Kath & Kim Now Streaming on Netflix

Sharon is one of the greatest characters in the history of television.

The most sympathetic bumbling visitor since Aunt Clara on Bewitched.

Shakespearean wordplay.

I LOVE Kath & Kim. I know what I’ll be doing this week.

Thanks, OP! Only seen a couple of episodes, but loved them. Definitely adding this to my list. BTW, any other good comedies from Australia or NZ we should be checking out?

I was underwhelmed a few years back. I'll give it another shot. Maybe time on DL will have prepared me better.

Dancing With the Stars.........

Sharon inspired me to look up the word “carbuncles.”

Note: the theme song, written by Anthony Newley, is sung by Gina Riley, who plays Kim, in a grand impression of Shirley Bassey.

Anthony Newley’s version with some Bob Fosse from Sweet Charity tossed in.

No one can quite match Shirley Bassey.

But Gina Riley makes a good run at it.

Great impression as well as satire of the sexist silhouette intros to the Bond films.

[quote]any other good comedies from Australia or NZ we should be checking out?

Some random DLer turned me on to Ozzy comedy duo The Kates, who I like a lot. You can watch their cooking show parody, The Katering Show, on YouTube. You'll have to torrent their brilliant follow-up, Get Krack!n, a parody of morning talk shows.

I prefer the Rydell version of "The Joker." I'm sure you all wanted to know that.

Not television but tangentially related to Flight of the Conchords, the vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows from New Zealand is a delight from beginning to end.

Taika Waititi as the fussy vampire of the house has enough charm to fill five movies at once.

R13 - yes, the Kates are hilarious. I think some random DL thread introduced me to them as well.

Was Bobby Rydell a big star?

Sammy Davis, Jr. seems to be the only one to get that at heart it’s a melancholy song.

Sammy can swing with sadness.

I love Kel. Always in shorty shorts.

It’s aging better than Absolutely Fabulous.

The US version with Molly Shannon and Selma Blair was DOA.

Love the Kates! Katering Show is Fabulous!

The Kiwi vampire flick mockumentary ‘What we do in the Shadows’ is just great. The makers of it have a new series out called Wellington Paranormal. Haven’t seen it yet - but the promos here in Oz for it look great. Will binge. If you haven’t seen the movie though - go now! Watch it!!

My favourite Oz sitcom is Utopia. Set in the offices of a government department. Broader in scope than The Office and not as shouty and profane as the UK show The Thick of It - it’s its own thing. Three seasons so far. Love it.

There’s a fun and silly experimental series than ran a couple of seasons called Soul Mates - two kinda hot hipster bros who seem to have bonded time again over the centuries. Hit or miss at times - but when it hits it’s fantastic! They’re both kinda cute - and there’s definitely a honoerotic vibe going on. Great mindless nonsense.

If you can find it - also liked Black Comedy. Two seasons to date. Sketch comedy with indigenous Oz cast. More hits than misses - and think it was so on point at times that it was painful. In a good way. If that makes sense?

Ditto - Housos. Two seasons. Comedy series about the most awful bogans. Picture the trashiest and most appalling rednecks you could imagine. Like watching a train wreck at times. I loved i! Such a guilty pleasure!

Finally - if you can find it! - Little Lunch. A comedy for tweens. Ran on the ABC children’s network. Only found out about it cos a journalist in The Guardian Oz wrote a rave article about how it was his favourite comedy and how the whole family loved it. Set in an Australian primary school (years three thru six) and features six kids - three boys and three girls - all very distinct and different personalities. Hardly ever sentimental and usually a lovely sting in the tail somewhere. The kid actors get better and better as the series progresses over two seasons, and as the journalist said - they collectively give the best side-eye on Australian television. It’s glorious!

Hope that’s a help for the poster that wanted to know about some more Oz series!

R19 agree AbFab aged badly. Almost painful to watch now - even the new movie. But KK is hilarious - especially as I get older. Wish they never made the US version - that was painfully bad.

R5, check out Chris Lilley’s “Summer Heights High” and “We Can Be Heroes”.

Ooooh, thanks for the heads-up! I’ve been waiting to see this again. LOOOVE IT.

Kath and Kim is probably the most consistently hilarious show I’ve ever seen. Thanks for the heads up that it’s on Netflix.

