Customer Reviews

The Kids in the Hall - Complete Season 2 (1990-1991)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This 2nd season has its moments but isn't as fresh or wild as the 1st season. It's good to see the debut and origin story of The Chicken Lady and see more episodes featuring the Headcrusher. Contained in this collection are classics like "Daddy Drank" and The Trappers". There's a lot more miss than hit. I would recommend this to completists. I give it 4 stars because a so-so episode of KITH is better than other "good" sketch comedy shows.

Season Two Episode List:

Episode: 1
Spring/ Comfortable/ Trucker #2/ Hard Day/ Off Swingin'/ The Doctor/ Bobby and The Devil

Episode: 2 Cops - O Canada/ Trapper/ Cabbage Head - Old Friends/ Not Working Out - 1/ The Loner/ Not Working Out - 2/ Simon and Hecubus/ Not Working Out - 3/ Girls of Summer

Episode: 3
Mark's Newscast - Paper Airplanes/ Sizzler & Sizzler/ Pageant/ Tony and Nick/ Mark's Newscast - Meech Lake/ A Little Something/ Phone

Episode: 4
Nutty Bunnies/ Opening/ Queer Nation/ Cops - Uniform/ Excellent Dinner/ Cops - Stanze/ The Parrot/ Cops - Running Naked/ Customer/ On the Run

Episode: 5
The Jury/ Cops- ShootOut/ Prisoner/ Sizzler And The Bank/ Cops 17- 211 In Progress/ Chicken Lady/ Drugs Are Bad/ Cops- Prisoner/ Clean Sheets/ Justice

Episode: 6
Second Novel/ Baboon/ Hair Loss/ Conversation/ Buddy - Wood Nymph/ Anecdote/ Groovy Teacher

Episode: 7
Lady is a Tramp/ Opening/ Meet the Geralds/ I'm English/ Bumper 1/ Lady is a Tramp Part II/ Bumper 2/ Painting a Chair/ The Lack O Trust Blues/ Bumper 3/ Lady is a Tramp Part III/ End Credits

Episode: 8
I Can't Play the Piano/ Opening/ Democracy/ Tampa Bay/ Cops-Goose/ Freak/ Bumper 1/ Cops-Tony Baldwin/ Seminar/ Bumper 2/ Celebrity/ Bumper 3/ Liposuction/ End Credits

Episode: 9
Cops - Dream/ Crushing Hospital/ Cops - Dad/ Daddy Drank/ The Leash/ Cops - Shelley Long/ Knocked Out/ The Leash - Shelley Long/ The Last Straw/ Parenting/ Dead Dad

Episode: 10
Guess Your Weight/ Go For Guilt/ Hustlers - Math Teachers/ Fag Basher/ Friendly Rivals/ Show Within A Show/ Mr. Hugula/ Housework Hustlers/ Chocolate

Episode: 11
Fact #2/ That's America/ Prisoner's Jam/ Fact #3/ Cuttin' It Close 1/ Secret of Broadway/ Cuttin' It Close 2/ Hustlers- Richard Nixon/ Mispronouncer/ Fact #3A/ Dead Fish

Episode: 12
Cops - Bubble Bath/ How I Sleep/ Old Friends/ Standing/ Vegas/ Carpenter/ Cops - Daughter/ Encounter

Episode: 13
Cops - Good Cop, Bad Cop/ Brad & The Phone/ Fact - Uncle Tony/ Book, Bottle, Blonde/ Cops - Money/ Shoes/ Evil T/ Fact - Bigfoot/ Heckler/ Fact - 45 Years of Love/ The Long Note

Episode: 14
Report/ Gandar 1/ M. Piedlourde Court un Marathon/ Jazz Music/ Gandar 2/ Touch Bellini #1/ The Affair/ M. Piedlourde Essait l'Auto/ Queen to Queen

Episode: 15
M. Piedlourde Donne Un Coup De Pied Au Ballon/ Scott's Not Gay/ First Time/ Bad News/ Poo Guy/ M. Piedlourde A Une Rendez-Vous/ Victim/ Night of the Cow/ M. Piedlourde Sur La Lune

Episode: 16
One of These Five Men/ Cincinnati Kid/ Career Ending 2/ 30 Second Stories - Joe/ No Words/ 30 Second Stories - Dump/ Career Ending 1/ The Trip/ Wild Weekend

