TVSquad

Just imagine how much fun Harper's Island could have been if it had been written by and starred The Kids in the Hall. If you live in Canada, you don't have to imagine it, because the Kids are creating just that.

Death Comes to Town is to be an eight-part comedy where the Kids (Scott Thompson, Dave Foley, Mark McKinney, Bruce McCulloch and Kevin McDonald) will each play multiple roles, possibly including some of the characters made famous on The Kids in the Hall sketch comedy show. I'm hoping the murderer kills people by crushing their heads.

As a special Sketch Comedy Saturday treat, I will forgo the lengthy, typed-out, text version of me humming the Kids In The Hall theme song and get right down to business. This is one of those shows that are now considered classic sketch comedy (and Canadian comedy), so I feel silly for even having to profile them, but I am constantly surprised by the number of people whose eyes glaze over when I ask them if they've ever heard of the Kids. So ... Have you heard of the Kids?

The news that The Kids in the Hall are working on a new Canadian TV miniseries should make comedy nerds everywhere happy. I know I'm excited, even though it might be a while until it airs in the U.S. (I'm kicking myself for not moving to Canada like I said I would after the 2004 presidential election.)

Mr. Dave Foley told the Canadian Press that all the original Kids (Foley, Bruce McCullough, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson and Kevin McDonald) are writing an eight-ep miniseries for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the home of their original sketch comedy show. It sounds like their recent reunion tour went pretty well. The five-member troupe will star in the series, which Foley says won't be a sketch comedy, but will involve a number of comic characters.

Do you know what a dilithium crystal is? Ever use the term "cosplay" when discussing your weekend plans? Own more than two non-Star Wars action figures? If you answered "Affirmative!" to any of these questions, then you'll be staying home this Friday night, because you're a nerd. It's cool. That means you'll be able to catch this week's ep of Stargate Atlantis, with guest stars Dave Foley, Bill Nye the Science Guy and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. All nerds, by the way.

Kids in the Hall vet Foley plays a professional rival of Dr. McKay (David Hewlett), who invents an anti-global warming device that, instead of ending global warming, almost kills everybody at a swanky party, including Nye and DeGrasse Tyson. Not intrigued? Gateworld says there might be a scene with Jewel Staite stuck in a giant freezer. I know. It's a good show.

(S01E04) Okay, this was the best episode of In Plain Sight to date. Action-packed and filled with character revelations, if this is where In Plain Sight is going, it's going to definitely make it beyond this premiere season.

The set up has Marshall and Mary taking custody of a seemingly innocuous, diabetic, asthmatic accountant/arranger for a hit man named Lola. He's been caught in an FBI sting and will go WITSEC in exchange for "delivering" Lola.

Expertly played by Dave Foley (News Radio), he's just enough of an unctuous ass to make him amusing. When Mary throws him to the ground and pounces on him, he says, "Could you get off of me, you're not exactly petite."

The role was very much like Charles Grodin, a mob accountant, in the movie Midnight Run, with Robert DeNiro as the bounty hunter forced to take him cross country. (If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and rent it; it's great!)

OK, now most of you have to get your minds out of the gutter. Notice how that headline is phrased. It's not "Dave Foley can't sleep with Maura Tierney," as is I'm making statements about who Dave Foley can and cannot sleep with. It's "Dave Foley Can't Sleep (with Maura Tierney)," because it's the name of a web-only show that Foley has over at Super Deluxe.com called "Dave Foley Can't Sleep." Got that? Good.

In this episode, Dave Foley can't sleep (ha!) and leaves his bed (that's his real wife, by the way) and goes over to his computer to see which of his friends is online late at night. It just so happens that his former NewsRadio co-hort Maura Tierney is online, and they chat via webcam about dogs, drinking, and divorce. Video after the jump!

I think it can be universally agreed that the fifth season of NewsRadio - the final season - was by far the worst season of the series. Not only was Phil Hartman killed during the hiatus, but another cast member (Jon Lovitz) came on board and just didn't fit in to what the rest of the group had built over the previous four seasons.

The season kicks off with the "Bill Moves On" episode, where the gang has just returned from Bill's funeral (he died of a heart attack), and everyone mocks Dave's 2 hour eulogy. Matthew doesn't really believe Bill is dead, everyone thinks Lisa is drunk, and Catherine (Khandi Alexander) returns to the show for one episode. This is one of the better episodes of the last season, because it's important to the show's history and (as is revealed on one of the commentaries), they didn't really rehearse it or do any run throughs. It was hard enough getting through it once on tape night. The tears you see are real. It ends with everyone taking an item off Bill's desk to remember him. Jimmy takes the whole desk. A nice tribute.

