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33-591: The ACME Comedy Theatre is an American sketch comedy and improvisational theater located near Hollywood , Los Angeles, California , on La Brea near Wilshire's "Miracle Mile". ACME was started by M.D. Sweeney as "The Two Roads Theater" in Studio City in 1989 with Cynthia Szigeti . The players known as the Two Roads Players and later the Tujunga Group. Sweeney changed the name to Acme

66-452: A VDI Entertainment Company, in a special "Headcrushing" edition. It had never been released on home video before. Medium Rare Entertainment released a Region 2 "best of" DVD on September 24, 2007. Rights to The Kids in the Hall are owned by Broadway Video . A tour-exclusive DVD, produced in cooperation with Crackle and released as a part of the "Live As We'll Ever Be!" tour (2008), features

99-541: A cast of recurring characters. In North America , contemporary sketch comedy is largely an outgrowth of the improvisational comedy scene that flourished during the 1970s, largely growing out of The Second City in Chicago and Toronto , which was built upon the success in Minneapolis of The Brave New Workshop and Dudley Riggs . Notable contemporary American stage sketch comedy groups include The Second City,

132-470: A few years later, a reference to Warner Brothers cartoons (Sweeney assisted with some Tiny Toons scripts to help his writer girlfriend out) around the same time he moved the theater to North Hollywood. Eventually, he brought it to La Brea Boulevard near Los Angeles's "Miracle Mile", where it quickly rose to prominence in the world of sketch comedy. Sweeney was inspired by the Groundlings , and throughout

165-619: A larger programme. In Britain , it moved to stage performances by Cambridge Footlights , such as Beyond the Fringe and A Clump of Plinths (which evolved into Cambridge Circus ), to radio, with such shows as It's That Man Again and I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again , then to television, with such shows as Not Only... But Also , Monty Python's Flying Circus , Not the Nine O'Clock News (and its successor Alas Smith and Jones ), and A Bit of Fry and Laurie . An early, perhaps

198-479: A member of ACME's main sketch company. Oates embarked on a renovation of the theater that made ACME the most technically advanced 99-seat theater in Los Angeles. In the first quarter of 2007 ACME underwent a second major renovation, which saw the installation of broadcast equipment and effectively turned ACME into a television soundstage. ACME is now the only sketch comedy theater to broadcast all its shows live on

231-417: A number of spinoff films, including The Blues Brothers (1980), Wayne's World (1992) and Superstar (1999). The idea of running characters was taken a step further with shows like The Red Green Show and The League of Gentlemen , where sketches centered on the various inhabitants of the fictional towns of Possum Lake and Royston Vasey , respectively. In Little Britain , sketches focused on

264-600: A reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times , said "The Kids in the Hall" is one of the most influential and underrated comedy programs of all time" The Chicago-based sketch comedy trio Hey You Millionaires (2004-2011) was named after the first sketch aired on the show, in which a man (McCulloch) looks out the window to see three millionaires (Foley, McDonald and Thompson) rummaging through his garbage cans out his window (a spoof on Toronto's raccoon problem), and shouts "Hey, you millionaires! Get out of that garbage!", causing

297-439: A shrill-voiced sexually excitable human-chicken hybrid. Another prominent recurring character was Cabbage Head, played by McCulloch, who was a gruff-voiced cigar-smoking misogynist who frequently used the fact that he had cabbage in place of hair as a means to generate pity in the hopes of getting women into bed. Many of the sketches featured gay characters and themes; most of these sketches were written by and starred Thompson, who

330-484: Is gay himself. The Kids frequently appeared as themselves rather than as characters, and some sketches dealt directly with the fact that they were a comedy troupe producing a TV show . For example, Kevin McDonald announces that if the next sketch (which he has written) is not successful, the others are considering kicking him out of the group. In another episode, Thompson declares that he is not gay anymore, which throws

363-602: The Upright Citizens Brigade , and The Groundlings . In South Bend, Indiana , area high school students produced a sketch comedy series called Beyond Our Control that aired on the local NBC affiliate WNDU-TV from 1967 to 1986. Warner Bros. Animation made two sketch comedy shows, Mad and Right Now Kapow . Australian television of the '80s and '90s featured several successful sketch comedy shows, notably The Comedy Company , whose recurring characters included Col'n Carpenter , Kylie Mole and Con

