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 Kath & Kim

(October 10th, 2008.  -  Editor)            Molly Shannon (Saturday Night Live, Bruce Almighty), Selma Blair (Hellboy 1 & 2), John Michael Higgins (The Late Shift, Best In Show) and Mikey Day (Wild 'n' Out) star in the half hour situation comedy Kath & Kim, airing Thursdays on NBC.

            The American adaptation of the Australian hit comedy series focuses on Kath Day (Shannon), a cheerful, foxy, forty-something, and her self-absorbed daughter, Kim Day-Baker (Blair), who have the love/hate, push/pull dysfunctional relationship that only a mother and daughter could share. Kath has finally found love in the form of a sandwich shop owner named Phil Knight (Higgins). Kim is a self-absorbed princess, newly separated from her husband of six weeks, Craig (Day). Kim decides to move back home, putting a damper on Kath’s independence and her new romance. In contrast, her daughter does not seem ready to accept her side of the deal in a marriage that has suddenly become more of a reality than she signed-on for. When her image of herself as a "Trophy-Wife" is suddenly replaced by a man who is asking her to contribute around the house, she retreats to the comfort and safety of her mother's house, only to find her old bedroom is now an exercise room and her mother is moving on to a new phase of her life.

Star Molly Shannon could have easily fallen into the stereotypes with this "Cougar" character, but instead she works hard to humanize Kath as a mother and as a single woman. Shannon brings depth to this character beyond what is written on the page, but even with the addition of an extra layer of realism, this character will be a challenge to keep fresh and interesting for a full 22 week season. Once they are done introducing the supporting characters and setting up the premise of the comedy, there is little else to do. The hardest thing to decide about this comedy, is if the amazingly inappropriate wardrobe is an intentional extra layer of humor, or if both the mother and daughter characters are just not aware of the wide range of better choices out there. Considering their characters seem to live at their local shopping mall, we have to assume they are playing it for laughs.

The situation presented in episode one leaves little room to take any cast member into a different and potentially interesting or funny direction. That means a lot is being expected from the small cast. There is practically no opportunity to introduce a new romantic interest for either leading character. If the daughter character decides to date again, they lose her estranged husband as a character from an already under-sized cast. Likewise, if the mother becomes single again, they have the same problem. Without the possibility of someone fresh arriving on the scene, this series is about two couples in different phases of a relationship. And it is tough to say how long that difficult and narrow premise going to hold an audience.

Co-Executive Producer & Writer of the series, Michelle Nader ("King of Queens") and original series creators & stars of the Australian series, Gina Riley and Jane Turner, will have to be very careful not to turn this comedy into something mean or spiteful. Comedy is hard. Just making fun of people is not comedy, even if some people laugh. Shannon has to be very careful not to allow this effort to become a parody of her character, rather than a portrayal. If they can figure out a way to do that, they will be around at the end of the season. If not, this comedy will be a ratings casualty and slip quietly into TV history.

 

  -  Editor  - 

 

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