(S01E03) Another funny episode, as a new no smoking ordinance in the office causes problems for Bill, who smokes like a chimney. And, because any problem for Bill ultimately becomes a problem for Dave, Dave has to give up drinking coffee, to help Bill with his addiction.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Joe are nervous around each other because they saw each other at the movie theater. Lisa thinks it's because Joe knows about her and Dave, but it's actually something else...

(S01E02) The second episode (after the pilot) of NewsRadio was actually the third episode filmed, and it introduces the Dave/Lisa relationship storyline. Paul Simms mentions in the commentary that NBC wanted Dave and Lisa to not get together so quickly, because they wanted a long dance a la Sam and Diane on Cheers. Actually, I think putting them together right away was a brilliant move, because it's different than what every other show does, it gives a nice base for all the episodes to start from, and it gives a great running subplot for the first half of the season. I also think that Dave telling Beth about the affair is a great move. It gives a secret for them to keep for the first half while also showing that Dave trusts Beth. A nice touch to get some closeness between the characters.

While Dave and Lisa argue about how their relationship shoud progress, Bill annoys Catherine by throwing her a birthday party and Matthew screws up Joey Buttafuoco's name on the air.

I really loved a lot of Kids in the Hall, but a lot of it I didn't (that's going to happen with long-running sketch shows, from Kids in the Hall to SCTV to SNL), so I'm kinda interested in this "best of" DVD that is going to be released by A&E/NewVideo in August. I've been holding off on buying the season sets, so if this is truly a best of DVD, then it might be worth getting. But sometimes these "greatest hits" type of sets can be really disappointing.

But the price is right, around $14. The set will be released on August 29.

(S01E01) I overheard someone the other day say that they had never seen an episode of NewsRadio. And this wasn't someone who didn't watch much television, it was a big TV fan that had somehow missed this show. He asked what it was like and the answer was "as smart as Arrested Development, but with a more basic sitcom format," and I thought that was a good description.

This first episode focuses on Dave Nelson, a young news industry professional from the Midwest, who comes to NYC to be the new news director of WNYX. When he gets there, he finds out that not only are the other employees an "interesting" bunch, but he also has to fire Ed Harlow, the current news director.

I've always found Andy Dick to be a very talented, guy. I know, I know, a lot of people don't seem to like him, but, well, screw them.

I was checking out his offical web site, and besides finding out about the new film he has, Danny Roane: First Time Director (with an impressive cast: Ben Stiller, Maura Tierney, Jack Black, James Van Der Beek, and more), I also came across an entire page of free mp3s of songs he's written. Very entertaining. Check out "A. Dick Theme," about all the jokes that have been made about his last name (note: some songs are rather explicit).

Any excuse I have for mentioning Newsradio on this site I immediately grab. Even if there isn't any news, I'll make some up. And when I'm talking to friends and family about what's going on in our lives, I'll try to throw in a Newsradio reference. Like when my sister asked me if I was coming to Easter dinner, I said "Hey, it's just like that Newsradio episode where Matthew punches Bill in the mouth and becomes the office bully!" Sure, it had nothing to do with Easter dinner, but like I said, any chance to mention to show.

This is just my roundabout way of saying that the fourth season of the show is coming to DVD on June 20! It will include a featurette, cast commentaries, and that special "pop up" episode that aired that season. More details coming soon.

Oh, this is certainly good news for Newsradio fans: the long-awaited second DVD set is going to be released on February 28.

There will be just the third season in this set, but the third season is a good one, with guest stars like Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Ben Stiller, John Ritter and James Caan. This is the season that includes the classic Christmas episode where Jimmy buys everyone new Miatas (except Matthew - who gets tapes and the rights to Fibber McGee and Molly).

The set will also contain several commentaries, like the first set.

Correction: that Xmas episode is on the first DVD set, not this one.

Producers for the upcoming DVD release of the third season of Kids in the Hall are looking for fan tributes. Fans are being asked to go to the Kids official website and submit self-made videos or other materials for display on the site in what is being called an "online scrapbook."

So before you go over and drop in your homemade Chicken Lady video I was wondering what everyone's favorite Kids in the Hall moment was? Some of the ones that stick out for me are the one where Dave Foley gets hooked on "girly" drinks, any of Bruce McCullough's monologue pieces and the one where Cabbage Head dies and sees God shares his unique physical characteristic.