Editing The Kids in the Hall (section)

== Early history ==
[[Bruce McCulloch]] and [[Mark McKinney]] were working together doing [[Theatresports]] in [[Calgary]], performing in a group named "The Audience". [[Norm Hiscock]], Garry Campbell and Frank Van Keeken were co-members, and they later became writers on the show. At the same time, [[Dave Foley]] and [[Kevin McDonald]] were performing around [[Toronto]] (along with Luciano Casimiri) as The Kids in the Hall (KitH). In 1984, the two pairs met in Toronto and began performing regularly as KitH, with a rotating band of members, including [[Paul Bellini]] for a short time. When McKinney met [[Scott Thompson (actor)|Scott Thompson]], he invited him to join in January 1985 and the group had found its final form. The same year, McCulloch and Foley appeared in ''[[Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel]]'', as [[Anne of Green Gables#Characters|Diana Barry]]'s husband (McCulloch) and a former classmate of Anne's from the fictional Queen's College (Foley).

Not long afterwards, the Kids broke up for a short time when scouts for ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' invited McKinney and McCulloch to New York to become writers for that show, and Foley made a poorly received film debut with ''High Stakes'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091202/ |title=High Stakes |website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> while Thompson and McDonald worked with the [[The Second City|Second City]] touring group. They were reunited in 1986. After ''SNL''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Lorne Michaels]] saw them perform as a troupe, plans began for a TV show. In 1987, Michaels sent them to New York to what was essentially a "Comedy Boot Camp". In 1988, their pilot special aired on [[CBC Television]], and in the United States on [[HBO]], before debuting as a series in 1989.