‘The Kids in the Hall’ Recap: ‘Episode 1’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the revival premiere of ‘The Kids in the Hall’.
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If you grew up in the late 1980s and early 1990s and happened to have Cable TV… there’s a fair chance you have fond memories of the comedy troupe known as The Kids in the Hall. For this five-man, comedy troupe from Canada… took the world by storm during that era. Courtesy of a sketch comedy show that was off the wall and supremely edgy and unique and well, the refreshing nature of those sketches, really did have audiences tuning in and allowed for the show to run for multiple seasons before ‘The Kids’ began to wrap up their adventures in sketch comedy with Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy. A brilliant sketch comedy film that was so ahead of its time, it didn’t resonate with audiences in the slightest and sadly did poorly at the box office before becoming a cult classic.

If anything, its failure could have been viewed as the reason the troupe split up for many years, but their well-documented personal concerns and motivations are what instead led to the end of quite the bold era for sketch comedy. One that influenced countless future shows and comedians for decades on end and for the most part, it appeared as though the work these fine gentlemen did at the end of the 20th Century, would stand as their complete body of work for all time. But in this era of peak television/reimagining/reboots/revivals, nothing stays buried or forgotten forever and after decades of television silence from the troupe… they’ve come out of their retirement to bring a revival of their own show to life on Prime Video and well… the new The Kids in the Hall is about as brilliant a comedy sketch series as it gets.

In large part because… all five of the cast have returned, and Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson simply don’t miss a beat. They’re back in comfortable territory and thrive in these new sketches that are incredibly well written. The kind that take playful potshots at the Brain Candy fallout and are as edgy as ever. Especially since one of the sketches prompts Kevin and Dave to go where they’ve never gone before on the show. Wherein they take the time to show us the ‘complete’  Kids in the Hall. Not to mention, it’s full of biting satire on our current world. Courtesy of a delightful sketch involving social media and the hard differences between a tart and a pie, and the wonder of this revival doesn’t end there.

Because what matters most, is that the lads’ have not lost their comedy edge in the slightest. For the jokes in this revival hit in rapid fire fashion and every single one of them works and lands and the best part of all when it comes to the side-splitting comedy present here, is that the same delightfully cheeky and deadpan delivery the Kids’ used back in the day to handle their jokes… is still part of the show. Which not only allows for a new audience to discover the wonder of this series, but for fans of the original show and the movie, to feel as though they are coming home to hang out with some long-time friends they haven’t seen in a while. A reality that is reinforced by the familiar visual look of the show as well, right down to the return of the original opening credits sequence and theme. 
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But all analysis aside, what truly allows for this revival to stand out from the rest, is the sheer fact that this is one that is outright deserved. Because it was obvious back in the day that the Kids in the Hall had so much more unique comedy to share with the world, something the quality of this premiere reinforces and that makes this premiere and the other episodes that follow (which we will be recapping individually because this show deserves that respect), just a satisfying venture through and through. Something that just feels right and brings joy, and it will be a true treat to dig deeper into this revival in the days and weeks to come and see which classic characters return after all these years (come on Chicken Lady) as the Kids in the Hall reclaim their rightful title as the champions of sketch comedy. Until next time.   

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