Episode: 17
Thousand Dollars/ Thousand Dollars/ Cops - Towing/ Decorator 1/ Headcrusher - Rival/ Shortest/ Bellini Finale/ Cops - Graveyard/ Governor/ Ham of Truth/ Decorator 2

Episode: 18
Clandestine Meeting 1/ The Letter/ Plungers/ Clandestine Meeting 2/ Fact - Aliens Are Super Intelligent/ Mr. Pin/ Liza's Party/ Clandestine Meeting 3

Episode: 19
The Cure/ Secretaries- Logey/ 30 Second Stories- Tess/ Directions/ Excellent Guy- Big Brother/ 30 Second Stories- Office Party/ Taxpayer/ 30 Second Stories- Fries/ Into The Doors

Episode: 20
Lively Party/ Butcher Shop/ Cops - Sexism/ Who's To Blame/ Cops - Clouds/ Having Tea/ Faux Pas/ Cops - Partners/ Messages/ Tube Top Justice/ Hazy Movie

Episode: 21
Fact - Uncle Tony/ Headcrusher - Rival/ Swingin'/ Daddy Drank/ The Affair/ Fact #3/ The Doctor/ A Little Something/ Fact - 45 Years of Love/ First Time/ Girls of Summer

Episode: 22
Cops - Prisoner/ Comfortable/ Trapper/ Painting A Chair/ Cops - Shootout/ Chicken Lady/ Simon and Hecubus/ Cops - Dad/ Hazy Movie

I'm writing this review assuming you're a fan of the KITH and don't need to be sold on their utter genius. (For those who have never seen the KITH, you should probably watch a hald dozen episodes before buying; this is not to everybody's taste, although I wouldn't want to be stuck on a desert island with somebody who doesn't like KITH, to be sure.) We're certainly planning on buying all five seasons as they come out, so I believe I can be forgiven for being ever so slightly critical of the DVD "extras", though. The original KITH episodes in all their glory get an unequivocal five stars, but the DVD extras are so-so, so we'll average the total package out to a four.

First off, the praise and glory. The complete skits of the CBC-HBO versions of the KITH's second season are on the first three DVDs. For those of us who had to suffer through the edited/censored KITH on CBS/Comedy Central at the time, this restoration freshens up a lot of sketches considerably by adding in previously nipped/edited out bits and sometimes whole sketches that were minced up either because of "standards", or for running time. The "Groovy Teacher" skit, for instance, has the scene where Dave, as the Groovy Teacher Theo, lead the class in a chant of a vulgarity, which is repeated by Kevin's character Stephen ("I'm Not Gay!") at the end as a punchline. If you saw this on CBS or Comedy Central, the first part would have been omitted altogether and the punchline bleeped, and the sketch wasn't nearly as funny. For the first season DVDs, all in all there were enough "extra" sketches to make the equivalent of a whole extra episode. In season two, it's not quite as many whole sketches, but a lot more tidbits added back in to partial sketches, and a number of extended transitions which are mildly amusing here and there. The Kids, as they note in the commentary, started writing for comedy on TV this season, as opposed to stagey sketches, and overall this is really when the series was hitting its prime.

Now the nitpicking over the DVD packaging. The first three discs have no extras at all -- just the episodes, no commentary (not counting one-page bios of the Kids that are the same as in the first set of DVDs). The fourth disk is the "bonus disk". As a diehard fan, I'm happy to have it, but it's a bit of a disappontment as far as quantity of extras.

We get a very short 15-minute documentary of sorts about the second season, featuring amusing and lightly illuminating interview snippets with all five Kids, Lorne Michaels, and Bellini, but just as its warming up, it's over.

The next two "extras" are just two "greatest hits" episodes from season two -- all of the sketches are on the first three discs, so you really have to ask what the point was. There is an audio commentary option for both of these clip shows, though, featuring (unlike the first season, where there were commentaries for entire episodes, but featuring Dave and Kevin on one and Mark, Bruce, and a late-arriving Scott on the other), all five Kids commenting at the same time. Did I say at the same time? I mean that literally -- half the time they're talking over one another so you can't figure out what's going on. A good portion of the commentary is also private nostalgia or inside jokes among the kids. There is a bit of interesting backstory on some of the sketches -- such as the original Sir Simon and Hecubus combo, changed right before taping, or the origins of the Chicken Lady (and the disgusting way Scott got Dave to have a genuinely disgusted look on his face during taping of the sketch -- that alone, I will admit, made us laugh so hard as to be worth the price of the set). And even though there's too little of that, just listening to the Kids banter among themselves is pretty amusing. I still left feeling a little short-changed at only 45 minutes of commentary for a whole season, though.

