An Impossible Choice: Kids In the Hall

Ha. I just now noticed that three of 'em have a Mc prefix.

bruce is the answer.
though i want to pity vote for kevin.

They're playing in Milwaukee in a few weeks, can't wait.

(I've always been a Dave man)

Btw I saw Carpoolers for the first time last night. Not the greatest thing ever, but way funnier that I thought it would be.

Do I have to take their post-KitH careers into account?

funniest or most f***able?

(Scott wd be easiest, obv)

I lean toward Bruce too, but man. Foley and his sarcastic meanness, McKinney in his passive-aggressive paternal roles, Thompson going over the top, and yes Kevin would be a great mother.

I don't think anyone wins if you take post-KitH careers in account.

dave

Dave, duh.

I'm a big Bruce fan, but I voted for Mark. He's got the broadest comedic range. Rewatching the show I'm impressed by what a good actor he is, I wish he was in more stuff.

Kevin gets -1000000000000000 points for being in the "Roses" video and getting outdone by Katt Williams.

bruce

that is, I wish he was in more stuff now.

look, they've all done tons of shitty stuff post-KITH

Dave was the most evil. Evil!

Another impossible poll would be who was the best woman?

Funniest, not fuckable.

(xp) I think getting sonned by Katt Williams trumps everything, though.

they were all really good women!

http://nerdnirvana.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/kidsinthehallgirldrinkdrunk.jpg

i had forgotten about this, mark was pretty good in it:

http://flakmag.com/film/images/saddestmusic.jpg

it really is kind of an impossible choice though, they were all essential to the show

I have averted my eyes from the post- careers (save Saddest Music). Agree McKinney had the most range.

I should vote Dave cuz I saw him get a boner in his Hecubus costume onstage. He blushed adorably.

It seems like Scott has done the least post-KitH.

bruno ponce-jones

what has mark been doing, aside from his brief stint on SNL and 'saddest music'?

BRUCIO

poll of impossibility

bellini

Kevin is my pity vote.

i read some really depressing article about kevin mcdonald a couple years ago...after some article had come out about dave calling him "the straight man" of KiTH...he just kept pointing out that he was dating a WOMAN because he's NOT GAY and talking about his lack of popularity, and you could picture him saying it in the typical self-deprecating way that was funny sometimes during the show, but also sometimes a little sad. but now it just seems totally sad. poor kevin :(

aw

kevin first (no pity either, dude was fucking funny), mark second for me

Another impossible poll would be who was the best woman?

I always loved Scott's women, especially his older ones (e.g. the queen, the old lady who's mugged).

people have said i look like kevin!

i voted scott

all the other Kids consistently defer to Kevin as "the funniest". He's definitely willing to go to exceptional lengths to humiliate himself for the sake of comedy.

I can see their point, but Bruce is still my favorite.

the sizzler sisters!

Scott's had the best post-career, I think. his standup show was really funny.

there should def. be a best woman poll! with pictures! Dave was the "cutest" girl.

Well, the Kevin pity comes from him having that sad sack persona and also that I only ever see him doing cartoon voices now. He was probably my favorite on the show as well, although it's just too hard to choose.

buddy

actually wait: sizzler sisters vs. francesca fiore vs. the hotel la rut whores vs....

scott did the best old/middle-aged women

Btw I saw Carpoolers for the first time last night. Not the greatest thing ever, but way funnier that I thought it would be.

-- Jordan, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 11:49 AM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

last night's was probably the funniest episode so far, and also the first time I caught Bruce cannibalizing a KITH line in it ("who knows where I could be this time tomorrow, I could be in Chicago, eating bacon and eggs with gangsters"). generally a pretty weak show with occasional bright spots.

bruce as kathy with a k <3<3<3

i'm talking about mark too much but his old lady who complains about how you can't use the word 'fisting' anymore is gold

i like the scott-as-old-woman monologue sketches

Scott was busy...he did Larry Sanders quite successfully.

I'll probably vote Bruce. Saw one ep. of Carpoolers finally a week or two ago. Mostly pretty low-budget sitcom stuff with sudden bursts of oddness, funniness and the occasional "this feels like a bruce skit" line. Still, it's no MY PEN!

my fave women were the office Kathys

xpost!

I remember an old Conan where Dave Foley and Isabella Rossellini were both on. Foley put a black wig on and the similarity was frightening.

They're all pretty much uniquely great though, and they can all pull off an amazing solo performance.

