How did "Kath & Kim" do for you?

Hmmm. There are subtleties to all translation, I suppose. In truth, "bogan" doesn't mean "unkempt". It's a noun and refers to, well, the closest I can think of for US readers is "white trash" (in the UK: chavs), but it isn't really a great analogy. In their usual way, Australians are inexplicably fond of their bogans. There's now a comedy series on SBS, our equivalent of PBS, called, simply, "Bogans". If you can find it on line, that's what a bogan is. (But it's also pretty rude to call someone a bogan. I was once slammed by another Australian reader for calling Rosie whatshername from The View a bogan.)

And, actually "Kath & Kim" is an extended sketch. Just as Ab Fab grew out of French & Saunders, K&K grew out of a 1990s sketch comedy show called "Big Girl's Blouse" which starred an all-woman cast (some of Australia's best comedians at the time, including Magda Sbanski who I believe is an out lesbian - her character as Kim's second-best friend has been dropped from the US version). If you can find Big Girl's Blouse on the web, it's well worth watching. There's a lot of really clever stuff in it. And they took the name from another great Australianism, "Ahh, ya big girl's blouse!" which means you're a soft as, well, as a big girl's blouse (ie effeminate).

In my opinion, the first series of the Australian version of Kath & Kim was the only one worth watching. It ran out of steam pretty quickly, probably because of its sketch origins, but that first series was great. It's so iconic here that there have actually been newspaper articles fretting over whether you Yanks will "get it". I really don't know how it translates beyond our shores though, since so much of the original humour turned on very local references and a certain version of th Australian accent. As in:

Kim: I want to be effluent mother!

Kath: You are effluent, Kimmy. You are!

See, you kind of had to be there here.

Not Only But Also

I tried to watch Kath & Kim last night and I was incredibly disappointed because I love Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, but this was just boring. I tuned out half way through. I usually like off beat comedy but this had nothing to offer but the same running joke: "Oh I love that purse where did you get it?" blah blah. Please don't ever compare this show to 30 rock...in fact don't even mention it in the same breath. Not the same. Much worse.

Never met a pearl quite like you that could shimmer and rot at the same time through

Nothing will ever come close to the Australian TV show, when i heard they were doing a US version i just roll my eyes.... any version other than the Aussie version will be crap. 

 Bogans are choice.. and can only be found in New Zealand and Australia.

Speaking as an Australian, I just don't get how Kath & Kim is expected to translate for American audiences. It's not just that we have different senses of humour - probably evidenced by the pacing of the show and the American critics who hate it - but the original show is such a parody of Australian culture...

Americans should just wait until they get Summer Heights High. XD Forget wool, Chris Lilley will be our greatest export.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OysOG_RTrtE

I think it was the fasting I've ever lost total interest in a show. 5 seconds in and I turn the channel. 

-Nathiest
the devil is in the details

I watched Kath and Kim the Aussie version online a while back since I am in Massachusetts and I absolutely LOVE it.   The episode that aired last night is almost the same exact episode as the aussie version, verbatum.  And I thought "Uuggh thats the same thing they did with Coupling!"  And the US version of Coupling sucked.

I did like it because I love both Molly and Selma and I loved Selma's outfits, but I wished they didnt copy the exact same episode word for word.  I wasnt crazy about it, but it was entertaining.

They should've just aired the Australian show in the US and left it at that. I guess that Americans won't get the Aussie humour used in the original but it's better than the US version giving the original a bad name.

When was the last time have we been lucky enough to see her in action on prime-time?

I have never seen the aussie version, so I have nothing to compare it to. It was an average episode. I loved Molly when she was talking to herself in the mirror, and wearing that purple spandex/bathing suit on top, It garnered a few giggles.

I'm willing to give it a chance, it was just a pilot episode. And Need I say it again? Molly Shannon, .. MOLLY SHANNON is on TV!

Hmm...I just...can't, I tried, but I can't like it. I just love the original too much (I saw it first on the Sundance Channel and became addicted). I saw last night's premiere with a lot of apprehension and tried to keep an open mind, but...

I think Selma Blair is very miscast. I think Molly Shannon and John Michael Higgins were good, but still, nothing will ever compare to the original Kath and Kel.

And what about Sharon?!! I'm not sure if they will have Kim's 'second best friend' on, but I can't imagine anyone in the world can do with the character what Magda Szubanski has done with Sharon - she consistently makes me wet my pants. If you can see one episode of the original, see the one where Sharon takes up Riverdancing. You will never be the same lol

I agree - as much as an American can agree - with the Aussies above who said that I can't see the sense of humor translating to American audiences. It seems like they've sanitized the show for American audiences (what else is new) - it was less brazen and vulgar than the Aussie version, and that just doesn't work.

Does anyone know if Gina Riley and Jane Turner have anything to do with the US version? Presumably, since some of the lines were taken right from the original...