Be advised that there's a fair amount of R-rated explicit talk in the commentary (if you peg the unedited episodes at about a strong PG-13 for comparison.) I doubt it will offend any KITH fan but you probably don't want to give this to your 11-year old niece unless you're trying hard to be like The Groovy Teacher.

Speaking of The Groovy Teacher again, an early Rivoli Theater version of this sketch is included in the next extras section, along with a half dozen other video stage snippets. They definitely used all the good Rivoli clips up on the first season DVD; the ones here are mostly out of focus, often inaudible, and members of the troupe are blocked out half the time. It's interesting as pre-history, but not essential or too-funny-to-miss.

The other extras are throwaways -- a short still gallery of KITH performance posters not on the first season DVD gallery, and trailers for some non-KITH DVD sets.

All in all, if you're setting out to own all five seasons, press on and keep buying; just temper your expectations for the extras used to justify the fourth DVD and thus the four-DVD list price. One cannot help but think that if this is the best they can do for season two, it won't be getting any better for 3, 4, and 5.

If you're in any way familiar with the Kids In the Hall, then you'll know that their first season was finally released on DVD late last year to the grateful thanks of a KITH Nation. But hark, there's more: this DVD captures the second season the Kids were on the air, when they started to come together more as a sketch comedy TV show and less as a sketch comedy touring group.

Like my review of the first volume, I'm writing this one without fully seeing all of the season in question. But I've seen enough in the past few days (having bought it on Sunday) to know one thing: if you liked season one, you'll wet yourself on season two. There are just so many great characters introduced this season (Mr. Leadfoot, the Sizzler sisters, Simon and Hecubus) and the continuation of others (Buddy Cole, Bobby). The style of comedy has gotten more subversive, more innovative, and the Kids come into their own as television actors.

Overall, this set documents one of the greatest comedy teams at the summit upon which they achieve true greatness. More assured in their own voices and confident in their acting, the Kids In The Hall show that they are a force to be reckoned with. Comedy hasn't been the same since the Kids started, and this set shows why.

Nominated for 3 Emmys and 18 Gemini Awards, including five straight for Best Comedy Series, The Kids In The Hall is a legendary sketch comedy troupe whose hilarious skits have achieved cult icon status among comedy aficionados. Named after famed comedian Jack Benny's penchant for beginning a joke by saying, "I got this from the kids in the hall" (a line referring to amateur comedians outside his office), The Kids In The Hall formed in Canada in 1984. However, the group parted for a short time when members Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney were hired as writers for the NBC show Saturday Night Live. When the group reunited, SNL producer Lorne Michaels attended a Kids In The Hall performance and loved what he saw. He had an instant vision of the group in its own sketch comedy series, and in 1988, The Kids In The Hall premiered on HBO...

The Kids In The Hall took full bloom in the late-1980s/early-1990s when the success of Saturday Night Live made sketch comedy a hot commodity. In this atmosphere, new series like In Living Color, MADtv, and The Kids In The Hall, were ripe for breakout success. Sporting a small regular cast of five (with extensive experience working together), The Kids In The Hall quickly gained a loyal and devoted audience. Cast members Dave Foley (later of Newsradio), Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson, for the most part, wrote their own material and performed their own sketches, providing the show with edge in creativity in regard to its contemporaries. This synergy between cast members and writers earned three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Variety or Music Program (whew! that's a long award title) and garnered The Kids In The Hall the credit and respect it deserves as one of the premiere sketch comedy shows in television history...

The Kids In The Hall (Season 2) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere in which the cast perform a number of skits such as Spring, Comfortable, Trucker, Hard Day, and The Doctor... Other notable episodes from Season 2 include "#209" with such skits as Cops - Dream, Crushing Hospital, Daddy Drank, and The Leash, and "#218" with such skits as Clandstein Meeting, The Letter, Plungers, and Mr. Pin...

