As my Aussie friends say, not paying that one. I just don't think it will work.

 Molly Shannon is clearly the only hope for that show.

My girlfriend is from Australia (she moved over here to be with me in 2005) and brought all of her Kath & Kim DVDs with her. I've watched quite a few episodes and I have to admit the humor is pretty hilarious. She thinks that some americans may not get it or wont appreicate the sense of humor. (the orignal) She also feels that rather than take off an American version they should just air the original. Kath and Kim is funnier when you understand all the australian references (she says, I certainly wouldnt know).  :)

I love Molly Shannon, but unless they cast someone as big and as funny to be Kim, I don't think the show will work in the States, specially if it has a lot of australian references, they would have to rewrite the whole script and not all adaptations work...a few examples of the ones that have worked: Ugly Betty (which is totally different than the original), Queer as Folk...an adaptation that I was hoping to work because the original (british) was hilarious was Coupling,but it turned out to be a disaster in its american version.

"i don't suffer from insanity...i enjoy every minute of it"

(You'll get the above quote if you watch the show!)

Us Kiwis love the show as much as the Aussies because it's the same Antipodean brand of humour that we like, poking fun at ourselves. A lot of the funniest parts are only understood by Aussies and Kiwis.

I don't see why they're calling it an American remake of Kath and Kim because it won't be the same, it'll be a completely different show and should just be called something else. And Kath's character should be older than Molly Shannon to have an adult daughter of Kim's age...I bet they'll be looking for someone young and hot for the role...TYPICAL! I don't think any writer would be up to the challenge of translating the show...lame idea, call it quits now!

(I'm not sure where that preview was found but it wasn't a proper episode and didnt show the humour of Kath & Kim to its fullest extent.)

I don't get how it will be Kath and Kim at all, in a US remake. Part of what makes the show work in australia is largely context-based - it's funny because of the cultral jibes Because maybe we know people who embody less exaggerated elements of these characters (or maybe we're glad we are nothing like them), and the cultural cringe is a relief when it's something you can laugh at. It's funny because of the tv climate in australia and the fact that, at the time it was created, there was a lack of aussie humour on tv. It's hard to even list exactly how it works, because it's filtered in through all our pop culture and feeds off it at the same time. Take away the context, and what will you have? a 2008-ish Married With Children-type deal. Hasn't this type of show been done to death already in the US?

Why remake everything? How hard is it to enjoy a show for what it is, instead of thinking it requires translation? This mentality has always baffled me. I could write an essay on it.

I remember someone tried to do a US remake of Red Dwarf too, back in the day. Idiocy. Glad that didnt end up taking off.

i can imagine Kath & Kim as a couple of southerners with a heavy accent doing southern things. ...... nah, i can't see how they can turn them into Americans.

"Kimmy, look at moiye look at moiye!"

Gina Riley and Jane Turner are two brilliantly funny women, as is lovely Magda Szubanski (who, if I'm not mistaken, is family).

But, after three seasons, even they can't sustain the brilliance and elegance of the first season of this show. It's just not that funny any more. As for an American remake... HOW? And, WHY?

I realise a lot of the "bogan" humour could be replaced with US suburban stereotypes, but why bother then with an adaptation? Why not just create a whole new show? Do they even have Kels in the US? Or Sharons? Or Fat Free Fruche?

I think this'll be another catastrophe like Coupling or The Office. K&K is funny because of the accents, and the references to local trends, and Prue and Trude-style spot-on impersonations. If Americans don't get the show, they don't get it. There are plenty of comedians who parody US culture really well. Why vampirise our comedy, GD it?

I'm hoping Jane, Gina and Magda get bavk to the sort of comedy they used to do. Did anyone ever see that Brides Of Satan: Ringwood Branch sketch?

MAN that was funny.

I've seen Kath and Kim and have to say its damn hilarious. However, i really don't think it can translate very well into an American show.

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Jibby.

I really can't see how it will work... Kath and Kim is so unique and the humour is very Australian.. I just don't understand why you don't just play the original over there in America.  By having new writers and actors, all thats going to be the same is the name!

 And besides there will be no one that will be able to dance like Kath and Kel, those two hornbags can dance like no one elses business!

As a fellow Australian I too love this show (RE: my signature)...and I too can not see it working as a US version. It's just so Aussie, i cant see the jokes working...and I agree with you Mizkel I dont see anyone being able to dance like Kath & Kel...lol...too funny!

And yes Summer Hights High is brilliant too!

Marrion: Now, tell me what do you see?
Kel: Two lovers in a passionate embrace
Kath:...Two dead sticks

As an Aussie I'd have to say the writing is going to have to be spot on to make this work - that said we all have our own stereotypical view of americans from say, the South and a play on that could work over there just as it did here.  This show works so well in Australia because of the lower middle class striving for sophistication parody - I'm sure there's parallels in the US - and the use of language (e.g. Kim "I don't want to be just well off Mum, I want to be effluent !" Kath "You ARE effluent Kim").

If they get the right script writers (and I think the South Park writer would be the go here) then they can hope to come up with lines like Kim's classic thought "they're all so self centred...am I the only one thinking about moi ?"

This has infuriated me beyond belief.

For yet another U.S. tv station to steal a non-U.S. idea must surely insult the minute, but very much alive and kicking, minority of US comic writers??

Note to media people who lack the confidence to commission American comedy: Instead of stealing/remaking non-American shows such as The Office/Bad Girls/Kath & Kim and tainting their original comic genius and superb script-writing with glossy, generic and grossly mediocre dollarised humour, I suggest you focus more on cultivating and encouraging more of your own ultimately unique and special homegrown humour. Instead of canceling brilliant shows like Arrested Development that DO make the masses giggle (US/non-US alike!), let's see more and more of the American quirk ... it could do your reputation wonders.

There's already been lots of good American sitcoms that centre around their version of "bogan" culture. I really liked "My Name is Earl" when they were airing the first season in Australia; it's clear that writers out there can do much better than watered down version of Kath & Kim. "Roseanne" is another classic example, although it did run way too long past its prime. "The Simpsons", despite being a bit hit-and-miss these days, is still a very entertaining look at a suburban family that's on the lower end of the middle-class scale.

Don't Americans find it insulting that their TV executives feel that they have to translate ideas from overseas into "Americanese" all the time just for their people to understand the joke? How many TV shows from overseas actually make it to air over there in their mostly untouched form??

that's so funny two weeks aga soem friends and i were talking about casting for this and we picked that Molly Shannon should play Kath. We also picked Amy Poehler to play Kim, so we will have to wait and see.

Whether it will translate across, i am not too sure.

And to the person earlier who queried whether Magda Szubanski is family, i can confirm it, i have a friend who um well can confirm it through personal experience

i love molly shannon. a lot. i hope this show doesn't change that for me.

i just don't get why everything has to be translated so that americans will watch it? seriously, this show is great, same with the uk office, why aren't people given a chance to appreciate them? i love lots of tv shows from lots of different countries, the whole idea of remaking them to suit another country is foreign to me. it's just like a different show basically. i understand american shows, if theres something i dont get i go look it up for myself. it's half the fun, being able to learn something about different cultures.

although, i wouldn't exactly want kath and kim representing every australian, but they do a good job of presenting characters that many people seem resemble all too comfortably.

i could watch half an hour of sally o'malley every week, they should give that to molly.