The troupe, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Bruce McCulloch, and Scott Thompson, appeared as almost all the characters throughout the series, both male and female, and wrote most of the sketches.

The Kids frequently appeared as themselves rather than as characters, and some sketches dealt directly with the fact that they were a comedy troupe producing a TV show.

McCulloch in particular performed monologues that consisted of him, acting as himself, telling hyperbolic stories of the struggles and day-to-day experiences in his life and/or the lives of others.

Prominent examples from the other Kids include Foley describing his positive attitude toward menstruation, McKinney in character as a high-pitched recluse who is describing with intense fascination his hideously infected and bruised toe, and in a gag reminiscent of Bob Newhart, a distraught McDonald calling a best friend's young son to tell him his father died, only to have the child end up consoling him, even going so far as quoting famous philosophers on the ultimate emptiness of life.

Though the show occasionally featured guest actors (notably Neve Campbell and Nicole de Boer well before they became famous), the Kids played nearly all parts, both male and female, themselves.

The only known special guests to have appeared on the show were comedian Rip Taylor and musician Chris Robinson in cameo roles.

In addition to the troupe's core members, other writers for the series included Diane Flacks, Norm Hiscock, Andy Jones, Garry Campbell, Paul Bellini and Brian Hartt.

In 1996, the group followed the series with a feature film, Brain Candy, and in 2010 they reunited to produce an eight episode narrative miniseries, Death Comes to Town.

The final episode of the original run featured resolutions for several recurring characters, including Armada, Buddy Cole, and the secretaries of AT & Love.

As the closing credits play, the cast is shown being buried alive, below a headstone reading The Kids in the Hall TV Show 1989–1995 (though the pilot aired in 1988).

At the episode's conclusion, guest character Paul Bellini, one of the show's writers, dances on their grave and speaks for the first time: "Thank God that's finally over!

A number of comedy writers and performers have listed The Kids in the Hall among their influences, including Dan Guterman[22] and the creators of the TV series South Park[23] and Portlandia.

[26] On March 5, 2020, Amazon Prime Video announced that it had greenlit an eight-episode season of The Kids in the Hall, with all five members returning along with Lorne Michaels as executive producer.

In addition to the core members of the troupe, the revival includes guest appearances by Paul Bellini, Pete Davidson, Catherine O'Hara, Kenan Thompson, Brandon Ash-Mohammed, Will Forte, Catherine Reitman, Samantha Bee, Fred Armisen, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jay Baruchel, Eddie Izzard, Tracee Ellis Ross, Mark Hamill, Colin Mochrie, Kenneth Welsh and comedy group TallBoyz II Men.