Mark sitting in a chair while his toe goes gang-green and he sticks a fork in his leg...

awesome interview with ST on the pre-stewart daily show, craig kilborn gets increasingly exasperated and 'phobed out with him, asks "what exactly is the difference between you and buddy?" and scott without blinking shoots back "buddy's uncircumcised"

TEMP!

xpost

that is true re: scott as middle-aged woman
esp the "i'd wear sausages in a link around my neck and rub cherries on my lips to feel pretty" character

uglification (in multiple ways) of Canadian comedy: KITH ---> Rogen & Co

Haha, I caught that Carpoolers line too.

Dave's women are great, esp. the ditzy secretary in the Danny Husk sketches and the boss.

i love when scott plays the really goofy super-canadian hockey fan guy

wait i just remembered TAMMY! bruce might win best female on that alone

i'm voting for bruce because he has a cabbage for a head.

Ok, I just tried to look up Scott Thompson + Daily Show on youtube, and got a page about "evil, lying jews" on Fox news.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=SCOTT+THOMPSON+DAILY+SHOW&search_type=

bruce as gavin, esp. in that "those kids sure smoked" sketch.

Bruce as rock n' roll teenager

lolz Kilborn's such a douchebag... when/where is this Carpoolers thing on? I've heard of it but never seen it.

i love when scott plays the really goofy super-canadian hockey fan guy

-- bell_labs, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 12:22 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

HEY...DIDN'T YOU TAKE ME TO A LEAFS GAME? YOU OWE ME FIFTY BUCKS, YOU FAUX-FRENCH FAG!

dear god jordan that is fucked

i can hardly stand kevin.

my vote is for bruce for his teenager and dad characters.

scott is a close close second.

Carpoolers is on ABC Tuesdays...I think it's on 9:30, used to be on 8:30 (might do better now that it's lead-in isn't Cavemen).

whenever I see a car chase in a movie now all i can think of is Bruno Pontz-Jones snickering ("Americans, always with the car chase, eh. And the happy ending, with the puppy licking the face")

when i was 12 and obsessed with KITH i was in love with david foley
now that i am older when i watch the show i definitely get more big laughs from bruce. BRUCE ALL THE WAY.

bruce in a walk, excepting his post-KITH career

Bruce as rock n' roll teenager

"fucking good ham. oops, i mean, fine ham abounds mom."

not.... jazz!

They were all great women, but Mark could be eerily authentic sometimes. He gets my vote just for playing the temp in the Kathy skits alone. ("Mondays, huh? Ugh!")

"The cute as a species don't age well"

i'm just watching KITH clips on youtube now

can't kill rock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnyCJDYONSU

(his shirt says HOOS on it)

it's a toss up between bruce mckinney and kevin mcculloch. that mark mcdonald is sure funny too tho.

<i>Every time I come to this city, some guy picks me up at the bus station, takes me to a Leafs game, gets me pissed, and then tries to blow me. Why can't people like me for me?</i>

hello italics code. sorry.

my real answer: bruce

in n/a's clip, bruce's shirt sez 'HOOS'

bruce is a walk?
MY PEN!! MY PEN!! IT'S THE ONE I DO ALL MY WORK WITH!!

can't kill rock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnyCJDYONSU

-- n/a, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 5:38 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(his shirt says HOOS on it)

-- n/a, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 5:39 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

share a doob with your old man, son?

that's cool. i'll split it with my lawyer.

is there anyone on ilx that doesn't like kids in the hall? i don't think i know anyone irl. maybe this is the one thing everyone can come together on.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096626/quotes

i have one friend who claims to not like it.

we're not that close.

i know a guy who likes 'the whitest kids you know'

everyone I know that's seen it digs it

I like The Whitest Kids You Know.

I also know people who don't like the Kids in the Hall. The same type of people who'd never spend all day on ILX. Makes you think.

xxxxpost i took a lot of convincing but im definitely warming up to it. esp the mom/dad/teenager in the kitchen skits. i still cant stand the on stage "hi...Im dave foley..blah blah blah <insert something terribly clever>" skits though.

sunny comes around!

oh Foley did some great monologues, though. he's the man with a positive attitude toward menstruation!

also: the bad doctor

really I'd probably lean toward voting for Bruce (Shame Based Man is definitely in my top 3 comedy albums of all time, been meaning to pick up his other CD), but with all the love for him here I might go with someone else.

i thought of kenan when I saw the menstruation one

btw pp and i have been watching these from the beginning since january. it the first time for me. i can see how you could absolutely love this show if you first saw it in college

my favorite solo scott sketch:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RZzzKDytK1o

I have more friends who look like Bruce. Runner-up would be Mark.