R23 - not sure the Lilley shows hold up that well now? Especially the Summer Heights High one? The whole dragging up to play the mean high school girl and the blackfacing for Jonah - just doesn’t seem very appropriate now? If indeed - it ever was?

It never was R26 . Always amazed he got away with it - assumed it was Australia backwards thing.

But Jen - the Japanese mother of the (not)gay skater son - was hilarious. Racist probably - but hysterical.

My favorite show of all time. And the dvds play on my computer even though they're a different region code than in the U.S. Also check out "Da Kath and Kim Code" (a tv movie) and "Kath and Kimderella" (a feature film).

[quote]It's aging better than Absolutely Fabulous.

It helps immensely that Gina Riley is a comic genius, if you google some of her impersonations there's so many of them that are exactly on point especially the legends - Liza, Cher, Madonna, Bette Midler, Joan Collins... K&K were characters (Aussie suburban weirdos) they have been perfecting since at least the mid-80s. Even when the material was not great THEY were still incredibly funny.

DL people I hope you're aware that a lot of these threads are stared by people pitching shows for Netflix, HBO, Amazon, etc.

And R30... some of us are honestly just excited fans.

R21, you are a doll. I will look for those shows.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find more fans of The Kates, their sense of humor is very DL. They bounce between crassness, social satire with a feminist sensibility, and making fun of fraus. They're brilliant at this pop culture parody thing, and I would love to see them take on a different genre when they've exhausted the Get Krack!n premise. Which arguably they already have, but I remain eager for season two.

[quote]Sammy Davis, Jr. seems to be the only one to get that at heart it’s a melancholy song.

Yes, that is exactly what is wrong with Bassey's version. At least Rydell seems to understand the song, though he plays it almost deadpan.

Sorry my entire post is off topic.

R30, I started the thread and my closest connection to Netflix and Prime is when I smoke a bit of weed and open the app on the TV.

If you are paranoid about shills, just block the person and then look at the posts under Blocked.

I don’t think many shills start threads here, a major exception being that Beach Rats movie from last year, when someone went hog wild trying to promote it.

It did produce a splendid parody thread.

^ Beach Rats re-envisioned.

I think? R26? Is having? A stroke?

Homage to Streisand in The Main Event.

Kath & Kim is brilliant.

So full of genius lines. One of my favourites is when Kath says "I can't elope, Kim" while taking a melon out of the fridge.

At one point Kim and Sharon are in a shouting match when Kim accuses Sharon of being a hypochondriac, to which Sharon yells back, “I know, Kim - my doctor’s put me on a broad spectrum placebo!”

When Sharon goes speed-dating and tells the bloke 'she's a bit desperately lonely' haha

Sharon came back from Bali with an infected monkey bite on her face and casually mentions, “I think it's gone a bit septic, actually.”

Oh Kimmy will you strap this on?..

Call me "old fashioned", but what they're doing up there is illegal. And if it isn't I'm sure the bill is before Parliament.

Gina Riley fans will enjoy The Games, a mockumentary series filmed in the 1990s where she is part of the senior team putting together the Sydney Olympics. It's a satire of bureaucracy and people's stupidity generally, not sport-centric. Gina plays a no-nonsense businesswoman, so a nice contrast to Kim. The main star is the wonderful John Clarke: nobody would argue he's New Zealand's funniest export. I've watched it recently and it hasn't dated at all, because people are still stupid in the same ways.

Frontline is another 1990s series, but so brilliant it has been on the school leaving syllabus through the 2000s. It's a trenchant satire of tabloid TV journalism, pinpointing the trends that have now led to the public's having so little discrimination about the news that Trump can get away with crying "fake news" against the NYT and CNN.

Both of these shows are on YouTube from S1 Ep 1.

(Linked, from an earlier sketch show, is Magda's other famous character, the Uberfrau, Lynne. She should strike a chord with DL-ers.)

Kim: If Bret calls, I am in comunicado!

Kath: Where??

Kath: Kim, how did you lose all the weight?

Kim: The old fashioned way! Fags and laxatives.

Kim: My favorite film is Shallow Hal.

Kath: Why? Because you’re so fat?

