horatio said:

that's what I said about The Office, but now I'm really glad they remade it

NDRU said:

in what ways?

ZombieKitten said:

hmm, well the important part is keeping pretty women on TV! Put glasses on them, marry them to fat men, but keep the pretty women on TV!!

ZombieKitten said:

I initially thought it was silly, because the original was so good, and it's hard to re-create the chemistry of a great show (writing, cast, direction, etc). And they changed "Tim" to "Jim." What a stroke of trans-cultural marketing genius! I just thought it was an ode to the stupidity of America.

But somehow they managed to make a great show that was different than the original. Much more American, but not in a bad way. And now it has been on much longer than the British version and the stories have moved completely beyond what happened in the original episodes. So I got more entertainment for my consumer dollar!

NDRU said:

does Kath & Kim have a chance?

ZombieKitten said:

I don't know. I haven't seen either version. I don't hold out much hope for ANY sitcom. Very few are any good. But I like Molly Shannon okay, and she's worn some choice outfits in the commercials

ZombieKitten said:

Critics hated it: http://www.metacritic.com...kathandkim

But ratings for the premiere were okay. People might have tuned in out of curiosity.

sextonseven said:

The core problem with K&K is that there's no character to root for. — Entertainment Weekly

That is exactly the point! They are meant to be characters one loves to hate, and hate to love

And they complain about Blair being bratty!! she has nothing on the horrible HORRIBLE original.

Kath & Kim writers, meanwhile, seem to have nothing but contempt for their heroines. Kim is willfully ignorant, rude and obnoxious in a fashion that has no redeeming qualities, and Kath is mainly an unhappy blank who lets her daughter walk all over her. — Newark Star-Ledger
Again, EXACTLY!!!

CarrieMpls said:

Hey ZombieKitten, I don't know if you are aware of the average USA family sitcom, but basically any type of guy can be cast as the patriarch, whether he is buff or a fat slob, but the wives are always far too hot to be a typical mom. Think of what a Maxim, Playboy or Hawaiian Tropic model looks like and make them ten years older, and that's the casting of your typical USA TV sitcom wife and mother.

728huey said:

Oh I'm sure you are right

though, looking around at the mums at school, some of them are pretty hot

728huey said:

No way would any actress be allowed to appear on an American TV show now looking like the actress on the right:

NDRU said:

thats the problem, its supposed to be in the free clinic waiting room wondering what VD it is this time but still trying to look sexy when im not hot.

I've never seen the non-US version but watching this US "Kath and Kim", I could tell it was off. I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be dumb or mean or what. It just never went for it. The US "The Office" started out pretty badly when they just recycled UK scripts but it found it's groove. Something tells me this one won't get the chance. I can't imagine it will be getting a lot of repeat viewers. Molly Shannon is great but she should honestly try to write (or work with someone that will write) her own show with her own character.

ZombieKitten said:

Yeah. She does not look like that on the show. They put her bad glasses, braces and they might even put a fat suit on her (her body isn't size zero in real life but it looks damn good).

NDRU said:

I hated "The Office" US when it debuted...now I think it's my favorite show! It is not just that they made it more American (which they had to do) but they realized they couldn't just follow the UK episodes for various reasons. I'm not sure why, but UK shows seems to have a different structure of shorter seasons (which they actually call series). And it seemed like at some point that Ricky Gervais, the co-creator and star of the original, figured he only wanted to do two seasons and than a closing special. Seems like the show was designed to have a beginning, a middle and an end. The US "The Office" probably will not think about it's end until they have to. So they had to change the formula. Michael is obnoxious but nothing like always cringe worthy David Brent. Brent was breaking down by season 2 and the show actualy got dark. Michael just watches through and stumbles and it's all fun because he is such a child. Also, frankly, "The Office" US could go on without Michael because the supporting characters (even beyond Jim, Pam and Dwight) are so strong. They made an online special called "The Accountants" that mostly only featured Oscar, Angela and Kevin and it was spectacular.

I've been watching Season 2 and 3 lately.

ZombieKitten said:

Well the critics are idiots. I guess they want a show like the "The Office" where you cheer on Jim and Pam (I forgot what they were called in the UK version) and in a show like "Absolutely Fabulous", I guess you root for the daughter. I don't think the show has to be that. Again, if anything, they aren't awful enough!

VinnyM27 said:

no OMG if anyone you root for the son-in-law, who made such a terrible mistake marrying Kim
Kim is supposed to be the worst of all, so bad you even feel sorry for Kath!

ZombieKitten said:

Based on the one episode, that is true. I guess Molly's character is the one that is not developed at all!

VinnyM27 said:

She is meant to be a totally hapless airhead lady with terrible taste in everything.

I'm not sure if I will keep watching, I feel like a traitor since I didn't even keep watching the Australian one, since it was always on at the same time as Australian idol

So have any Americans (or non-Australians) seen the Australian one? Even just the clips that were posted in this thread? What do you's think? I just can't see Americans finding the Australian one funny but you never know.

Summer Heights High is another classic Australian tv show that I think should be given some attention overseas.

I think u should all take a look at the clips I posted and see what u think of the origional

chillichocaholic said:

Same. But I don't think that first clip posted shows how funny the show can be. Well not untill the end anyway. But I did a search on youtube and there's surprisingly not many videos of the show up.

Arnotts said:

Yeah I noticed that as well. Maybe we should be looking on dailymotion?

chillichocaholic said:

fyi anyone who cares has already watched this show long long ago.
its been playing on the U.S. BBC station for a couple years now that i know of, so has the original office long before they made a u.s. version.

CarrieMpls said:

only on Sitcoms. dramas now feature mostly good looking men.

It'll be hard to judge after just a few episodes. Remakes usually flourish once they're given time to expand upon the original concept.

We are ALWAYS fucking up something good over here - anybody remember the fiasco that was Coupling??

Needless to say I didn't make it to the end of the episode on the US version of Kath & Kim, it was horrible (but not worse than the attempt @ Coupling). I immediately killed the season pass off the Tivo...

The Office is the only show (of late) that's managed to do it right.

& I really can't stand what they've done to the US version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares All that voiceover, crash/bang/boom effects - it has NONE of the charm of the BBC show, which I love.


[Edited 10/14/08 12:24pm]

CalhounSq said:

wasn't Friends based on Coupling? or was that something else

ZombieKitten said:

Coupling was based on Friends. The US version was a copy of a copy.

ehuffnsd said:

aaaaah omg what a mess