Here's one of 'em:

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9918/bmcpfe5.jpg

I occasionally see people around that look like Kevin, but frankly, they kinda scare me.

oh, i love the on-stage sketches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3oDtgBzMJE

"i'm sorry for causing all that cancer."

I'll vote Bruce, but Kevin could take any of them at his best.

"Maybe I'll grow a beard..."

"the beard stays, you go!"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nYuOurhglz8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waV4rZUkcEs

Just... click on the link.

Beard is superclassic

is there anyone on ilx that doesn't like kids in the hall?

Ned doesn't like it iirc.

ban ned.

i'm not sure why, but this is one of my favorite KITH sketches

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BNgcwdy48M8

life is a pretty sweet fruit

i was looking for the "oh my hip!" one where bruce seduces his mother's elderly friends. i love when dave comes out of the kitchen with a tray of cocktails saying "i found these martinis in the crisper!" kills me every time.

fuck the bank i work for ... fuck the b-b-b-baaaank

censored version ;_;

i can't find the video, but i love the drunk as a crow sketch.

Bruce: Oh, good for you, Stephen, you're drunk, you're stupid, and you're in a hotel, are you happy, Stephen, are you happy?

Kevin: I am sober, fatso!

Bruce: Yeah, Stephen, I'm fat, I'm very fat. Tell me, are you drunk because you're stupid, or are you stupid because you're drunk?

...

Kevin: My minibar is empty- it's so small! [looks at the empty minibar]

Bruce: How'd it get empty, Stephen?

Kevin: I emptied it.

Bruce: Why?

Kevin: Consumption.

Bruce: Well, my minibar is empty as well.

Kevin: Ah-ha! You're drunk! [loses his balance and falls back onto the bed]

Bruce: Yes I am, but I'm not stupid, Stephen. Now listen, all I've got left is the champagne, the playing cards, and the cashew nuts. Now, do you want them?

Kevin: Yes.

Bruce: Alright. I'll send them over, Stephen, but listen, Stephen, for God sakes, don't play cards for money because you're drunk, and don't drink the champagne to celebrate how stupid you are. Eat the cashews and go to bed, and when you wake up, which'll be a half an hour from now, you'll say, "My God, I got drunk and spent eleven dollars on a handful of cashew nuts, boy am I stupid, luckily I'm no longer drunk."

[Kevin snores into the phone - he's fallen asleep with the phone balanced on his face.]

Bruce: You're drunk, you're stupid, and you're asleep on my phone line, what a frightening apparition you are.

where is the cool dad sketch on youtube? i ACHE for it.

whenever a bargaining situation comes up, i always think, "how about...a dollar."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiWQ38kF8Gc

"can we keep him?!"

so you're painting a chair, aye?

lol @ scott's belt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SudyHvtAPMY

french ilxors will certainly be voting for comedian extraordinaire kevin mcdonald, le poopie.

this "cool dad" sketch? http://hip.ytmnd.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiWQ38kF8Gc

"can we keep him?!"

-- Jordan, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 3:16 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

every time I eat cooked oatmeal, I refer to it as "Mr. Stevenson 2"

I didn't realize that the "cool dad" sketch was based on the life of James Lileks.

bellll. bivvv. devooooe.

syrop

it's between Kevin and Dave for me.

I don't think I remember a "cool dad" sketch. I remember "HE'S 45."

HE'S HIP. HE'S COOL. HE'S 45.

my favorite sketch when i was a teen was for some reason the SOMEONE'S GONNA GET A THOUSAND DOLLARS one

now I love the 'life's a pretty sweet fruit' one... my god. BIG LAUGHS. that bruce.

there are so many grwat ones - i could never pick one sketch.
i've never told anyone this - but at the end of their final episode, i cried.
totally fucking serious here.

the one's with bruno ponce-jones and francesca fiori are like 3 or 4 steps above godhead

morbs and alex are both right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiGRpm6Tf3I

I saw this movie that Dave wrote and starred in called "The Wrong Guy," on a flight to Toronto. I was kind of drunk, and it was the funniest movie I had ever seen in my life at that moment. Has anyone else seen this? I still quote it to myself, in my mind.

