The Kids in the Hall - Froggy Chases the Dragon with Harold Hedgehog

The Kids in the Hall

Season 2

A Quick Commentary

As always, this will be quite biased. I love the Kids in the Hall.

The Kids in the Hall are kings of dark twists. The Canadian comedy troupe featuring Scott Thompson, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch. I learned to love them when my sister watched them on Comedy Central. Maybe starting with them at a fairly young age left me with a slightly warped sense of humor but...oh well. Too late to worry about that now.

Rewatching the Kids in the Hall, they're often tame by modern standards (or blatantly offensive depending on what you're looking at). The comedy often target suburban Canada with dinner parties, teenagers, and families. But they aren't limited to that. They also target stereotypes, machismo and anything else from which they can mine humor.

Modern Standards?

Season 2 premiered in 1990. Seinfeld and Full House were on the air. At the time, I was watching Tiny Toons and Tailspin. Computers were...underwhelming. I didn't see the Kids for the first time till a few years later. (Full disclosure, I still watch Tiny Toons.)

They're a fine vintage of comedy. Compared to some comedies out there, they're tame. Compared to others, they're insane.

They have returned to being the Kids in the Hall for a movie, a tour and a mini series. All returns due to popular demand.

Highlights

Season 2 has a high body count. A planet, a few murder victims, medical malpractice and what not. There's a betoweled man, general madness and flatheads everywhere.

"Look into my face and know to look into my face is to look into the face of evil."

McKinney as the devil, the French fur traders Jacques and Francois, the Pit of Ultimate Darkness, Buddy Cole, Bobby Terrence, two clearly insane people, the Headcrusher and other iconic characters. There are too many iconic characters to list. There's no point. It's so much better to just watch them.

Some sketches string together to create a common thread through out the show or season. Repeating jokes and characters don't diminish, they build on the impact.

"Prepare to Be Expurgated."

Watching through the entire season, I saw some old favorites and some sketches I've forgotten. My favorite is Book, Bottle, Blonde. Hard-boiled tropes speak to me. We've reached the origin of the post title. Book, Bottle, Blonde is the story of a hard-boiled children's book author. I want to read that book, watch that movie and be his fangirl.

Twitter

Follow the Kids on twitter and see what they're doing right now @BrucioMcCulloch, @KevintheKith, @Mark_DMcKinney, @ScottThompson_, and @DaveSFoley