the show, and the entire cast performed the sketch "This Is How I Danced in Tenth Grade."
Other appearances
Kevin McDonald guest starred alongside Dave Foley in a 1997 episode of Foley's sitcom NewsRadio.
Kevin McDonald also guest starred on Seinfeld in the episode The Strike (the infamous "Festivus" episode), in which he played a man enamored of wearing denim who Elaine pursues for the sake of a stamped card from a sub shop.
Kevin McDonald has a cameo in the music video for "Roses" by OutKast.
Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald performed with The Barenaked Ladies on their "Ships and Dip V" cruise, along with other bands and comics, on February 1-6, 2009.
Each member of KITH provided voices in episode 14 of Lilo & Stitch: The Series in which Kevin MacDonald plays the regular role of Pleakley.
The group appeared on the front cover of Naked Eye's summer 2008 edition.
The Kids performed at the 2008 Comedy Festival in Las Vegas on November 22.
On August 6, 2010 all five Kids made an appearance on The Soup on E!, to promote their miniseries Death Comes to Town. Four of the members appeared on-screen in drag as girls who had grown up as beauty pageant contestants (parodying Toddlers & Tiaras); Mark McKinney's voice was heard off-screen as their mother.
Dave Foley has appeared in three episodes of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia", as Principal MacIntyre.
Kevin McDonald appeared on the animated show Dan Vs. in the episode Dan Vs. Technology. He played technology guru (and germaphobic) Barry Ditmer, a parody of Steve Jobs. He was planning to develop mind control so that the world's populace would buy the next useless gadget he would bring to market. However, thanks to Elise and Dan's intervention (after his new computer broke and couldn't get it fixed due to Ditmer's plan interfering), and his former partner Hiram (who had his part of the company stolen from him by Barry, and met Dan and Chris while they were stranded, eventually trying to murder them) invading, his plan is foiled and his complex blows up. Ironically, Chris is played by fellow member Dave Foley, but their characters never interacted.
In October 2012 and January 2013, Foley guest-starred on The Middle as Dr. Fulton (Brick's school therapist) in episodes "Bunny Therapy" (2012) and "Life Skills" (2013). During "Life Skills", Foley's character refers to Brick's (Atticus Shaffer) classmates as "the kids in the hall" (following an awkward pause and glance by both characters) and mentioned their behavior similar to those of comedy sketches from The Kids in the Hall.
In 2014, the cast reunited on Foley's sitcom Spun Out, appearing as Dave's high school goth friends who had made a suicide pact. That year Thompson also did a weeklong stint as Buddy Cole (a producer Colbert doesn't know is gay) on The Colbert Report, acting as the program's correspondent to the 2014 Winter Olympics who covered LGBT rights protests surrounding the 2014 Winter Olympics.
In December 2014, McDonald, McKinney, and Thompson appeared in an episode of the PBS children's television series Odd Squad. The episode was entitled "Crime at Shapely Manor." McDonald as Lord Rectangle, McKinney as General Pentagon, and Thompson as Professor Square.
Death Comes to Town
In July 2008 Telefilm Canada announced that there would be a new The Kids in the Hall television series titled Death Comes to Town. The Kids' Kevin McDonald stated that it would be an eight-part miniseries airing first on CBC in Canada and then on US television. Principal photography took place from August 2009, in Ontario. Several characters from the original The Kids in the Hall series made an appearance, including the OPP Officers and Chicken Lady. The first episode of the new series aired in Canada on CBC Television on January 13, 2010, while in the United States the first episode aired on IFC on August 20, 2010.
Awards and honours
The TV series received international recognition with the 1993 Rose d'Or, awarded in Montreux, Switzerland.
On June 3, 2008, it was announced that the entire group would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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