Reboots are all the rave so it was only a matter of time before The Kids in the Hall TV series got revived in the digital era.
While eight episodes will launch on May 13, only five episodes were made available for review. Suffice it to say, many of the sketches led to a lot of laughter. If you’re a comedy fan, the revival will be pure enjoyment. When you look at the reboots over the years, this is the one that we’ve been waiting for. Mark McKinney is coming off of a long run on Superstore. Dave Foley was a regular on NewsRadio but has otherwise enjoyed a lengthy career as a character actor.
Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson first teamed up in the 1980s. They made their way to HBO and CBS for five seasons. There are certainly no shortage of jokes at Brain Candy‘s expense. When you make a film and people do not like it, all you can really do is joke about it. That’s what I love about watching this series: they have no problem when it comes to making fun of themselves. All in all, they do not miss a punch. Joining them this season are a number of guest stars although many of their roles are small.
They know exactly when to end the sketches before they end up going too long. We see beloved favorites make their return while The Kids also come up with new characters for fans to enjoy. You know how people joke that their cats are going to kill them someday? Good news! There’s a sketch for you, too! I’ll refrain from getting into the particulars of other sketches. Well, except for the Zoom Masturbation sketch. It seems that CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is also the gift that keeps on giving. While a character does not expose himself, one can see where they might have gotten the idea.
Once again, there are plenty of sketches where The Kids dress as women. What makes them different from other sketch comedy shows is that they are realistic characters. They do not play them for jokes or gags if you will. To put it simply, these are not sketches that I find to be transphobic even though there’s the harmful men-in-dresses stereotype. For one, the characters are not transgender–when you have an all-male comedy group, you have to make choices.
Just as The Kids inspired a generation of comedians, I’m sure that they will be inspiring a new generation of comedians with the new season although this digital era will make it easier said than done. There’s no shortage of content out there but if you’re a fan of comedy, I definitely recommend watching. Everyone has a different sense of humor so some of the jokes might land differently.
If you liked the first five seasons of The Kids in the Hall, you’re in for quite the treat. The revival also precedes an in-depth documentary arriving next week to Prime Video.
CREATED BY: Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lorne Michaels, Britta von Schoeler, Andy Garland, Andrew Barnsley, Ben Murray, Garry Campbell, Kelly Makin, Julie Klausner, Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson
CAST: Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson
GUEST STARS: Paul Bellini, Pete Davidson, Catherine O’Hara, Kenan Thompson, Brandon Ash-Mohammed, Will Forte, Catherine Reitman, Samantha Bee, Fred Armisen, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jay Baruchel, Eddie Izzard, Tracee Ellis Ross, Mark Hamill, and Colin Mochrie
Prime Video will launch The Kids in the Hall on May 13, 2022. Grade: 4/5
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