Kath & Kim - Series Premiere!

How long have I had this blog? 10 Days? And what have I been preaching since Day 1? Quality TV. Quality TV. QUALITY TV!


So then, it is with a good deal of shame that I admit that for reasons unknown even to me, I seem to have a weak spot for Gaw-Dofful Comedies. Maybe it's the Sheer Perversity.

A few years ago it was The War at Home, a show so horrible it cause my girlfriend to break up with me every time I watched it.

Then last year I inexplicably watched--and horrors, laughed at!--a profoundly unfunny Cavemen.

Oh, Lordy, have I fallen into the trap again?





NBC's new Kath & Kim is--I gather--based on a hit Australian sit-com. There is nothing new or wrong about remaking a show from another country. Hell, that's how All in the Family happened.

But five minutes into Kath & Kim and I already knew we had a strong contender for Worst Show of the Year.

Kath & Kim is stupefyingly stupid. Granted, the two leads (Molly Shannon and Selma Blair) are playing stupid shallow people, but even there it fails.

Yet --and I cringe to even write these words-- I found myself laughing several times at the Awful. I even pictured my oldest sister Elby watching and enjoying the show. (Although very smart, she actually reminded me a bit of the Selma Blair character, Kim.)

The Story is of a mother and daughter, and you're supposed to laugh at how silly and stupid they are. But maybe you're supposed to care about them too. I don't know. I never watched Romy and Michelle, and I never got a kick out of watching idiots like The Beverly Hillbillies or Gomer Pyle or the like.

I'm not sure (with the brief exception of Bevis and Butthead in very small doses) that I have ever enjoyed watching people act like idiots.

There is a place for that in comedy. Lord knows the Stooges played "Dumb" as well as anyone, and many sitcoms have done themselves proud with an "idiot." (There's a top-ten list for you.)

But generally I hate it.

And, to be clear, Kath & Kim isn't just outside my preference, it is done very poorly.

So why did I watch? And WHY DID I LAUGH?

I just pray to the gods I don't end up watching it again.