The following contains spoilers for The Kids in the Hall Season 1, now streaming on Prime Video.
With The Kids in the Hall making its return on Prime Video, an era of insightful absurdity has also made a comeback. The first episode of the new season opened in epic fashion by taking an unflinching look at one of KOTH's biggest failures -- specifically, the 1996 film Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, which notoriously failed at the box office and with many fans.
The Kids in the Hall are a Canadian sketch comedy troupe that formed in 1984, building a name for themselves in Toronto. They broke through into the mainstream with their now classic television series, The Kids in the Hall. It was a showcase for their signature style of absurd comedy that challenged assumptions about sexuality, gender and other aspects of modern society. The series ran on CBC from 1989 to 1995 as well as HBO, Comedy Central and CBS.
After the series came to an end, the gang made their feature film debut with 1996's Brain Candy. The core premise of the film was a fictional antidepressant named GLeeMONEX. The story follows its development, introduction and the eventually horrifying side effects that come with its use. Critics and fans were divided on the movie. Even Siskel and Ebert weren't sure what to make of it, with Siskel loving it and Ebert hating it. What wasn't in doubt was how badly the film did at the box office.
Brain Candy was at the core of the first sketch of the new Kids in the Hall series on Prime Video. The first sketch of Season 1, Episode 1 opened with a character, played by Scott Thompson, running a yard sale. A woman asked him about a VHS copy of Brain Candy, and they settled on a price of one dollar. Apparently, that single, solitary Loonie allowed Brain Candy to finally break even 25 years later and end the curse that apparently led to the Kids in the Hall being buried in a mass grave together.
It was a hilarious way to acknowledge the failures of the movie and incorporate them into the narrative of the new series. Two key characters from the movie, Don and Marv, make regular appearances. At first, this was just done to further the plot of mocking Brain Candy. Eventually, they started popping up in other sketches, as well.
At the point that they started working on Brain Candy, the Kids in the Hall were already in the process of breaking up. Many fans erroneously blamed the movie bombing at the box office for them falling apart. Over the next several years, the troupe reunited for live tours and a limited series called Death Comes to Town. But Brain Candy has always plagued their legacy. As such, it made perfect sense for them to lean right into it from moment one.
Most importantly, it was a hilarious sketch. It showed that the Kids in the Hall hadn't lost a step and weren't afraid to take big swings in their new series. And if the first sketch didn't prove that, the second one featuring Kevin McDonald and Dave Foley going full-frontal certainly did. Going after Brain Candy head-on was the right call as they controlled the narrative and put the failure behind them for good.
Season 1 of The Kids in the Hall's Prime Video revival is available to stream now.