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Amazon.ca Canadian Essential
Produced [ds5]by Canadian and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, this DVD gives a good look at the popular Canadian sketch comedy troupe Kids in the Hall. Several of the writers and actors went on to work for SNL, further influencing North American comedy and TV.
From Amazon.com
Thirty Helens agree: The Kids in the Hall is a funny show. (Mr. Tyzik, the bitter Head Crusher, however, may not agree.) The no-holds-barred sketch comedy is also strange, silly, profane--occasionally even profound. The five Canadian writer-comedians behind it, Dave Foley (NewsRadio), Bruce McCulloch (Superstar), Kevin McDonald (That ''70s Show), Mark McKinney (Saturday Night Live), and Scott Thompson (The Larry Sanders Show), formed the troupe in the early 1980s. Naturally, they weren't really kids, but boyish-looking men in their twenties and thirties. SNL's Lorne Michaels produced the series, which lasted for five seasons, and aired on HBO, Comedy Central, and Canada's CBC. It garnered three Emmy nominations and was followed by the theatrical cult classic The Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (1996) and several tours.
The Toronto-based team took more inspiration from the absurdity of Monty Python--and the craziness inherent in everyday life--than the topical humor of SNL (on which celebrities, politicians, and pop culture are frequent targets). Each 30-minute installment features short, punchy skits (some filmed in advance, some before a live audience), men in drag, and no special guest hosts or stars (musical or otherwise). During their small-screen rein, the Kids took aim at everything from mainstream comedy and corporate culture to sexism, bigotry, and pretension. Many of their best-loved characters first appeared during the 20 episodes produced between 1989-1990. They include the 30 Helens (30 Helens standing in a field agreeing about something or other), Tyzik (McKinney), rockin' Bobby (McCulloch), bickering Fran and Gordon (Thompson and McCulloch), chatty Cathy and Kathie (McCulloch and Thompson), the "Nobody Likes Us" guys (Foley and MacDonald), and the acerbic Buddy Cole (Thompson).
Canadian underground heroes Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet provided the icing on their spicy little cake with their wistful surf-rock theme "Having an Average Weekend." --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sadly, the CBC-only material is omitted.,
By skyhawk0 (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 1 1989-1990 [4 Discs] (DVD)
True KiTH fans know that the show ran on CBC in Canada and HBO in the States, and the troupe would tape each episode twice. Sadly for us Canadian fans, the US version is all that's available on DVD and we have to put up with Mark saying he's from Maine rather than the Ottawa Valley and other little paeans to their US broadcaster. Many times these are innocuous, but as in the previous example, some impact the punchlines.
The truly sad omission is that occasionally skits that were too Canadian for American audiences were replaced entirely. While it's great to get "The Dr. Seuss Bible", it's appalling that "Bad Sketch", detailing how all Canadians own the sketch through the CBC, is missing. Even worse an omission is the first appearance of Dave and Kevin's trappeurs, singing "Alouette" as they trap businessmen to sell their Fendi and Armani pelts. Still, this is still the Kids and the material is far beyond what you'd find in any other sketch show. They avoid the quick pop-culture references of most American sketch shows, and while they dip into the absurdism of Monty Python, there's much more of a sense of social commentary and even activism in their work. This season is less polished than future seasons,as it's before they get used to writing for television, but it is the freshest, as they could work off their long history of stage work.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Inventive Sketch Comedy,
By SandmanVI (Glen Allen, VA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 1 1989-1990 [4 Discs] (DVD)
The great thing about Kids in the Hall was that they shunned the topical, obvious humor so common within the ranks of SNL, MAD TV, In Living Color, Ben Stiller and so forth. KITH relished the subtle quirks of everyday existence: inanely busy businessmen, a mullet-headed slacker obsessed with his beat-up heap of a used car, or the morose "nobody likes us" outcasts who hang themselves just to make a point. Granted, all of these are not gems; truth be told, the Kids hadn't yet hit full stride as they would in later seasons. You may have to suffer through a few clunkers but it is all worth it. Personally I think the risk-reward is worth it for the edgy elements and oddball genius. If you want to be this creative and be truly landmark then you can't always grab the obvious punchline. Long live the Kids! can't wait for the stronger seasons to come out.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not SNL But great,
By Chris (St.Louis,MO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 1 1989-1990 [4 Discs] (DVD)
This has some great shows and all 5 play many different charecters.They play very brilliant carectors and they are all quite funny.I wish Comedy Central would stop showing that Mad TV crap that is gross-and not funny where as this and SNL were very gross but extremally funny.Comedy Central I want to see this and Saturdaynight go back to the classics not the retarded Mad TV that is very unfunny don't support that crap
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