VOODOO PORK

i love the sketches like the 'Sausages' one. they're little mini expressionist movies!

^^^ see also spiritualist/old lady delivery service sketch

that's a classic too. i think i've probably seen every episode. i could watch these all day.

sometimes i feel compelled to pull the you lost me character on people.

I ascertain the funniness

parts of sketches I like:
___________________________________________________________________________________
{Cut to the front page of a newspaper. The headline: "YOUTH - ANGERED BY WORLD WRITES FIRST POEM!!"}

Bruce: Fire. Fire, fire, fire, fire on my brain. Fire!
___________________________________________________________________________________
{At a business meeting}

Scott: No, you're wrong. All of you are wrong. Every one of you is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Kevin: {standing up} No, we're all right! We're all right, except for him! And him! And him!

Dave: {standing up} Dear God in heaven, gentlemen! What is it like to be so wrong? What does it feel like to wake up in the morning, knowing...

{The arguing fades out as Mark appears in closeup, smiling.} Mark: You know, whenever things get too hectic at work, I like to relax with...a trip to the farm!

{A screen draws aside behind Mark to reveal a barnyard scene, which he skips into.}

___________________________________________________________________________________
Mark (V.O.): Ladies and Gentlemen. If you'll turn your attention to center field, The Children of the Farm Belt, inspired by the impact of technology on their lives, spontaneously, and without rehearsal, salute the tractor!

___________________________________________________________________________________
These last two are some of the best sketches:

Dipping Areas -- Can mousse and dipping areas coexist on one plate?

and finally

Who's to Blame For the Rain? -- In short- Boss looks for someone to blame for the bad weather.

First the meeting, THEN the whores!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=I51V0FfqDJE

In America

where did people currently in their early twenties get exposed to KITH?

comedy central

i think they used to run 'em on cable?

comedy central

well yeah I mean I learned to love them in the late 90s on CC but I thought they stopped running them at the beginning of this decade

after Comedy Central, Real Video files passed around on CDR in college

comedy central reruns

ok I get it

i watched them regularly starting in middle school (for me 93-96) and never stopped.

still my favorite show

Comedy Central got pretty shitty once this, mst3k and classic snl departed

Mtv died when sifl and olly left, which is a pretty good run all and all.

Comedy Central got pretty shitty once this, mst3k and classic snl departed

-- Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:29 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

^^^

I used to love comedy central when they showed all of these, now it just seems to be crap like madtv reruns and redneck comedy tours.

And movies that aren't funny whatsoever.

They always had those.

I liked the old unfunny movies better.

Aside from recurring character sketches, namely the Chicken Lady, I really only remember certain lines, which run through my head fairly regularly. "MY PEN" was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread--followed by
"Ooh! Golden Girls"- Mark McKinney as Satan
"I'm in the middle of a big bike race!" - Bruce McCullogh as a little kid
"I'm the guy with a good attitude toward menstruation" - Dave Foley as a guy with a good attitude toward menstruation.

I really need to see this show again--it's been 10 years easy....

i wont fry anything.

IM TOO ANGRY TO FRY!

Dave: Hi, eh, just writing a letter to someone in the hospital. You know it's always kinda hard to find the right words to say.

You know somehow 'How's the weather in the hospital? sure is nice outside.' just doesn't work.

But you gotta try, you know, you gotta show your concern so here's what I got so far.

Dear Guy I Clotheslined As You Went By on Your Bicycle.

You don't know me, but I'm the guy who broke your collarbone.

Now I've asked myself over and over why did I clothesline that guy. Perhaps I watched too much slapstick as a kid and expected you to get up after being violently assaulted. Imagine my confusion when you did not. Although not so confused that I'd actually hang around.

In all fairness, It was pretty funny, I mean the last thing you'd expect as you were riding merrily by on your bike is that someone you didn't know at all would stick out his arm and crush your throat.

I mean, you really should have seen it, It was just like WAM! BAM! (hahaha)

ANY-WAY....

In closing, as you lay there convalescing in your hospital bed, I'm forced to wonder 'What were you doing riding your bike on the sidewalk anyway, Huh, ya asshole? side-WALK!

Maybe sometimes we bring heartache upon ourselves.

Signed, the guy that collapsed your trachea.

Thanks.

got my tickets today for their milwaukee gig (in april).

Dave Foley -- absolutely no contest.