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396-439: The 1990s, a rivalry developed between ACME and the famous Groundlings, with both theaters vying for the best sketch comedians in Los Angeles. (Sweeney's girlfriend—the mother of his children, Sherri Stoner —is a former Groundling. The name "Acme" was selected after Stoner's career in animation writing at Warner Brothers had started to take off.) In 2004, Sweeney decided to retire from directing and sold ACME to Travis Oates , then

429-516: The 50-minute retrospective and Q&A held on January 26, 2008. On February 13, 2018, Mill Creek Entertainment released The Kids in the Hall- The Complete Collection . The 12-disc set features all 102 episodes of the series, the reunion miniseries Death Comes to Town as well as bonus features. The final episode of the original run featured resolutions for several recurring characters, including Armada, Buddy Cole, and

462-491: The Fruiterer . An early British example is the influential The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959). Sketch films made during the 1970s and 1980s include If You Don't Stop It... You'll Go Blind and the sequel Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses? , The Groove Tube , Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) , The Kentucky Fried Movie and its sequel Amazon Women on

495-606: The Moon , and Monty Python 's And Now for Something Completely Different and The Meaning of Life . More recent sketch films include The Underground Comedy Movie , InAPPropriate Comedy , Movie 43 and Livrés chez vous sans contact . Many of the sketch comedy revues in Britain included seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival . Since 1999, the growing sketch comedy scene has precipitated

528-635: The audience ... We were never, like, going, 'Oh, look at me! I'm a guy in a dress!' Never. We would always try to be real, and that, I think, freaked people out..." The CBC aired the show through its entire run. Seasons 1–3 aired on HBO. In the fall of 1992, CBS picked up the show and aired it on late-night Fridays showing repeats, while HBO aired new episodes of season three. In 1993, CBS aired new episodes starting with season four. The final season aired on Fridays after Late Show with David Letterman . The series finale aired in November 1994. In January 1995, it

561-568: The characters throughout the series, both male and female, and wrote most of the sketches. The series debuted as a one-hour pilot special which aired on HBO and CBC Television in 1988 and began airing as a regular weekly series on both services in 1989. The regular series premiered July 21, 1989, on HBO, and September 14 on CBC. In the United States, the first three seasons were on HBO before it moved to CBS in 1993, where it stayed for two more seasons airing late Friday nights. CBC aired

594-560: The child end up consoling him, even going so far as quoting famous philosophers on the ultimate emptiness of life. The show originated in Canada, and the content was at times edited slightly for U.S. broadcast tastes. Sketches mocking religion were sometimes cut down or removed, necessitating the addition of material from other episodes to round out the half-hour. Some US channels censored the occasional nudity as well, such as when Foley revealed to Thompson he had inexplicably grown breasts. Among

627-485: The development of sketch comedy festivals in cities all around North America. Noted festivals include: Mr. Tyzik The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired for five seasons from 1988 to 1995, and a sixth revival season in 2022, starring the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall . The troupe, consisting of comedians Dave Foley , Kevin McDonald , Mark McKinney , Bruce McCulloch , and Scott Thompson , appeared as almost all

660-548: The first, televised example of a sketch comedy show is Texaco Star Theater aka The Milton Berle Show 1948–1967, hosted by Milton Berle . In Mexico, the series Los Supergenios de la Mesa Cuadrada , created by Mexican comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños under the stage name Chespirito , was broadcast between 1968 and 1973, creating such famous characters as El Chavo del Ocho and El Chapulín Colorado . While separate sketches historically have tended to be unrelated, more recent groups have introduced overarching themes that connect

693-572: The group followed the series with a feature film, Brain Candy , and in 2010 they reunited to produce an eight episode narrative miniseries, Death Comes to Town . A&E Home Video released the entire series as a Region 1 20-disc DVD box set titled The Kids in the Hall: Complete Series Megaset 1989–1994 , on October 31, 2006. The HBO special pilot was released on DVD on August 14, 2007, through Medialink Entertainment,

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726-470: The internet. After a period of inactivity, ACME began hosting a sketch night on Sunday evenings. Beginning in March 2018, ACME hosted the house sketch teams from the recently closed iO West Theatre, as well as the long running current events show Top Story Weekly. Sketch comedy Sketch comedy has its origins in vaudeville and music hall , where many brief humorous acts were strung together to form

