Let's get one thing straight: the US adaptation of Kath & Kim is not as good as the home-grown version... not even close.
But the new sitcom isn't nearly as bad as some American critics declared. Sure, it can't match the foxy standard set by Jane Turner and Gina Riley's original, but it's far from "the worst remake ever". It's not great, but it shows potential.
What is weird is seeing a new set of actors do an almost line-by-line recitation of the Australian script. It's a bit like being at a really lame party where a troupe of half-drunk dorks decide it'd be hilarious to butcher a Monty Python routine: it's different from what you're used to, and not nearly as good.
The key to the original Kath & Kim's success is that it's a simultaneously savage and loving send-up of suburbia. So far the remake is neither savage nor loving, lending it a strange, watered-down quality.
In place of Turner and Riley, the American version has Molly Shannon as Kath and Selma Blair as Kim.
Shannon is a Saturday Night Live alumnus and gifted comedienne who shows promise that she'll nail Kath's mannerisms while making the character her own. Blair isn't as strong, but she sure knows how to play a whiny brat.
(But she's still not fat enough! When Riley's Kim sticks out her muffin top and declares she's a hornbag, it's funny. When Blair's Kim displays her much leaner torso and declares she's hot... well, she kinda is.)
The mother-daughter duo are supported by John Michael Higgins as Kath's beau Phil and Mikey Day as Kim's beleaguered hubby Craig (sadly there's no equivalent to Magda Szubanski's hilariously tragic Sharon Strzelecki, which really hurts the show). The ensemble will work a lot better together once they stop hamming up every line and let the jokes speak for themselves.
Ratings were strong for the US premiere, suggesting we may be seeing a lot more of the foxy ladies of Florida.
What did you think of the American Kath & Kim? Have your say in the comments.
