Kath & Kim

Not sure why Americans needed to remake an Aussie classic. It's an Aussie series with very Aussie humour. The nuance of the jokes don't translate into American humour. This show tries to replicate what it simply cannot. It should not have been made.

There is something about this show that keeps me watching and hoping for the future of it. In the writing, the jokes are few and far between, and the story lines are a bore, so I figure it must be the physical comedy and the visuals.

I do enjoy the camera movement, set dressing, and wardrobe. It's amusingly highly contrasted against the dullness that reigns. And I'm pretty sure every time I have laughed it was because of John or Molly's physical comedy. The two of them make a sickeningly cute couple that make me laugh and want to puke at the same time.

So here I go ready to sit down to Kath & Kim one more time tonight to see what path this production will go down (or up as the case may be, looking forward positively).

I have not watched the Australian original, but I'm thinking it's a safe bet to say that it was superior to this. As a matter of fact, I don't think it's hyperbole to nominate this for the worst comedy show on TV. The 18 moronic episodes(of the bunch, there is maybe one brief moment that started to redeem the rest, that's it) are all so bland that once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Almost every character is intolerable, one-note(they came up with just a couple of types, then repeated them ad nauseum), shallow and stupid to the point where it causes physical pain for the viewer and those in the immediate vicinity. Many of them mispronounce words and sayings, and care first and foremost about fashion and celebrities. Oh, and they're trashy. Did you get all that? That's all of the material. I'm not kidding, nearly every joke is about that. By far the worst is Blair, who's the most developed, meaning, she has more negative qualities than the others. She's an irresponsible brat who causes problems for others. Isn't that hilarious? The acting is good. So's editing and cinematography. Meanwhile, the content is still terrible and repetitive. The one positive about this series would have to be that you can usually count on the two female leads(Selma in particular) parading around in skimpy outfits, looking hot. Finally, can someone tell me how John Michael Higgins keeps finding work? OK, he was great in Best in Show, I'll grant that. But that's the only time he's gotten even a chuckle out of me. Is it just that this humor is not for me? I recommend this to anyone who finds what I've described appealing. For anyone else, don't say I didn't warn you. 5/10

...but I came away pretty cool on this.

I have not seen any of the Australian sitcom that this show is based off of so I have no real way of comparing. I've checked the message boards and the comments and read enough remarks doing such and it seems in the majority that the original series is held in better esteem than this production.

What I can do is rate THIS show,and I must say that it seems to hold a fair swath of talent but seems to be uninterested in making itself particularly clever or very likable. Instead,it's just Molly Shannon(for whom I was very stoked to see back on television)and Selma Blair(maybe not quite as much)basically trading one-liners between two very vapid and dense characters and laboring VERY hard to be funny(all while modeling sexy,slinky Florida-inspired casual-wear). John Michael Higgins(as KAth,Shannon's character's earnest,sandwich store manager boyfriend)seems to shine the best,as his lines seem authentic and there's something likable,albeit in a nebbishy way. Mikey Day feels one-dimensional as Kim(Blair's character)'s ex-husband,though he can play stupid quite effectively. Maybe TOO much so.

NBC publicized the heck out of this,rolling the dice and as such,it seems to have crapped out at least for now. Maybe some writing re-tooling and character changes might infuse some inspiration here. Not really sure,and from what I've seen so far,not real certain I want to find out.

Me being from Australia and loving the series, I wasn't expecting much from the American version of Kath and Kim but I thought I'd watch the first episode to see if it was really that bad.

Well,whats there to say. Its nothing special.Selma Blair is OK as Kim and actually had a few good lines, Molly Shannon is not a good Kath though. The good thing about Jane Turner's Kath is that when she speaks with all her funny accents (such as when she says Yumor or Noice) it sounds like its just the natural way that she speaks, but when Shannon has a go at the accent, its clear that she is acting and trying to be the same as Turner. And the show really misses Sharon or some one else to give us something to laugh about, because the Kal and Craig characters in this version are really not funny.

So far only the first episode has aired and it is clearly not up to the standards of the Aussie version, although if it was a stand alone television show with a different name, not being compared to the Aussie version it would perhaps be viewed as being a little bit better. But if there is nothing else to do on a Sunday night (or Thursday night in America) then you cant do much harm in watching it, or better put on some of the Aussie version if you've got it.