Kim: No, because I’m shallow! Christ, you’re mean to me!

I just watched the Gay episode.

In addition to Kath’s gay panic (at r42) followed by acceptance, then elation, then disappointment when she learns Kim is not gay, despite the Three’s Company eavesdropping/double-entendres (at r41).

The episode also serves as our introduction to Kath’s speed reading.

I thought I had seen all of the episodes, delighted to find I missed the last season.

I spotted one of the Kates in a bit part in one episode.

It's a shame the American version didn't work. It had a great cast but never seemed to gel. Not to cast nasturtiums.

You’re a dyke! On a bike! If you like.....

Marion, the Marriage Counselor!!!! A laugh riot.

I love Kath in the Gay episode but Kim is so funny in it, too.

🎵 “She’s crazy! She’s crazy!” 🎵

I can’t reconcile Magda’s character at r43 with Sharon!

I actually enjoyed the American version even though I knew it was vastly inferior to the original. A few weeks ago, I actually watched clips of the original on YT, wanting to watch the full series. Looking forward to catching it on Netflix.

Give it a bone, Mum!

We've got stecks of hurhurba left erva from Octurba!

Ya packa chunts!

If you like K&K then check out Big Girls' Blouse, a late-90s sketch show starring Jane Turner, Gina Riley, and Magda Szubanski (they're all national treasures in Oz). It's where Kath & Kim first appeared and you'll see prototypes of other characters who later turned up in K&K (like Prue & Tru, the posh salesbitches).

It's a Sittidy noyt

En Oy fayl ool royt

Sew kamoon let's dense

R59 I loved "Big Girl's Blouse" also a couple of years later they followed that show up with the slicker (and hilariously crude) "Something Stupid". Here in Something Stupid they lampoon the Nineties hit cooking show "Two Fat Ladies" .

How are the movies? I'm three episodes into season 2.

First movie is good. Second isn't great but still enjoyable if you're a fan.

I know I miss some some cultural references.

I love the show, but from a foreign perspective.

I am and have been obsessed with this show. I WISH I COULD PURCHASE IT ON A REGION 1 DVD PLAYER. Instead I downloaded the torrent and stream on Netflix. And they changed some of the music in the background I noted last night. Look at moi.

The episode where Gina Riley plays the oversexed theater director who comes on to Kel. “I need men!!”

What episode is that?? I’d love to rewatch it.

Lookit moi!

R66, it’s the one where Kath and Kel are in the community theater production of the musical version of The Hours. (See r53.)

It also features Kim going on an all-cabbage diet, resulting in a farting session that stetches the full running time of the episode and then spills into Gina Riley’s other character, the imperious theater director.

Kim tries to deny and blame the farting on Cujo, but it’s no use. Sharon has to roll down the window and stick her head out as she’s driving just to breathe.

R68 Kathy looked a bit different in her suit. Yeah well that's Kathy's problem isn't it?

Prostate smoothies.

The Kath Diet: Celine Cuisine and Cardonnay, followed by a nice steaming hot cup of Jarrah.

I am taking your aggro on board. Because I’m okay and you’re ok.

No, Sharon. I’m okay and you’re a dickhead!

"Got to go fix my clowning glory."

What pacifically does that mean?

I can feel it in me waters

We've got heaps of jo joba left from October.

Rake is another great comedy.

I'm also secretly addicted to Rosehaven. It's not laugh out loud funny but very sweet.

I remember showing this show to my mother - American - years ago. Two minutes in she said that this was gonna be her favorite show ever and it still is!

The show never found success in Britain. Most British comedy today is pretty watered down and family friendly. Very politically correct.

Kath: "Women love curly hair on a woman - especially if it's on her head!"

One of my favorite moments is when a pregnant Kim is looking for a bathroom in Ikea. Two works take away fake walls in the middle of the store and she's sitting there taking a crap on a floor model toilet.

One of my favorite moments is when a pregnant Kim is looking for a bathroom in Ikea. Two workers take away fake walls in the middle of the store and she's sitting there taking a crap on a floor model toilet.

I love the incorrect use and swapping of "specific" and "pacific".

I stumbled across this thread when I was home sick with a nasty infection. Binged the first three seasons and now have finished them all. Having withdrawals. (And, also, craving microwaved hot dogs)

This one looks fun...

