 "Photo: MCT Camous")
NBC is trying to score a comedic hat trick with its new show “Kath and Kim,” freshly imported from Australia and overhauled for an American audience. The network holds a monopoly over intelligent, offbeat comedies; “The Office” and “30 Rock” dominate the (rather limited) national television discourse. “Kath and Kim” certainly fits with its new Thursday night siblings, and, despite some glaring imperfections, the show has the potential to grow into yet another success for NBC.
Kath Day (Molly Shannon) is a single mom whose life is interrupted when her spoiled daughter Kim (Selma Blair), a self-proclaimed “trophy wife,” shows up back home, unannounced, proclaiming that her recent marriage is “O-V-U-R, over.” Kath’s sunny disposition doesn’t stop her from being less than excited about her selfish, whiny daughter’s unapologetic move home, and Kim’s return immediately throws a wrench into her mom’s new relationship with Phil (John Michael Higgins). Kim, it turns out, was unaware that marriage entailed having to do things like microwave dinner and care about how her husband Craig’s (Mikey Day) day went, which is why she left him.
The over-the-top, excessively tacky mom-and-daughter duo is definitely entertaining; however, those unable to cynically laugh at them may find the characters to be grating (one of the most common complaints I’ve seen lodged against the show).
The biggest worry I have for the show is Selma Blair’s Kim. Her utterly despicable personality is mined for some pretty entertaining situations, but by the end of the pilot, she already seems to be coming dangerously close to being a one-note character, which is not what you want for the lead of a television series. Hopefully in later episodes, the character will be able to show a little more depth. Molly Shannon does a great job with Kath, but the writers haven’t given the character enough substance for viewers to truly care about her week after week.
Despite the fact that the show is being panned by most critics, I believe that “Kath and Kim” is worth sticking with, at least for the now. The reaction critics are having isn’t particularly surprising; the show has a star-studded cast and was immensely successful overseas, so for it to be anything less than amazing is going to cause people to be let down. The backlash against imported shows (everyone loves to decry the lack of originality in Hollywood) is also surely a factor. However, it would be doing the show a disservice not to acknowledge the deserved laughs in the pilot and the show’s visible potential. “The Office” didn’t get a complete grasp on its tone until season two, and the “30 Rock” that exists today is exponentially better than the pilot that aired two years ago.
“Kath and Kim” may need work, but I wouldn’t tune out just yet.
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