Was going to do an extensive “sketch comedy show” poll but frankly I really don’t give a shit about 99% of them, i.e. SNL and its myriad shitty clones. For me it comes down to Mr. Show and Kids In the Hall.
If you have an opinion on this subject share it, but note there are only 2 options: Mr. Show and Kids In the Hall so please don’t come here to spew thread diarrhea about the greatness of SNL, Monty Python or whatever. Great as those shows may or may not be, this ain’t about them. Thank you!
Both shows existed decidedly well outside of the traditional sketch comedy formula. There was little to no celebrity parody in either show, and each episode ventured far into the realm of absurdity no matter where they began. KITH ran from 1988 - 1994, Mr. Show ran from 1995 - 1998, but it feels like they existed many years apart. It could be said that Mr. Show filled the void that KITH’s demise left, though despite their similarities was a very, very different show.
Nostalgia has to win this for Kids In the Hall for me. Much as I love Mr. Show, KITH is something I watched growing up and very much helped to shape my sense of humor.
Mr. Show was occasionally brilliant, more often very good, and rarely bad; *Kids in the Hall *was mostly brilliant, occasionally very good, and very rarely bad.
I have seen every episode of both shows, and love them both.
I would have to go with KITH, though - Kids in the Hall references are still a significant part of my every day vernacular. (eg; I’m never “wool-gathering,” I’m listening to the band. The little oompah band.)
I enjoyed Mr. Show but it never made a mark on me, like Kids in the Hall did.
KITH was consistently greater for a much longer period of time. Mr. Show lasted three seasons i think, and while they were great they don’t compare to Kids in the Hall.
I was a huge KITH fan when I first discovered them (I think just after the show’s run). I paid some lady from Usenet to send me all of her KITH episodes on tape. It was an amazing winter break.
Anyway, I tried really hard to get into Mr. Show. I think theirs was amongst the first DVDs I got from Netflix. I watched as much as I could stomach and had to stop.
IIRC, my official assessment was “they take themselves too seriously.” That was the just-out-of-college me, but it may be a good assessment anyway.
Ditto this. It just didn’t work for me, even though I like David Cross quite a bit. I’m not so sure about Bob Odenkirk. Nothing against the guy, just that I don’t find him terribly funny (I found his Arrested Development appearance one of the notably jarring and unpleasant cameos in its run, though of course Martin Short wins by a landslide in that category.)
Anyhow, couldn’t get into it a few years back when I finally got the chance to see it. Kids in the Hall I liked, though it’s not aged all that well either and I have some nice nostalgia for it when it originally aired.
I have to go with Mr. Show. KITH was almost always pretty funny, but rarely fall on the floor funny. Mr. Show was more hit and miss, but the hits were absolutely killer. I’m talking about things like the Hail Satan Network and the heavy metal suicide kid.
That said, KITH with the Chicken Lady, “I’m Crushing Your Head”, Buddy, and Thirty Helens (not to mention the great music by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet) were consistently great. They weren’t as biting, but they were fun.
Yes Mr. Show was definitely much more dark and abrasive, even mean-spirited sometimes, as opposed to KITH’s much more comparatively innocent and mild approach which I think is a major part of its appeal. You’d never hear a line like, “Hey, I don’t come down to where you work and slap the dick out of your mouth!” on KITH.
For me, it was no contest (and I’m surprised how few people agree with me—maybe it’s just that different people have different senses of humor). KITH is consistently at least mildly amusing, but it rarely makes me actually laugh. Mr. Show is often enough laugh-out-loud funny and stands up to repeated viewings. (FWIW I didn’t see either of these when they originally aired, only on DVD, so there’s no nostalgia factor in my vote.)
(And yeah, SenorBeef, UCB compares favorably to both of these.)
Aren’t there more episodes in the first season of KITH than in Mr. Show’s whole run?
For me the funniest Mr Show sketches are funnier than anything KITH did, and KITH has a lot more “meh” content. I can live without another Quebecois hooker sketch or “I’m the gay one” monologue.
Really the shows are about as different as two sketch comedy shows can be. I do like both but IMHO Mr Show is funnier.