# Anyone catch Kath and Kim? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523 "2008-10-11T22:10:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/21 "2008-10-12T14:07:14Z")
I can’t believe that an SNL alumnus has no talent other than sketch comedy. Oh wait, yes I can…:rolleyes: With all props to Tina. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/22 "2008-10-12T14:19:20Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I can’t believe that an SNL alumnus has no talent other than sketch comedy. Oh wait, yes I can…:rolleyes: > > With all props to Tina. Yeah. For me Molly Shannon being in it already gave it one strike against. But I was hoping for better anyway. And I really like Selma Blair. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/23 "2008-10-12T14:46:48Z")
I thought about watching because Selma Blair is hot and a couple of the trailers looked funny, but isn’t the mom that lady who used to sniff her armpits? I don’t think I could support anything she does in good conscious. She was the beginning of the end for SNL. Not just the armpit sniffing character, either; everything she did was as funny as getting kicked in the balls and twice as painful. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/24 "2008-10-12T14:58:05Z")
I once saw the original Kath & Kim and it may have been the least funny thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was awful - just absolutely awful. Nothing remotely humorous about it. I’ve laughed more at sitcoms in languages that I don’t understand than I did at this (and they’re culturally further away.) There’s no way an imported version could have had a shot. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/25 "2008-10-12T18:16:12Z")
Molly Shannon and Selma Blair are two that I really like and wish they got more work, so I was hoping this would be good, but I’m not surprised to find out it isn’t (I didn’t see it, so I came to this Thread looking for the Doper reviews). All around Los Angeles, they’ve had billboards advertising the show for several weeks. The billboards all have “funny quotes” attributed to the characters. None of the “funny quotes” are the least bit funny. So, yeah, not surprised to find that a show that couldn’t even supply anything funny for the ad campaign would end up to be its self not funny. Actually, now looking at both their imdb pages, seems they both work a whole lot. Just not much of anything that puts their talents to good use. Also, I have always found Selma Blair attractive but always put her in the “quirky attractive” category. Before reading this Thread, I never would have assumed that a show or movie could depend on a certain percentage of the audience coming in simply because “Selma Blair is teh hawt!” ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/26 "2008-10-12T18:45:13Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Selma: Although I still lust after you, you need to be aware that you can no longer pull off the short tops. I haven’t seen it, but I read that Selma was told to put on twenty pounds for the role. The result is that she now looks slightly less emaciated than your average famine victim. So in some people’s minds, I guess “healthy” =/= “hot.” ---
**Author:** ![Fiona\_Greenlee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@Fiona\_Greenlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiona_Greenlee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/27 "2008-10-12T20:02:11Z")
Ten minutes into it, I was wanting to slap anyone and everyone even _remotely_ involved with the show and demand my ten minutes back. I tried to imagine the MST3K version but even Joel/Mike/the Bots couldn’t make this shit sandwich palatable. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/28 "2008-10-12T22:49:22Z")
I’m not a massive fan of the original but it does have its moments. I watched the first 10-15 minutes of the remake last night. Terrible. The problem is the very basis of Kath & Kim is very firmly rooted in Australian culture, and the pisstake thereof. It just doesn’t convert well into an American frame of reference. I must say I am pretty disappointed that Jane Turner & Gina Riley both pubically stated that they were very happy with the final product of the remake. [_cough_] sellout [_cough_] Amazing what a huge wad of cash will make you say I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/29 "2008-10-12T23:08:50Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > I once saw the original Kath & Kim and it may have been the least funny thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was awful - just absolutely awful. Nothing remotely humorous about it. I’ve laughed more at sitcoms in languages that I don’t understand than I did at this (and they’re culturally further away.) > > There’s no way an imported version could have had a shot. I read (a few years ago) that American test audiences just didn’t get it. The humour was lost on them because they felt like the characters were being mocked and that made them uncomfortable (or something). I could never imagine K&K appealing to a wide American audience, and when I heard it was going to be remade I anticipated disaster. AUK&K isn’t too bad. It’s good for a few laughs here and there. I wouldn’t consider it for the top ten funniest sitcoms I’ve ever seen but it’s a heck of a lot funnier than that other crappy show we’re exporting to the world, [Summer Heights High](http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=-dfepQcS17E), which is just pathetic, but adored by all and sundry 😕 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/30 "2008-10-12T23:51:37Z")