I know I voted Bruce, but Dave should get it for my fave skit....DADDY DRANK.

Daddy: All right now, son, I want you to get a good night's rest. And remember, I could murder you while you sleep.

Daddy: Son, how many girls called you today? Zero? And how many girls called you yesterday? Lemme guess: zero? Well, you know what they say, son. Zero plus zero equals FAG! Zero times any other number always equals FAG! Think about it, ya little mathematician.

Daddy: Hey, son, you know how you've been bugging me to go and get you a puppy? Well, today after work, I went out and I bought you one. But on the way home, I got hungry and I ate him! I'm joking; I'd never buy you a puppy.

Oddly, that's the first sketch I thought of when I logged my vote.

Think about it, ya little mathematician.

for a while this was a put-down of choice among me and some friends. works in a surprising amount of situations.

oh, did I wake you son?

Daddy drank! Dave it is.

but... wasn't that sketch written by Kevin? (I believe he's alluded to that one being "semi-autobiographical"; along with the sketch where his dad tries to kill himself, the "Bell...Biv... DeVoe" sketch, etc.)

please leave rockism out of the KITH thread

assigning credit = rockism

gotcha

I always thought I was in a small minority in preferring Foley.

i'm tempted to vote for kevin mcdonald based on the "don't put salt in your eyes" sketch

i can see how you could absolutely love this show if you first saw it in college

I first saw it in middle school!

Tracer: I can see that (re looking like Kevin).

(I wish I didn't know people who don't like KITH).

(Actually, looking back, Bruce or Kevin may have been best.)

Wasn't Kevin behind the "just the middle of the sketch" sketch(aka "stop it. <slap> Stop it. <slap> Stop it. <slap>"?

you mean the one featuring Otis Pinklefeather?

Kevin is the most electric in a live setting for sure.

otis picklefeather is the guy in the sketch that kevin forgot to write an ending for

or wait no, that's dave. kevin is picklefeather. i think?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Can anyone find the salty ham skit on youtube? I can't.

One of my fav Kevin moments...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO2fJ5bmPk8

Oh, that's a great one! I often say "But first... the whores!" in my head.

(Like, when I'm planning things.)

xpost:

SALTY HAM! - http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZR5iScQjjVk

also ham & salt related:
fine ham abounds - http://youtube.com/watch?v=liSHr-UJNMo
never put salt in yr eye - http://youtube.com/watch?v=On6FSphbpUY
(lol ontario dental convention!)

ohman
all so good

OH GOD RRROBYN, I KISS U.

YOU PEOPLE HAVE CARPET ON YOUR HEARTS.

THAT'S EFFIN GOOD HAM, DAD.

I'm non-regretting my Bruce vote.

If we still had changeable usernames today I would be HAM OF TRUTH.

I just edited my Facebook status accordingly.

hahaha xpost
bruce's drunk teenage bobby is so perfect esp the post-puking face he makes

also haha at sundar's 'but first... the whores!' mental notes
my first reaction when someone asks for the salt is still, 'okay but just don't put it in your eye'

if we could wire our brains into youtube my channel wld just be 1st and 2nd season kids in the hall, scenes from twin peaks, and a bunch of music videos from the mid-to-late 80s, that is how burned in they are

The Coop throwing rocks investigation technique scene morphing seemlessly in and out of "Daves I Know"...only Coop's chalkboard has a bunch of Daves' names on it.

I am watching it now.

Bruce was a teenager in other skits too right? He is a hilARious teen.

one of the best things about the anne of green gables tv movie sequel that yknow every canadian has seen at some point is that it has bruce in it playing a small, non-comedy teenager role that still comes off as awkward and hilarious. dave foley is also in this and also in a not supposed to be funny v small role.

2000 reunion was the greatest performance I've ever seen live

censored Comedy Central reruns did nothing to prepare me for the skit where the two neighbor couples start doin' it

you mean "you're next buddy...I want you in me" "NO CAN DO!"

The video doesn't add much to this but it's still a classic track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-XXgQY6xKA

("The Doors had no bass. You see, the Gypsys had no homes.")

ham is a salty food, it's not like porridge or toast or hair

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Bruce lovers

dirty, beastly, sexy, hunky Bruce lovers! God I hate you I hate you I hate you!!

I voted Bruce but Mark is great. Why no Mark fans? He has some of the weirdest characters.

