The Kids in the Hall (2022)

If you grew up in the 1990s, a latchkey kid glued to the television waiting for that signature surf-guitar riff from The Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, there’s little doubt that the revival will give you those same feelings all over again.

Here are five guys well past their supposed prime just ripping into the form as if they never left.

True to the nature of sketch comedy, each episode has hit and miss moments — but when they work, the humor is silly and savage.

The new sketches manage to surprise amid the wash of familiar allusions.

Well-written, expertly performed, unashamedly odd and full of beans.

Not all of the sketches work—there’s no show where they all work—but the batting average is still so much higher than most programs that the Kids inspired into existence. ... They’re still hilarious, smart, and sometimes brutal. It makes me very happy to say the Kids are still more than alright.

The original series seems dated to me, as does this reunion. The comedic paradigm is mostly the same. The sketches are still uneven. Some are slightly to moderately funny, none are hilarious, and most are mediocre. Ultimately, this is just another mostly pointless reunion.

I have to wonder if a lot of the 10/10 ratings I'm seeing are due more to nostalgia, and the enjoyment of spending time with "old friends", than for actual quality of the episodes. Because for me, while I found several sketches quite funny (Foley as an apocalyptic DJ, for one), most were in the 'mediocre' camp, and a couple were downright awful. I was a big fan of KITH back in the day, but was sadly let down by much of this new outing. For me, the writing was the main culprit -- it just felt lazy to me.