It's hard to gauge precisely at whom the Kids in the Hall Complete Series Megaset is aimed -- the curious, KitH virgins probably won't want to shell out for nearly 800 sketches spread across 20 DVDs while the dyed-in-the-wool cabbage-heads probably already own every season, even the best-of compilation. On the other hand, maybe there's a fervent fan who has yet to purchase a single season or perhaps a KitH die-hard who has purchased all five seasons individually and would like to free up a little shelf space (although each season was packaged in slimcases, I conducted a quick field test and found that this new megaset takes up roughly the same amount of space as three and a half seasons - so there's that). Nevertheless, the quality (and laughs-to-dollars ratio) is high across the board -- this is some crazy Canadian genius we're talking about, a sketch comedy show that has had few (if any) equals in the decade since it went off the air.

Much of the Kids' history has been covered on this site and elsewhere, so I'll avoid recapping the minutiae and journeys of Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson -- for exhaustive background and a wealth of information, I'd suggest you swing by the authoritative fan site KITHfan.org. In a nutshell, having formed in Toronto in 1984, the "Kids" filmed a pilot for "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels in the late Eighties, parlaying that into a five season series, which aired on the CBC in Canada, HBO in America and continues to be re-run intermittently on American cable channel Comedy Central. The humor holds up quite well, mostly because the Kids excel at taking mundane situations, placing them at extremely odd angles and mining considerable humor from them. With that inescapable theme song (Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet's "Having An Average Weekend") paving the way, The Kids in the Hall provide roughly 30 minute doses of inspired hilarity -- there's hardly a weak episode in the bunch here and if you're wondering what all the fuss is about, find a wealthy benefactor to pony up for this set or start with one of the other, individually released season sets. Fans of off-kilter comedy should devour the Kids whole.

While each season is represented here, I'll hold off on summarizing each one, since a few of my DVD Talk colleagues have already done so to excellent effect; what follows are links to each of their reviews, which fleshes out each individual season in more detail - I'll also provide links to the reviews for the supplemental material section, as each review serves as a thorough overview of what's contained on each season set. Again, this megaset ports over every last shred of Kids-related goodness; it's only main selling point is its condensation of all five seasons into one box.

Season One: Check out Adam Tyner or Ian Jane's reviews of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 1.

Season Two: Take a gander Ian Jane's review of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 2.

Season Three: Ponder Ian Jane or Stuart Galbraith IV's reviews of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 3.

Season Four: Swing by Ian Jane's review of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 4.

Season Five: Last, but certainly not least, lay your peepers on Ian Jane's review of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 5.

The Video:

Presented as originally broadcast in 1.33:1 fullscreen, all five seasons of The Kids in the Hall arrive in this megaset looking exactly like they did on the individual season sets, which is to say not fantastic, but not horrible either -- much of the Kids' stage-bound material looks slightly faded, as do some of the earlier filmed segments, but overall, it's a solid, acceptable image for what must've been material that didn't exactly head straight for the vault.

Again, as originally broadcast, The Kids in the Hall arrives on DVD sporting a perfectly serviceable Dolby 2.0 stereo soundtrack that replicates every zany line, every burst of studio laughter and every goofy musical interlude with clarity and cleanliness. No distortion or drop-out mars these tracks; just as the visuals are acceptable, so too is this aural presentation.

Season One: Again, either Adam Tyner or Ian Jane's reviews of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 1 will outline the bonus material for you.

Season Two: Once more, Ian Jane's review of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 2 lays it all out.

Season Three: Either Ian Jane or Stuart Galbraith IV's reviews of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 3 recounts the supplemental story very well.

Season Four: Swing by Ian Jane's review of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 4 for a blow-by-blow.

Season Five: Last, but certainly not least, glance at Ian Jane's review of The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 5 for the low-down.

Thirty Helens agree: this hefty megaset, collecting all five seasons of the whip-smart and dearly missed Kids in the Hall is a beast, but is it one worth shelling out for? If you don't have any Kids on DVD, snap it up - this megaset ports over every last shred of Kids-related goodness; it's only main selling point is its condensation of all five seasons into one box. The brainy, wacky comedy merits a high recommendation, but for those who own one or more seasons already, less of an enthusiastic mark. So I'll split the difference: recommended.