TORONTO — "The Kids in the Hall" are returning to the small screen.
Amazon Prime Video says it's reviving the groundbreaking Canadian sketch TV show with all of the original cast members for an eight-episode original series.
The Emmy Award-nominated program, which first premiered in 1989, stars Canadian comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson.
Amazon says the cast members will reprise their fan-favourite characters and assume some new ones.
"Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels, who produced the original Toronto-shot series, is executive producing the new one through his company Broadway Video.
"Even after 30 years, The Kids in the Hall has retained its brilliance and originality," Michaels said in a statement.
Canadian production company Project 10 is producing the show, which Amazon Prime Video says is its first Canadian original series.
It will be available in Canada and around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.
The new iteration of "Kids" is billed as "a continuation of the original show."
The Kids in the Hall formed as a stage troupe in 1984 and pushed the boundaries of comedy on CBC and HBO, doing sketches in drag and tackling topics such as religion, modern sexuality and suburban life.
Beloved characters include McKinney's vengeful Head Crusher, who pretends to crush the heads of men in business suits using his index finger and thumb.
Then there's McKinney's Chicken Lady — a randy human-fowl hybrid — and Thompson's impersonation of the Queen.
There have been disagreements between group members over the years, and Foley once famously quit the troupe, resulting in tension between him and the rest of the members while shooting their film "Brain Candy."
But in a 2018 interview with The Canadian Press, several cast members said they were hoping to reunite for another project.
They said they were excited about the idea of creating new material at a time of heightened social awareness and political upheaval.
"I didn't understand how much the world was changing when we were young, and now the world has never changed more, so I think that would be interesting to comment on," said McCulloch.
"To me it's a very similar time to when we were in our heyday — a very turbulent time, lots of social change, lots of political change, political correctness with a stranglehold on popular culture," said Thompson.
"I think what people are waiting for is five white guys in their 50s to tell people what's what. Right, people?" he added jokingly.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.
Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press