I was hoping they’d translate it to Trailer Trash culture, something like _My Name Is Earl_, and approach it from that angle. People who are on one social strata, integrating themselves into another social strata and, through forceful charisma and charm, managing to fit in. I’m not certain what the AU _Kath and Kim_ is really about, as I don’t watch it, but I think that my expectations were potentially a good direction to take the US version. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/31 "2008-10-13T02:40:10Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Does the Australian one air in the US anywhere? Has it? Maybe cable? The IFC network on cable used to air it, but they appear to not be showing it at this time. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/32 "2008-10-13T02:56:19Z")
> [@Rachael\_Rage](#): > > I haven’t seen it, but I read that Selma was told to put on twenty pounds for the role. The result is that she now looks slightly less emaciated than your average famine victim. So in some people’s minds, I guess “healthy” =/= “hot.” She is naturally skinny. Adding 20 pounds to a naturally skinny person is not “healthy” any more than starving a naturally fat person is. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/33 "2008-10-13T04:20:20Z")
Wow, I thought it was just me. I was biased going in, because I honestly can’t think of anything I’ve ever seen Molly Shannon do that was funny, but I just thought it was unspeakably awful. I can’t imagine what they might do to make it better, either. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/34 "2008-10-13T04:57:49Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > I read (a few years ago) that American test audiences just didn’t get it. The humour was lost on them because they felt like the characters were being mocked and that made them uncomfortable (or something). I could never imagine K&K appealing to a wide American audience, and when I heard it was going to be remade I anticipated disaster. > > AUK&K isn’t too bad. It’s good for a few laughs here and there. I wouldn’t consider it for the top ten funniest sitcoms I’ve ever seen but it’s a heck of a lot funnier than that other crappy show we’re exporting to the world, [Summer Heights High](http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=-dfepQcS17E), which is just pathetic, but adored by all and sundry 😕 This American found **Summer Heights High** to be incredibly funny. Sometimes very low-brow and sometimes missing the mark, sure, but there were just so many unexpected and absurd twists and so many off-hand hilarious (and often offensive) comments that it definitely ranks in my top 10 sitcoms. I’m sad there was only one season of it, but I could see how the quality may not have lasted throughout a second one. ---
**Author:** ![Omgalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/41988e/32.png) [@Omgalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omgalion)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/35 "2008-10-13T07:01:19Z")
I watched five minutes of it last night on Aussie TV. Selma Blair is way too attractive to play Kim - the point is that she’s not attractive at all but thinks she is. I don’t how they managed to lose or alter almost everything that made the original Kath & Kim funny. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/36 "2008-10-13T07:04:51Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > \*This time, it’s NBC’s Americanized version of “Kath & Kim,” a fantastically funny Australian comedy that goes into the record books on these shores as a contender for worst remake ever. At the risk of being evicted from the country for failing to be properly Australian, I’ve always thought Kath and Kim was a bloody\* awful \*show. I can’t begin to imagine how horrible a remake would be. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/37 "2008-10-13T08:19:36Z")
> [@ellere](#): > > I watched five minutes of it last night on Aussie TV. Selma Blair is way too attractive to play Kim - the point is that she’s not attractive at all but thinks she is. Bingo. I haven’t seen it but it’s clear from the comments in this thread that the leads are very attractive. If the makers of the show put very attractive women in the lead roles, they just didn’t understand the basic premise. ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/38 "2008-10-13T09:21:23Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > At the risk of being evicted from the country for failing to be properly Australian, I’ve always thought Kath and Kim was a bloody\* awful \*show. I can’t begin to imagine how horrible a remake would be. I will stand with you to the last on both your hatred of Kath & Kim\* and your recommendation of The Hollowmen. If they evict you I will come with you. We can live on a small island and make our own TV. Or something. \*But then, I’ve had chronic cultural cringe since I was but a wee lass. 90% of everything this country does in front of a camera makes me want to crawl into a hole and die, quietly. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/39 "2008-10-13T11:19:35Z")
The original is hit and miss, but I’ll hand it to them every time for those blink-and-you-miss-them-altered-reality moments. Kath: Well, India seceded from the British Empire in 1947\* \*paraphrased because I can’t find the exact quote ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523/40 "2008-10-13T14:15:01Z")
Is the guy who plays Kim’s husband the guy from the Youtube David Blaine series? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-catch-kath-and-kim/467523.md?page=3)