Kim is the most utterly irredeemable character I've ever seen on TV, this side of the Always Sunny ones, anyway. She never has even one moment where she's not completely self absorbed.

First three seasons are great, but the fourth really seemed to be just a greatest hits compilation - they were clearly running out of steam.

Affluent/Effluent

Footy Franks

Dippity Bix

Tiny Teddies

Cup of Jerrah

Celine Cuisine

The best thing about the Ikea toilet gag is that Kim never realizes it's not a real bathroom.

I turned on closed captioning on a random episode, and it corrected some of the malapropisms! I was gropable!

Conversely, R88, I leave on CC as it sometimes helps me catch some of the malapropisms I might miss.

So, Aussies, how much of the slang is legit and how much is made up for the show? I mean... "little boys"? Gross.

Do Aussies really refer to the toilet as the “toot”? She love that. I hope it’s real.

R90 Aussies of a certain ilk do

I've heard people use pacifically for specifically. That was a long time ago though.

Brilliant comedy, I am glad it is back.

[quote]I've heard people use pacifically for specifically. That was a long time ago though.

I'm sure we all have, but what Kath & Kim did took it to another level. They had the characters swap the usage and I don't think we got to hear them use "specific" until the 2nd or 3rd season when Kath mentioned she was looking into doing a "Specific cruise" with Kel and then, in a later episode, referred to Kim's elementary school as "Specific something something" when it was obviously meant to be "Pacific."

Hilarious.

Kylie Minogue as Epponnae Rae also dies the “pacific/specific” thing in her episode?

What are you staring at, Stare Bear?

You know your beeswax? Why don’t you mind it!

I’m loving myself stupid in this switch!

Kim-ouy, Kim-oye - lookat moiye - lookat moiye...

‘...ya pack of chunts!’

Revolting!!

Treat him mean, keep him keen

Kel = daddy as fuck

I really like K&K but it's one of those shows I can only watch a couple at a time, at the most. Too much of it all at once and it does get a bit...grating?

And, the American version wasn't awful but it suffered due to not having the Sharon character. You needed a third female voice to alternate with the mom/daughter and create more conflicts/plots.

I didn't find the American one funny at all, but I did see the Australian one first, so...

Kim’s water breaking after she, Kath, and Sharon inhale helium gas - I was nearly unconscious from laughter.

Earliest appearance of Kath Day Night? From a 90s sketch show. Hilarious. And younger Kel was adorable.

^ I have a longstanding crush on Kel of all phases.

Dammit. I should not have binged this show. Having withdrawals. Is there anything like it out there?

Omg I'm mid season two binge - too funny!

Yeah, we do use a lot of those words. Kath and Kel are known as CUBS here, cashed up bogans. They represent aspirational Australia. Asset rich via real estate and tacky as fuck.

The wedding episode is pure genius. It was on Aussie TV again last night. I can’t get the memory of that horse leering at Kim’s rear end through the hedge row out of my head. Bloody hilarious.

Unpredictable Lad

Upper Middle Bogan is very funny, it's not as anarchic as Kath and Kim and doesn't have the same density of classic lines, but still pretty sharp. The youngest and oldest cast members, Harrison Feldman and Robyn Nevin, are real standouts. Plus if you're into ginger eye candy there is Rhys Mitchell, who appears shirtless in every second episode.

Oh, man, you guys were right. The feature film was awful. I couldn't even get past the first 30 minutes. They should have just stayed in Australia and made it an extended episode with better production values.

“If I knew you hated my Bumbleinas, I never would have married you!”

That entire renovation episode is a scream. I love how Kim and Bret wear matching smocks a la Trading Spaces.

I watched the movie last night too. Horrid. What were they thinking? KK is a reality grounded farce. They completely forgot the reality part in the movie.

I've always wonder what was the idea behind Kath and Kel's open mouthed almost kisses.

"You're a Dutch seawall."

"You're a dyke. On a bike. If you like."

The episode where Kath thinks Kim is a lesbian is the funniest of all time.

^ Kath educated herself all night with her SPEED READING.

What does Kath do for money? IKEA isn’t free.

Kim’s got her job at the call center, but she still needs to steal her mother’s credit card for her online shopping.