759-498: The more controversial sketches was the final sketch of Season 1, "Dr. Seuss Bible", in which the troupe tells the story of Jesus Christ's crucifixion in the style of children's author Dr. Seuss . Though the show occasionally featured guest actors (notably Neve Campbell and Nicole de Boer well before they became famous), the Kids played nearly all parts, both male and female, themselves. The only known special guests to have appeared on

792-536: The other Kids into a panic, as they fear that the news will alienate the troupe's considerable gay fanbase. In yet another sketch (in which an employee, Foley, asks his boss, McDonald, for a raise) McDonald complains the setup is cliché and his character one-dimensional. Monologues were a staple of the show. Thompson's Buddy Cole monologues are the best known, but the other Kids performed solo pieces as well. McCulloch in particular performed monologues that consisted of him, acting as himself, telling hyperbolic stories of

825-572: The secretaries of AT & Love. As the closing credits play, the cast is shown being buried alive, below a headstone reading The Kids in the Hall TV Show 1989–1995 (though the pilot aired in 1988). At the episode's conclusion, guest character Paul Bellini , one of the show's writers, dances on their grave and speaks for the first time: "Thank God that's finally over!" The series won the 1993 Rose d'Or , awarded in Montreux , Switzerland. It

858-503: The show for the whole duration of its run. A sixth, revival season of the show, which includes eight episodes, was released on Amazon Prime Video on May 13, 2022. It features the entire troupe as well as numerous guest stars, and was Amazon's first Canadian original series. The theme song for the show is the instrumental "Having an Average Weekend" by the Canadian band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet . Despite their SNL connection,

891-639: The show were comedian Rip Taylor and musician Chris Robinson in cameo roles. In contrast to Monty Python, where the members often donned drag to portray older women but usually utilized women such as Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth to play young and attractive female characters, all the Kids regularly played both old and young women; the frequent cross-dressing became one of the show's trademarks. Female impersonation had begun during their stage show, because they found themselves writing female characters but had no female member to play them. As Thompson explained, "The way we played women ... we weren't winking at

924-460: The show's sketches were more reminiscent of Monty Python's Flying Circus : often quirky or surreal , frequently utilizing drag, with very few celebrity impressions or pop culture parodies ; the only recurring celebrity impression was of Queen Elizabeth II , played by Scott Thompson. A recurring character was Mr. Tyzik, played by McKinney, who pretended to crush people's heads from a distance with his fingers. McKinney also played Chicken Lady,

957-710: The sketches within a particular show with recurring characters that return for more than one appearance. Examples of recurring characters include Mr. Gumby from Monty Python's Flying Circus ; Ted and Ralph from The Fast Show ; The Family from The Carol Burnett Show ; the Head Crusher from The Kids in the Hall ; Martin Short 's Ed Grimley , a recurring character from both SCTV and Saturday Night Live ; The Nerd from Robot Chicken ; and Kevin and Perry from Harry Enfield and Chums . Recurring characters from Saturday Night Live have notably been featured in

990-459: The struggles and day-to-day experiences in his life and/or the lives of others. Prominent examples from the other Kids include Foley describing his positive attitude toward menstruation, McKinney in character as a high-pitched recluse who is describing with intense fascination his hideously infected and bruised toe, and in a gag reminiscent of Bob Newhart , a distraught McDonald calling a best friend's young son to tell him his father died, only to have

1023-594: The three to run away. In a 2000 interview, Thompson stated that the series, and the troupe, had influenced many comedians, but lamented that this had not translated into material success for the troupe, saying "We thought we were going to be Nirvana , but really, we were Sonic Youth ." A documentary film chronicling the history of the troupe, The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks , was released in 2022. On March 5, 2020, Amazon Prime Video announced that it had greenlit an eight-episode season of The Kids in

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1056-700: Was nominated for the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Series every year from 1991 to 1995, winning twice in 1992 and 1993. The series was nominated in 1993, 1994 and 1995 for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series . A number of comedy writers and performers have listed The Kids in the Hall among their influences, including Dan Guterman and the creators of the TV series South Park and Portlandia . Martin Musgrave,

1089-448: Was replaced with The Late Late Show . In addition to the troupe's core members, other writers for the series included Diane Flacks , Norm Hiscock , Andy Jones , Garry Campbell, Paul Bellini and Brian Hartt . Between 1988 and 1995 there were 102 episodes of The Kids in the Hall produced, plus 9 compilation episodes. Some episodes had two versions, an American version and a Canadian version, often with alternate sketches. In 1996,

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