Kath & Kim


Kath & Kim is an Australian television situation comedy. The programme was created by its stars Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who play the title characters of suburban mother Kath Day-Knight, a cheery middle-aged woman and her self-indulgent daughter Kim Craig. The other main characters are Kath's boyfriend and, later, husband, the metrosexual Kel Knight, Kim's husband Brett Craig, and her lonely "second-best friend" Sharon Strzelecki. The series is set in Fountain Lakes, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. It is primarily filmed in Patterson Lakes.
There were four 8-part seasons, a telemovie and a feature film. The series also spawned a short-lived American version.

History

The characters of Kath, Kim and Sharon first featured in their current forms during the mid 1990s as a weekly segment of the Australian comedy series Big Girl's Blouse, having appeared in a more embryonic incarnation earlier in the decade on the sketch comedy show Fast Forward. They also appeared in Something Stupid.
The skits were developed by Riley and Turner into a full series. Big Girl's Blouse had been deemed a failure by the ABC who wanted to pull Kath and Kim. But it was championed by Robyn Kershaw the ABC Head of Drama so Kath and Kim had the distinction for a comedy show of being produced by the drama department, and was loved by the "suburban people" it supposedly attacked. And at the end of 2002 it won three Australian Film Institute awards in the drama category, plus a Best Supporting Actress award for Szubanski.
The first season of Kath & Kim premiered on ABC TV on 16 May 2002, with three further seasons following, while a television movie, entitled Da Kath & Kim Code, was broadcast nationally on 25 November 2005. Kath & Kim won two Logie Awards for Outstanding Comedy Programme and an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Television Drama Series.

Fourth season

The fourth season of Kath & Kim began airing on the Seven Network on 19 August 2007, due to the contract expiring with ABC. The first episode of season four attracted an Australian audience of 2.521 million nationally, the highest rating ever for a first episode in the history of Australian television, until the series premiere of in 2009 with 2.58 million viewers.

American version

Due to the success that Kath & Kim has achieved internationally, it was remade for US audiences by NBC. Riley and Turner served as executive producers on the US version. In this remake, actress Molly Shannon has taken the role of Kath Day, and Selma Blair the role of Kim. The character of Sharon does not appear at the insistence of Szubanski.
NBC chose Jason Ensler to direct. Michelle Nader developed the series for American television, which premiered in the United States as part of the Fall schedule of 2008. The series started to shoot in California in July 2008. NBC debuted the US adaptation on 9 October 2008, while Seven started screening it to Australian viewers on 12 October 2008. After airing only two episodes, Seven dropped the sitcom from their lineup due to poor ratings, only to bring it back several weeks later as a late-night schedule filler. In America, reviews were poor, but it averaged roughly around 5 to 7 million viewers per week, and was rewarded with a full season order in October 2008. On 19 May 2009, NBC announced that there would not be a second season of Kath & Kim.

2012 film

On 9 March 2011, Turner and Riley announced plans for a movie, in which, Kath, Kim, Kel, Brett, Sharon and Epponn'knee would head overseas on holiday. Contracts were written to finance the film's production under the working title of The Kath & Kim Filum, with the word 'film' deliberately misspelt with the letter 'u' in typical Kath and Kim humour. However, the title Kath & Kimderella was ultimately used, and the film was released in Australia on 6 September 2012. It was directed by Ted Emery and produced by Rick McKenna. The holiday scenes were shot in Positano, Italy and filming took a total of two weeks.
The film was released in Australian cinemas on 6 September 2012. It grossed in excess of $2.1 million in its first weekend on Australian movie screens.

Re-runs

In 2017, the rights to the series were acquired by the Nine Network which began airing repeats of the series from 1 August 2017 until 21 November 2017.
In 2018, the series was released on Netflix in several regions, as well as the films and TV specials. In July 2019, the series was launched onto Netflix in Australia as well as the Kountdown Specials and Souvenir Editions.

Premise

Kath & Kim follows the day-to-day Australian suburban life of Kath Day-Knight, her only child Kimberly Diane Craig née Poole, Kim's husband and Computa City salesman, Brett Craig, Kath's love interest and eventual husband who works as a "purveyor of fine meats", Kel Knight, and long-time family friend Sharon Strzelecki.
The main setting is Kath's townhouse in Fountain Lakes. It is taped in a house in the waterfront street of Lagoon Place, Patterson Lakes, Victoria. The house's exact location is 4 Lagoon Place, Patterson Lakes, Victoria.
The storyline of the first series follows Kath's engagement and plans for her wedding to Kel. Kim frequently stays in her mother's house owing to her rocky relationship with Brett. Sharon's always around with a helping hand and her own relationship problems. Her history with Brett is also explored.
The second series follows Kim's pregnancy and her rekindled relationship with Brett. Kath and Kel's relationship goes through some teething troubles. Kim and Brett have a baby in the final episode of the second series whom they name Epponnee Raelene Kathleen Darlene Charlene Craig, shortened to Epponnee Rae. Several episodes of the third series focus on Epponnee Rae. The third-season finale features an adult Epponnee Rae, played by Kylie Minogue.
Storylines follow the characters' day-to-day lives, and document their personal struggles and the banality of their achievements and aspirations. Kath & Kim satirises the mother-daughter relationship and the habits and values of modern suburban Australians, and emphasises the kitsch and superficial elements of contemporary society, particularly the traditional working class which has progressed to a level of affluence which previous generations had been unable to achieve. Despite this affluence, good taste and a sense of cultural sophistication still eludes the titular characters.
They visit places such as the Westfield Fountain Gate, the local IKEA, Target and various local restaurants.
It also occasionally mocks Australian and international mass popular culture, such as popular reality television shows Big Brother and Australian Idol. It sometimes makes statements about Australian politics. The crass and embarrassing behaviour of the characters, and their gaudy, out-dated fashion sense are popular features of the show. Processed and widely recognised Australian foods, such as Jatz crackers, Tim Tams and Fruche yoghurt are frequently referenced in the series.
During the credits, most episodes end with Kath and Kim sitting in Kath's back yard, chatting about issues related to the episode. Sometimes these chats help to complete the story which was told during the episode.