The DVD Report

The Kids in the Hall for those of you who don't know formed in 1982. The kids performed for years before getting a netowrk special in 1987. They finally got a deal with network executives in 1989 and also recieved a big push from, soon to be producer, Lorne Michaels (whom I'm thankful he had no creative input throughout the seasons it was aired). The rest as they say is history.

This second season is intriguing and also hillarious. Alot of people have said this show and this particular season is pretty much hit-and-miss, and all I have to them is you better get your eyes and ears examined because this season is brilliant and has so much more depth than the first.

Another reviewer mentioned how this season box set doesn't have much in the way of special features. There is a whole disc dedicated to bonus material! You will find that this has more bonus features on it than most season 2 box sets of any television show combined.

In terms of comedy, it's bizarre, awkward, and even uncomfortable. It's a challenging watch, but the payoff is well worth the journey. The Kids in the Hall isn't for everyone I realize that, but at the same time, for those of you who look for an alternative to the mundane humor of Saturday Night Live and Mad TV, this show will have you in stitches with it's uncompromising and unusual dialouge and situations.

Another thing that I love about Kids in the Hall is that it's so out of touch with pop culture and is more focused on characterizations, which is something I feel that so many comedy sketch shows lack.

The Kids in the Hall was one of the greatest sketch comedy shows of all time.

Everyone needs to buy every set that comes out, because you're owning some of comedy's greatest performers doing what they do the best...make us laugh!

Season 2 has many classic sketches that rank up there as most fans' all-time favorites. I can easily say it has many of MY personal favorite sketches. It's a great season to own, HOWEVER...

There are 2 or 3 sketches where the sound becomes "scratchy", specifically at the end of the sketch with Cabbage Head at the restaurant, and at the beginning of "You're Fired." It lasts several seconds at times and was so annoying I decided to buy ANOTHER Season 2. Same problem, so I assume it's that way on ALL copies of KitH Season 2.

Again, it only happened for a few seconds during a few sketches, and the whole rest of the season was perfect, so don't be too discouraged.

Some people didn't care for this season, but I don't see why. A lot of the episodes I saw on Comedy Central were from this particular season. Kids in the Hall rules (and you need to own this season if for no other reason than "Comfortable" and "Daddy Drank")!!!

This is where the Kids really begin to take off. Nearly all the memorable characters - Simon and Hecubus, Gavin, etc. - appear for the first time in season 2. In addition, the writing and the performances are much more confidant. The series also begins to take on more of its trademark feel, with absurd, often surrreal premises and performances. The Kids were never afraid to take a sketch to the next level, or even to a completely different dimension. That is their greatest debt to the Pythons, and of all the various sketch troupes out there, perhaps the Kids have come closest to carrying on the grand Python tradition. Certainly SNL, though often good, has never been as truly absurd as the Kids at their best.
If you like comedy, and I know you do, check these guys out, and start here. When you get obsessed, go back and check out Season 1.

I completely understand why some people prefer the first season to the second season, but I have to say that I am a bigger fan of the second season because I am also a fanatic of the third season of Monty Python, as well as a lover of the second season of Upright Citizen's Brigade... that is, I like WEIRD stuff. The more oddly funny, unsettling, strange, and bizarre, the more I like it. I think that the first season of KITH is more witty, and perhaps more intelligently done, but the second season makes me bust up more frequently because of the weirdness. This might be because, as they say, you have decades to write your first "album" and only one year to write your second one...therefore, the second or third time round, oddness ensues in attempt to get out material more quickly. Still, I love this stuff. So, if strange comedy is what you like, dig in to this.

This is KITH at their peak. The second season includes the introduction of the Chicken Lady ("Would you like a beer or would you just want to drink out of the toilet?") and the two best Buddy sketches: the quit-smoking bit ("I just don't want him to be.") and the in-jail skit ("You might as well, you got no choice.") It also introduces Bruce M's little-kid-who-rambles-on character ("How much would my head cost if it was made of veal?") Oh, and more: "The Affair," "It's A Fact," "F-A-G-G-O," "Daddy Drank." ROTFLMAO says it all.

More hilarious dark humor from the Canadian sketch troupe. The show gets a little blue at times, so viewers who are familiar with it only from American TV will be treated to some material they have never seen before. These guys belong up there a bit below Monty Python but on the same level as SCTV and the very best SNL casts.