Hotz and Rice created the series in addition to serving as executive producers, and it was typically shot in their hometown of Toronto (the pilot was filmed in Los Angeles), based mostly out of the house they shared.

The show has spawned several replicas of its format, including a family-friendly French Canadian version called Frank vs Girard that airs on VRAK.TV.

Also following the format are Ed vs. Spencer in the United Kingdom, Juan vs. Roman in Colombia, Elton vs. Simon in Germany, Katja vs. Bridget, Dennis vs. Valerio in the Netherlands, and Sid vs. Varun in India.

[5] Kenneth "Kenny" Joel Hotz and Spencer "Spenny" Nolan Rice are two childhood best friends who compete against each other in a series of competitions.

Hotz embraced devious tactics during the show and often cheated, found loopholes in the rules for a competition, and intimidated Rice with insults, elaborate schemes and manipulation.

A repeating trend as the show progresses is how cheating is tolerated as long as the person is not caught, eventually becoming an unspoken rule, much to the chagrin of Spenny.

On the other hand Kenny holds less value in the “sanctity” of these competitions, repeatedly stating that the reason they compete is to humiliate the other person on TV.

Ultimately it becomes clear that their perspectives on what the nature of the show should be is motivated by creating a playing field that is biased towards their respective strengths.

Kenny’s approach to problem solving is to think outside of the box and to find a clever workaround, thus causing him to prefer rules that are minimal and vague.

Spenny on the other hand prefers rules that are concrete, and tends to employ admirable if reductive strategies that rely on hard work as well as physical/mental endurance.

Hotz regularly joked that Rice was a violent and emotionally disturbed man with a micropenis; that he engaged in rape, pedophilia, necrophilia, zoophilia, and incest; and that he was racist, an anti-Semite and related to Adolf Hitler.

Hotz drafted a letter from Ontario's health ministry that Rice had recently had sexual intercourse with someone who had tested positive for HIV/AIDS.

As an example, Hotz harassed Rice as "Silencio," and wore a white jumpsuit and Lucha libre-style mask in "Who Can Stay Blindfolded The Longest?"

Hotz got Rice's mother drunk and said he "could not legally say what happened," but smelled his finger and made a disgusted face to suggest he touched her genitals.

Hotz regularly met with Hwang Goldfield, a practitioner of alternative medicine in Toronto’s Koreatown neighbourhood, for supplements and advice.

Rice has admitted in interviews following the show’s end he agreed to let Hotz and the crew conspire against him in exchange for deciding each competitions rules.

Soundman Brendan Michie and unit co-ordinator Jamie Tiernay were frequent production crew members who helped Hotz.

Rice also had production assistant Brian Peco and unit co-ordinator Kevin Morgan help with his plans and offer feedback.

Ride of the Valkyries, Ravel's Boléro, Sergei Prokofiev's Montagues and Capulets and Peter and the Wolf, Gioachino Rossini's La gazza ladra, Mozart's Symphony No.

Kenny and Spenny each have their own production assistant, camera operator, and sound engineer, who film their independent exploits for each episode.

Kenny and Spenny both decided to finish the pilot anyway and eventually brought it to CBC Television where the show would first air.

The show has switched broadcasters and been cancelled many times, including by Showcase, and again by CBC, when one of its commercials aired by accident during the network's "toddler block".

The series finale Kenny vs. Spenny Christmas Special aired December 23, 2010, at 9 pm eastern time on Showcase.

After the show first aired on CBC, a game was released based on the first season called Kenny vs. Spenny: Versusville.

However, on November 4, 2021, Versusville was found by Reddit archivists Ben, Carson, John, and Metalock and has since been made available on https://versusville.com/ with permission from Kenny Hotz, Ira Levy and Mark Greenshields.

[21] Kenny vs. Spenny: Versusville contains 4 main game modes, with each having a unique gameplay style and 3 of which having once supported online multiplayer.

[22] Other appearances A flash game was released in early 2004 called Kenny vs Spenny: Quest for the Family Jewels on GSN's website.

Later on March 7, 2014, Hotz began the Facebook[27] and Twitter[28] campaign #BringBackKvS in an effort to encourage Netflix to commission a seventh season of the show.

[29] Netflix had recently resurrected the Trailer Park Boys series from its 2008 finale, and it was Hotz's intention to replicate this success.

Hotz and Rice revisited their onscreen antics in the 2020 CBC Gem special Paldemic, which directly referenced Kenny vs. Spenny and its effect on their friendship and careers in the years since.