I'm a big Bruce fan, but I voted for Mark. He's got the broadest comedic range. Rewatching the show I'm impressed by what a good actor he is, I wish he was in more stuff.

-- n/a, Wednesday, February 27, 2008 4:54 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Link

That's like a total inversion of their greatness.

I still own the Bruce McCullough album.

on my itunes at work. i somehow wound up with two copies of it, i think one is my ex's.

Bruce had multiple comedy albums of his sheer weirdness/brilliance. It's not for everyone.

I have discovered irritating people are really easy to handle if you pretend they are Gavin.

http://img.youtube.com/vi/uA_3MnVen08/0.jpg

kinda sad story about Foley here: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/article/952260--comedian-dave-foley-fears-arrest-owes-500-000-in-child-support?bn=1

wow

I kinda just feel sorry for everybody in that scenario

god, that is gutwrenching. keep ya head up, dave.

The whole KITH series on DVD is $34.99 right now on Amazon. I just ordered one. Maybe Dave will see a little of that $$...

that's crazy depreciation. a few years ago they were going for that much per season

Yeah, I think it was marked down from $99.00 or so...and free shipping.

yeah fuck -- i might buy that and give away the season 1 and 2 sets i already got

those poll results looked familiar...
http://i.imgur.com/rACNF.png

Interview w/ Scott on his new graphic novel and the role it played in his cancer treatment:

http://www.maximumfun.org/sound-young-america/scott-thompson-actor-and-comedian-kids-hall-interview-sound-young-america

Has anyone read the Husk comic?

Just re-watching KITH these days.

This is funny, because the list represents my favourite Kid to my 'least favourite'. I gather Bruce is a lot of people's favourite here because he was the musician and brought a lot of the music aspects to KITH.

And like the OP said, there are weaknesses in all of them. I always wondered why I enjoyed Bruce's sketches so much when he himself said he was no longer enjoying doing them (around season 3, I believe?).

Dave seems to be the one that was consistently good, however.

bruce is a lot of ppl's favorite because he was fucking hilarious

http://i.imgur.com/9OcWcuE.png

aww. i would totally sign his guestbook.

So happy to have my beautiful boys back.

Don't even care that they're playing all the hits - Buddy Cole, Kathy with a K, Erradicator, etc. - they're still great and the new stuff is on the same level, the post apocalyptic classic rock DJ is one of the bleakest sketches I've seen.

Plus they're the ultimate champs of mocking corporate culture and that has only further swallowed the world up since they were last around.

Also get ready for a lot of full frontal male nudity!

come on, surely I'm not the only ILXor left who loves KITH?

Stoked to see this. I binged the original show when it was on... netflix? I've never seen the movie or the other series.

Love Bruce McCulloch's Shame Based Man album.

Came across this by accident, I barely ever check Amazon Prime video and I feel like news of a KITH reunion has hardly been circulated! Anyway, fully satisfying so far, very much "the thing I remember" without feeling like a rehash. Amazed that in 2022 there was still a funny "Zoom meeting" sketch to be written.

loved bruce in that zoom sketch. two eps in bc i'm trying to make it last, enjoying it so far. loving all the gratuitous nudity.

The full frontal thing is def a new twist! I don’t think they leaned too heavy on the old characters and they didn’t hold back making fun of themselves a lot too. The eradicator sketch really had me laughing. There was a few guest appearances from some other old school Canadian comics that made me smile too.

I will say the "friends of kith" bits were uniformly unfunny and felt very un-KITH as well, but thankfully they were very short.

Same quality at the original series I’d say too. Not everything lands, but overall there’s some great stuff

agreed. so far imho theyre threading the needle just right as far as acknowledging the reality that theyre old dinosaurs without making every sketch be about that. and im happy with the balance of familiar stuff vs new material, across their various projects & tours over the years theyve never seemed to have trouble writing new stuff.

4 eps in and it feels like one of the most successful of these reboots. Agreed with the criticisms above but it’s easy to forget things sometimes landed weird on the original as well.

Awww, glad to hear this is good, I really want to see it at some point but don't have Amazon.

I’ve been out of the country but will start watching tonight!