Catch phrases

The alternative vocabulary including the mixed metaphors, hypercorrection, malapropisms, eggcorns, and mis-pronunciations of the regular characters are much repeated by the show's fans. These include: "Look at moy" —used by Kath to command attention during arguments, and "It's noice, different and unusual"—used by Kath, Kim and Sharon to express approval or agreement.

Costuming

Second-hand shops were used for Kath's clothing, whereas Kim was dressed in current trends.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Rowsthorn and Robbins had previously worked together on The Comedy Company.

Recurring cast

Several guest stars are well-known Australian comedy performers, some of whom previously worked with Turner or Riley. Bublé and Lucas were fans of the show and asked to appear in it. Humphries declared himself a fan of the series before taking part.

Episodes

The title sequence shows the main five regular characters over a white background. In season 3, it was amended to include Epponnee-Rae and Cujo. The five regular cast members are then credited over aerial shots of suburban houses. Szubanski is credited as "Special Guest Star," despite appearing in every episode. The theme song is "The Joker," performed by Gina Riley. A re-recording of it debuted in the telemovie opening sequence and has continued into season 4.
Twenty-four episodes lasting approximately twenty-five minutes each across three seasons aired on ABC TV from 2002 to 2004. The series debuted on 15 May 2002 on the ABC Network with "Sex" and became one of the highest-rated shows for ABC. A replacement of a full series occurred in 2005 with the telemovie Da Kath & Kim Code. The fourth season of Kath & Kim premiered on 19 August 2007 at 7:30 pm on the Seven Network with a total of eight episodes.
In late 2009, they announced that writing had begun on season 5, but by May 2010, Turner said: "We sort of felt like it was the end two years ago. We thought, 'We've done enough and the well is dry and we can't think of any more ideas'... We think we might just leave it for now."
A film adaptation was released in 2012.

Reception

The first season of Kath & Kim attracted criticism that the creators were making fun of the lower class in Australian society.

Ratings

Kath & Kim premiered on 16 May 2002 and became one of ABC's highest-rated shows. When the show premiered on the Seven Network, it became the highest-rating episode in Australian television history, until the record was broken by Nine Network's on 9 February 2009. The fourth season of Kath & Kim debuted with a record breaking 2.511 million viewers peaking at 2.731 million. In its second and third episodes viewers fell to 1.994 & 1.817 million, respectively; however, viewers then rebounded for its fourth and fifth episodes with ratings of 2.047 and 2.157 million, respectively. Strong ratings continued with viewers of 2.049 and 2.066 million for the sixth and seventh episodes. The eighth episode and show's finale rated 2.338 million giving the fourth season an average viewership of 2.122 million, making it the highest-rating TV season in Australia for 2007 and the highest-rating of all four seasons of the show.
Channel Seven have since started showing repeats of the show from season one onwards which had previously only aired on the ABC network. The repeats have proved quite successful, rating 1.465 and 1.530 so far, winning in a very competitive timeslot and being amongst the highest-rating shows of the week. Channel 9 began playing double episodes, beginning from the first season, in August 2018. On 30 July 2019, Netflix released all four seasons and both movies on their streaming service.

Merchandise

The enduring public interest and popularity of Kath and Kim has led to a merchandising industry. The title family and supporting characters appear on everything from T-shirts to posters. The Kath & Kim series have been released on VHS and DVD, in box sets and separate series editions in both region 4 as well as region 2. The series has also had a CD release, featuring songs from the series and recordings from Kath and Kim. In addition, there has been clothing. Merchandise is available to purchase online, from the Kath & Kim official website.

CD releases

Track listing

  1. Gina Riley – "The Joker"
  2. Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #1"
  3. The Tubes – "Don't Touch Me There"
  4. Bobby Hebb – "Sunny"
  5. Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #2"
  6. Diana Ross and Lionel Richie – "Endless Love"
  7. Status Quo – "Roll Over Lay Down"
  8. Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #3"
  9. The Supremes – "Rhythm of Life"
  10. Van McCoy – "The Hustle"
  11. Yvonne Elliman – "If I Can't Have You"
  12. Donna Summer – "MacArthur Park"
  13. Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #4"
  14. The Commodores – "Three Times a Lady"
  15. Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66 – "Day Tripper"
  16. Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #5"
  17. Yvonne Fair – "It Should Have Been Me"
  18. Stephanie Mills – "Never Knew Love Like This Before"
  19. Kath & Kim – "Wine Time #6"
  20. Captain & Tennille – "Love Will Keep Us Together"
  21. Kath & Kim – "Lady Bump"

    DVD releases

Single seasons

Box sets

Other DVDs

''Da Kath & Kim Code''
''Da Kath & Kim Code'' repackage

Awards and nominations

The show itself, and the cast, have been nominated several television awards in the past, including AFI Awards and Logies. In addition, Kath and Kim and Da Kath & Kim Code have won four major awards for the show itself.
YearAwardCategoryRecipients and nomineesResult
2002AFI AwardsBest Actress in a Supporting or Guest Role in a Television DramaMagda Szubanski
2002AFI AwardsBest Screenplay in a Television Drama
2002AFI AwardsBest Television Drama Series
2003LogiesMost Outstanding Comedy Program
2004LogiesMost Outstanding Comedy Program
2004LogiesMost Popular Light Entertainment or Comedy Program

Nominated