Kath & Kim – Nostalgia Central

2 0 0 2 – 2 0 0 7 (Australia)
32 x 30 minute episodes

Kath & Kim took Australia by storm in 2002. It took the rest of the world some time to catch up, but catch up it did.

The pseudo-fly-on-the-wall documentary follows the lives of Melbourne mother Kath Day (Jane Turner) and her daughter Kimberly (Gina Riley).

The show is full of righteously spoken mispronunciations, mixed metaphors, rhyming wordplay (“Does it make me a crim to keep myself trim, Kim?”) and cuttingly observed characters, many played by Gina Riley and Jane Turner themselves.

Nothing about suburban life is sacred: the show’s main satirical target is pretentiousness. Self-centred Kim keeps leaving her husband, Brett, and then returning home.

But Kath has fallen for “purveyor of fine meats” Kel Knight, and there is no longer room for Kim in the family home.

Kim’s friend Sharon (Magda Szubanski) loyally does all she can for Kim and Kath. Between the three women and their menfolk, lots of trouble abounds, although they remain oblivious to the carnage left in their wake.

A sign of the show’s success was the many catchphrases it introduced into common parlance.

Guests included Kylie Minogue, Eric Bana, Matt Lucas, Mark Holden, Rachel Griffiths, Geoffrey Rush, Frank Woodley, Kaarin Fairfax, Vince Colosimo, Rob Sitch, Marg Downey, Judith Lucy, Mick Molloy, Shane Warne, