An Aussie treat! (Kath & Kim)

Member Name: ps8sjk

Product:	Kath & Kim
Date:	07/04/09 (222 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very amusing

Disadvantages: Maybe not to everyone's taste!

This is an Australian sitcom filmed in the style of a mock documentary. It focuses on Kath and Kim - mother and daughter. Kath is in her forties and is enjoying having the house to herself and series one starts with Kim, in her twenties, moving back home after splitting up with her husband Brett. There are also two other main characters - Kel, who Kath has starting dating and who proposes later in the series and their neighbour and friend Sharon who is constantly blighted with injuries and skin conditions.

There have been 5 series of this in Australia but it takes a while for this to reach us in UK so currently you can buy series 1-3 here. I will focus on series one since this is the best place to start if you are interested.

The two main actresses - Jane Turner (Kath) and Gina Riley (Kim) also write and produce the series and they are a talented pair. I have seen them being interviewed in real-life and they are very different to their characters so they are good actresses. They are also about a year apart in age so you need to stretch your imagination a bit to believe they could be mother and daughter! It is the women who stand out in this and you can see they have been influenced by French and Saunders - especially Absolutely Fabulous. Kath and Kim are equally ridiculous and over-the-top. They are both awful at times but despite that you can't help warming to them and liking them.

I find Kim the funniest - she is rude, obnoxious, selfish, lazy, whinges constantly and often sounds like a grumpy teenager. But she is one of those characters who gets away with saying things that you wish you could! Kath is also funny but I feel Gina Riley steals scenes a bit when they are together. However it does focus on Kath more in her scenes with Kel (played by Glenn Robbins). Their relationship is often cringe-worthy (as the whole show can be at times) and Kel can be quite annoying - he is very cheesy but that is funny. Brett (Peter Rowstone) is fairly boring but again, that is probably because Kim is so outlandish that I makes him pale in comparison. Sharon, played by Magda Szubanski, offers many laughs as well. Her life focuses around the sports she plays and her friendship with Kath and Kim and not much else so you do end up feeling sorry for her at times, although she is much more kind hearted then Kim who constantly looks down on her and belittles her despite the fact that Kim has little going for her either!

The humour varies. It is often visual - the costumes and haircuts they have are amusing on their own. Kath in particular has terrible dress sense being stuck in the 80's with shoulder pads and a perm and in one episode, even matching horrific jumpers with Kel. This all adds to the characters though. Many episodes focus on Kim's ballooning weight - such as in one of my favourite episodes in series one - 'Fat' when she finds she can no longer fit into her bridesmaid dress. There is also observational humour - as the series develop you get to know the characters and their ways and sometimes just one shot of a facial expression can make you laugh. It also has funny one-liners such as Kim shouting: "It's over, O V A H, over!" They also have catchphrases such as "Look at me!" which is in practically every episode and they use slang such as "hornbag" throughout which adds to the character development. Another interesting feature of the episodes is known as 'wine-time.' Each episode ends with Kath and Kim drinking wine together in the garden and chat about very random things, often looking through magazines and chatting about celebrities. I think this also reminds the viewer that despite all their arguments they do have a close relationship. Kath often gets annoyed at Kim but then the next minute she sticks up for her!

The series one DVD has all eight episodes on it. The series improves over time - it does take a few episodes to warm up, but that is like most sitcoms as it sets up the characters and their relationships. For a first series this is very polished and I have watched it several times now and still enjoy it. The DVD also comes with many extras such as outtakes (which shows they had a lot of fun making it), mock interviews for the documentary and the extra most worth watching is the fake wedding video of Kim and Brett.

Overall, this is a brilliant sitcom but may not be to everyone's taste and dare I suggest it, but it could be more suited to women! My boyfriend has watched about 5 minutes of a few episodes and stares very bemused at the screen and then says that he doesn't get it! I would however recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the humour of French and Saunders (for the outlandish visual laughs) or a fan of the Office (for the mock documentary style and often cringe-worthy moments).

Summary: Good when you want a bit of cheering up!