I eagerly cued up the original series for a rewatch on Amazon to prep for the new episodes and the very first episode featured a blackface sketch

i assume that's mark mckinney as mississippi gary (the blues singer). they do another version of that sketch later where he breaks character and talks about how it doesn't make any sense for him to be playing that character (and he longer appears to be in blackface). but i'm not saying it absolves them for including the character (or doing blackface obviously)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_2ao-QAb5E

just to complete my thought, i guess it's interesting bc the later sketch is basically mark mckinney indicating that he knows he probably shouldn't be doing the character, and he tries to brush it off with self-deprecation and suggesting it comes from a place of love, but then he just goes back to doing it anyways. that probably just makes it worse in a way.

It very quickly became obvious that the blackface was completely tangential to the core of the joke and the follow up does show that they were thinking very subversively about it, so I actually think it does absolve them!

isn't there another sketch later on in the series with Scott Thompson in blackface as a guy meeting his white girlfriend's disapproving parents for the first time, and the gag at the end is that the parents don't want their daughter dating a guy who wears blackface i.e. it's diegetic blackface

Thompson also plays a south asian character in the sketches with Raj and Christine where the blacking/browning up is seems almost entirely superfluous, you could filmed those sketches with him playing a white guy and it wouldn't really change it that much afiact, which makes you wonder why they bothered making him south asian in the first place? I guess maybe there's something implied about the backgrounds of the two characters and that being reflected in how Christine dominates and bullies Raj without really thinking about it - she's from a rich and privileged and family and is part of the counter-culture by choice whereas he is gay and from an immigrant, possibly conservative family, and is part of the counter-culture through necessity? I don't know if they ever reveal much about Raj's background, maybe he's from a fancy background as well for all I know.

xp there's one where scott in in brown(at least)face and brought home by his gf (dave), who warns him that her parents are awful racists

but the parents turn out to be super lovely, thwarting the gf's desire to transgress

but maybe there's another one later that goes a level deeper?

been re-watching the first season

i was always a dave guy but upon reflection i might be turning into a bruce guy

Funny, I’ve always rated them Mark, Dave/Scott, Kevin/Bruce. But I’m thinking I might have Marge Simpson syndrome (whereby I loved Homer as a teenager and now love Marge above everyone else) and might come around to Bruce

I’m not watching the new season til I finish my rewatch of the originals

Idk Bruce is so one-note to me (and tbh it’s a great note). Mark is amazing. The sketch where she’s flunking the dance prodigy in favour of Kevin and then says “obviously I’m totally kidding!” I just died it was so good

They’re all good but I admit the cult of Bruce is sort of beyond me

The sketch where she’s flunking the dance prodigy in favour of Kevin and then says “obviously I’m totally kidding!

lol i actually just tried to look up the dance prodigy to see if she'd done more acting! she was solid

with mark, for me, it might mainly be that the headcrusher was worthy of one skit only but it just kept going

scott is beyond rankings tho. rank the others however you want but scott will always be at worst 1a

I just had the realization tonight that, despite watching the series on and off and even going to a taping of the show in 1989, they never got beyond "theoretically funny" for me at best; as if they were content to be absurd, daring, squirmy, trenchant etc. without actually connecting that to something that made me laugh then or now. I would assume even the fans would accept that a lot of their material was so dry or conceptual that its humour content was hypothetical?

Nonetheless I just read the summary of their 2007 Just for Laughs appearance on Wikipedia, and it made me laugh more than the show ever did!

I think what makes a lot of their characters funny for me is that the characters feel like they have an existence outside of the sketch, it's not just that they've had an idea for a sketch and invent a character that acts a certain way dictated by the structure of the sketch, but they make it seem like the character is out there being like this all the time and you're just happening to see a particular five minutes of it.

Enjoyed this long-ish appreciation of it

Must-read long-read on the Kids in the Hall by @evankindley. https://t.co/iWKFhTlfbh

— Tyler Wilcox (@tywilc) May 12, 2022

Opening blurb of that medium post otm.

I would assume even the fans would accept that a lot of their material was so dry or conceptual that its humour content was hypothetical?