Guess I'm going to go have a glass of 'C-ardonnay' now...

Honestly the show was a huge letdown for me.  I love Molly Shannon because of her brilliant use of physical comedy, but it felt like she was carrying the show (and even that wasn't going very well).  Kath & Kim just felt bland from the beginning.  I do have to agree with the tuna wrap scene, that totally did it for me.

I probably won't tune in again.

Ah, yes, Mary Katherine Gallagher, my good old friend. I watched that show so much when i first saw it, i have parts of it memorized. I was even Mary for Halloween two or three years ago, and only one guy recognized who i even was in my quaint suburban neighborhood. It was funny, i love that movie.

I only saw the last like, three minutes, but what  i saw i liked. I have nothing to compare it to, because i haven't seen the Aussie one, though.

hmmm... i found it extremely painful to watch. they cleaned up the US version and that isn't a good thing. and where's the tagline ("Kimmy, look at moye!")?

Try as I might I just can't understand the attitude that says, 'Hey, that movie/show is great, let's do an American version!' 

I like many others really don't see how a show that is a parody about the Aussie culture can translate to an american show. It's all about the language and our attitudes towards things, which is very different to those of the Americans.

and the US Kath doesn't even have a perm! I mean what's that about? It's Kath's clowning glory! And no Sharon....poor Sharon....

Well I've added my two cents so I'll be off now to break out the tea maria and footy franks

~Elvis Presley~

They murdered The Office, they'll murder Kath & Kim.

The US pilot was awful, truly awful.  They've removed the guts from the brilliant Aussie satirical original -- which is a gentle, dry, irreverent ribbing of dumbed-down, bone-ignorant Aussie suburbia -- and sanitised it with a hokey, mish-mashed, prettied-up, formulaic, sitcom-central version which completely misses the point.

Too much will be lost in translation for this series to work in the US.  Part of the joy of the original is its vulgarity (and Americans will never cop that!), its exceptional physical comedy and its perceptive portayal of Australian's unique ability to good-naturedly rip each other off and to laugh heartily at ourselves.

Kim:  It's over mum.  Oh Vee Eh Haitch!  OVAH!

I'm an Australian & I haven't seen the US K&K...but im pretty excited. I don't watch Aus TV...I can't stand most of it. I watched up to the 3rd season of Kath & Kim, and I love Big Girls Blouse & Fast Forward, and all the old comedy sketch shows, but anything else and I'm bored off my tits...

I love US television! Pretty much everything I watch is from the US (with some of my fav UK programs thrown in for good measure)...so, if you guys wanna remake the Aus version of Kath & Kim or any other program from anywhere else in the world...YOU GO!! cause chances are I'll love it...and if not, there's always something else around the corner to look forward to when it comes to US tele...

I lub you guys :D

Why does the show have to be a remake? Every other country gets to see original versions of TV shows with subtitles if needed. Surely the American audience is open to watching foreign TV? Kath & Kim was funny to me BECAUSE it is Australian. The Office is funny BECAUSE it is English. I am a Dutch woman living in England but I do not need an English or Dutch re-make of Friends before I can laugh at the jokes? 

THe Australian Kath is funny because underneath her attempts to be glamorous is a deep insecurity and fear of not being special. The American Kath is merely a stereotypical shallow woman trying to be something she's not. That means a lot of the emotional connection with the audience is lost. K&K is not just a laugh out loud show. It also has cringeworthy moments where we all see our own insecurities magnified on screen. That particular angle of a comedy frequently gets removed when US remakes are done. Absolutely Fabulous, Faulty Towers to name a few. Why is that?

Remakes are done for one of two reasons:

1) American audiences are not able to enjoy a show that requires them to think beyond their own shores

or

2) TV Executives THINK that  American audiences are not able to enjoy a show that requires them to think beyond their own shores

Which ever one it is, it is narrow minded and insular and treats the US audience like children, denying them the choice and opportunity to broaden their horizons. DUmbing down in its purest form.

Bah Humbug!

http://www.bunnyfactor10.com

I ofcourse adore the original Kath & Kim because I've grown up on Gina Riley and Jane Turners comedy. When I first heard about the new U.S version of the show I was abit bitter, and I havn't seen the 1st episode (it aired over here in the original K&K timslot lastnight) but I hope it does well.

Not being rude or whatever but our Kim is an over weight loudmouth with the biggest muffin top ever and it's funny to see Selma in that character. She's thin and attractive, thats so not Kim but its sooo American =/

it was so boring.  i lost interest very quickly and i think i only watched maybe 10 or fifteen minutes of it.  molly shannon isn't that funny any way.

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~i am bisexual.  you are confused.~ 

Come With Me (if you want to live) the forum: http://www.afterellen.com/node/31891

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