I don't think Kath's speed reading registered with me the first time I watched this series. But this time, OMG, it cracks me up.

It’s revealed in all the flashbacks before Kim gives birth that Kath sold the home she had with her first husband for a mint.

R114 Jane Turner who plays Kath, will not kiss anyone who is not her husband. The only time you see her making out with someone is the taxi driver, and that is her real life husband.

R122 I thought Kath Day-Knight's amazing dance style was unique— until I saw this!

"I've had a few bites tonight" - Sharon (re: internet dating)

"Well get ya Cortisone cream!" - Kim

I'm binging it now and laughing at the advisory at the beginning: "TV MA: Nudity and smoking"

I wish they'd do another season.

I'd love a Kel of my own

Jokin' Jackie.

Why was Sharon absent from the US remake? I can't imagine they'd have a hard time finding a fat person in the US.

Just started watching this and I'm loving it. Really funny and can't believe I've never even heard of it until recently.

I'll second Summer Heights High, I just rewatched that and, to me, it still holds up. It's the most consistently funny show Chris Lilley has done. The rest have moments of brilliance here and there.

[Quote] can't believe I've never even heard of it until recently.

Are you from Germany?

[Quote] Always amazed he got away with it - assumed it was Australia backwards thing.

[Quote] But Jen - the Japanese mother of the (not)gay skater son - was hilarious. Racist probably - but hysterical.

Talking out of both sides of you mouth, huh.

[quote]Why was Sharon absent from the US remake?

Because Sharon is Magda Szubanski's creation and she refused to grant permission to use the character. Apparently she had an inkling that the US version was going to suck.

More like they wouldn't pay her what she wanted.

[Quote] Apparently she had an inkling that the US version was going to suck.

Well she wasn't wrong.

Kel's womanizing friend Sandy Freckle ... rowr!

Kath to Kim on why she wants a pumpkin coach for her wedding to Kell:

"Cinderella got married in a pumpkin coach and lived happily ever after...read your history books Kim!"

Now I'm watching the one with Jane Turner in drag as Sharon's jockey boyfriend

Is Jane Turner happy to kiss a woman on screen?

I love it.

Keem, Keem, KEEM

Look at moy!

Now i've got one thing to say to you....

Mouth bling!

[quote]Gina Riley is a comic genius, if you google some of her impersonations there's so many of them that are exactly on point especially the legends - Liza, Cher, Madonna, Bette Midler, Joan Collins...

Stevie Nicks!

Just started it - brilliant suburban satire!

[italic]The Real Housewives of the World,[/italic] with Jane Turner as former Australiab foreign minister Julie Bishop, Gina Riley as Hillz, Magda Szubanski as Angie Merkel, and Marg Downey (Marion the Marriage Counselor from K&K) as former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark

Gina Riley does Gina Liano

Now bring us “Big Girls Blouse”!!

So... what are other funny Australian shows worth checking out?

R151

Try Josh Thomas' 'Please Like Me'. Better than just funny.

Here's the IMDB description, but it doesn't do it justice. It's funny, smart and sharp, heart warming, and gay.

"Twenty something Josh is going through a number of big changes as he navigates his first decade of adulthood. After being dumped by his girlfriend, he comes to the realization that he is gay. "

There’s always a joker...

Just binged the series during COVID. Very enjoyable.

Want to put in another vote for Summer Heights High. It is the pinnacle of Chris Lilley's work, and as someone who had left high school only a few years before it came out, I can tell you, it gets the high school experience in Australia spot on. Like, it almost gives a kind of PTSD feeling watching it, because his observation is so good. Plus, as it goes on you actually forget Ja'mie is a 30 something man in drag, rather than a schoolgirl.

God, when the girls won't speak to Ja'mie so she calls a mediation? When they protest on the lawn for a school formal, only to run back to class at the first sight of a teacher? A male teacher trying to be all chummy and 'one of the kids' with the class trouble maker, getting him to do lame projects that won't help at all? The end of school musical? It's all just so accurate.

Other shows to recommend? Well, Lilley's We Can Be Heroes: Search for the Australian of the Year is good too. Frontline, oh and The Castle is a great movie, like Kath and Kim a lot of the lines have entered our vernacular.