Yes and no - there's some material that crosses over into performance art/art film weirdness and as such isn't about belly laughs, but it's a small slice and really their skills in terms of timing, expressions, reactions - old school comedic chops I guess - are so off the charts, they make me laugh as much as any sketch comedy I've ever seen.

they never got beyond "theoretically funny" for me at best

ffs, smoke some weed

some stuff can feel like that – where they have a great idea and it's not really an obvious/easy laugh. not so much a joke that doesn't land – but a joke that isn't intended to land.
but then at the same time they have lots of stuff that is just goddamned funny as hell.

i feel like a lot of those end up hilarious on revisit still

i admit when i was a kid i did not entirely *get* this show but i watched the comedy central reruns religiously lol

i was in college when it suddenly clicked

fine ham abounds

god even in that one sketch there's the kind of low-key joke about how many people hanging out at once distinguishes a "get-together" from a "party"

"someone has to leave"

"lyle"

everybody: "lyyyyyle"

every line of dialogue has some sort of hilarious content embedded in it

any indication if they are doing another new season? the cliffhanger jokes made me think another one might be coming, but then the way they ended it made it seem like they are done with new episodes.

god i love these guys so much.

One great low-key joke in the new series: Mark’s dumb cop instructing Kevin and Dave to “Put your hands on your own head”.

yeah that slayed me. exactly the kind of pointless tossed-in joke i come to KITH for.

That went right over my (own) head.

KitH was my favorite show as far back as middle school (comedy central reruns also) because it was goofy and funnier than everything else I'd ever seen, don't really get the "theoretically funny" part because nearly every joke is still executed with maximum goof

Like I didn't "get" the the God Is Dead sketch but the visual of mark holding god's dead body and saying "and he's really light!" was the funniest thing in the world to me

For me it's about the small, unique turns of phrases and the line readings. So many are permanently etched in my head, and when they come out now no one knows what I'm talking about. :)

"I'll eat pancakes on your grave" is something i will never stop saying whenever i get the chance, regardless of the odds no one will have any idea what i'm quoting.

fuck the bank i work for, fuck the baaaaaaaaank

really enjoyed the new episodes, including a few that seemed slight but popped back in my head a day later

they have this ability to concoct an utterly absurd premise, roll with it through an entire sketch, only to end it with someone saying something that's obvious or common sense followed by "oh, of course!"

the main thing that differentiates KITH from something like SNL at a basic level is that 90% of SNL has winking at the audience -- hey, we're your featured players doing these characters to get some laughs -- where KITH starts from the premise "we really are two ladies working in an office reminiscing about fax machines" and you can forget that they're acting

Started rewatching from the first season and got to the blackface skit. It was pretty weird because the blackface half of the skit is awkward and cringe but whenever it switches to Kathy the same skit is solid gold. The notion that THIS is the devil woman that the old bluesman is forever cursing is hilarious.

That first ep is pretty amazing - Kathy, Headcrusher and Eradicator all make an appearence iirc.

mh I def think SNL is trash and KITH gold but I think the thing you highlight is more about format than comedic sensibility; the "live" aspect means the frisson that anything could go wrong at any second is built into SNL and so a higher amount of meta and mugging kinda comes with the territory

I think my point-of-view on Kids in the Hall was shaped by the context of contemporary Canadian TV comedy. At the time there were a lot of (not very hip) Canadian sketch comedies like "Smith and Smith Comedy Mill" and "Royal Canadian Air Farce" from which, I'm sure, the Kids wanted to distance themselves. So it seemed to me that their ethos was "avoid being corny" more than "be funny".

where they have a great idea and it's not really an obvious/easy laugh. not so much a joke that doesn't land – but a joke that isn't intended to land.

...ending up at the infinitely unpopular Point C

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uSSobogtHQ

Checked out the new Prime documentary, weirdly split into two episodes. Mostly the fluffy lovefest you'd expect, but they do get pretty real about the bad vibes circa Brain Candy. Mae Martin talks a lot about how much it meant to her as a queer person, incl being attracted to Dave Foley's woman characters (nice to know that's not just a straight guy thing). Kind of deflates the comeback a little to see how many times they'd reunited before lol, but I appreciate the doc doesn't pretend they didn't. Overall would recommend.

Only a whore weighs herself

Ep 4 was one great sketch after another: Super Drunk, french people who don't want to leave the couch, a Kevin McDonald sketch. The new season has been really enjoyable so far

finished it and the whole thing was pretty much a home run for me. feel like kevin was the all star for me in this season,
particularly loved "hot-hot water" guy. if that had been in the original 90s run i can easily see myself having spent the last 20 years annoying my friends & family by complaining that things are not hot-hot.

the hot-hot thing killed me

“friends of mark” had me dying

Between that one and AssAssin and a couple more I've forgetting, Mark has led some truly weird (and great) sketches this season

he's come a long way since being voted the worst kid by ilxor.com users 14 years ago

Not worst, least best.

Kevin and the cats omg