No matter which country I visited when I was backpacking Europe this spring, I always found myself surrounded by Australians. It was awesome, of course, because almost all of the Aussies I've met are kind and clever, and they make better use of slang and swear words than any other people on earth. They helped me put together an Aussie dictionary, and for every word I learned — narky (annoyed), daggy (uncool), bogan (unkempt) — they told me that if I was truly going to pass as Australian, I would have to learn to love Kath & Kim.

When NBC announced they were going to remake the popular Australian sitcom, and that Molly Shannon and Selma Blair would star as the dysfunctional mother-daughter team, my first reaction was outrage on behalf of my Australian friends. But then I thought about how much I love Molly Shannon, and I couldn't help but get a little bit excited.

The show premiered last night in the coveted 8:30 Thursday night time slot. The reviews have not been kind. USA Today called it "dumb and dull." Barry Garron from Reuters said the whole thing felt like "a long, long skit." … continue reading