Kids in the Hall - Complete Season 3 (1991-1992)
With greater success comes greater confidence. Fortunately, the Kids had the talent to back it up. For their third season, the Canadian quintet upped the ante with more location work (the show is less set-bound than before), more extras (especially senior citizens and canines), and more special effects (Bruce McCulloch's Flying Pig, Kevin McDonald and his twin, Scott Thompson and his robotic double). The basic format, live sketches combined with short films, remained the same. As with their second year, the Toronto troupe brought back a number of fan favorites, while introducing a bevy of new eccentrics.Like a cartoon version ofFreaks, the Chicken Lady (Mark McKinney) returns with new bosom buddy the Bearded Lady (McDonald). Better yet, she discovers scantily clad stripper Rooster Boy (Thompson). Can she handle the excitement? (Short answer: No.) Other returning characters include gabby geek Gavin (McCulloch), bitchy bar man Buddy Cole (Thompson), Jacques Tati-like Mr. Heavyfoot (Dave Foley), clueless Police Department Cops (McCulloch and McKinney), and Sir Simon Milligan (McDonald) and Satanic manservant Hecubus (Foley). Even the "It's a Fact" girl makes a reappearance, although McKinney takes her place when she demands more money ("Triple scale!").Third year highlights include McDonald's uber-blasé Empty Promises Guy ("It slipped my mind…") and McCulloch's catchy "Terrier Song," in which he extols the virtues of the popular breed ("Give terriers a chance / Do the terrier dance"). Unlike most sketch comedies,The Kids in the Hallwas never about guest stars. Nonetheless, sharp-eyed viewers are sure to recognize a pre-Party of FiveNeve Campbell in "Pizzeria," in which McDonald and McKinney become gibbering idiots in her private schoolgirl presence.--Kathleen C. Fennessy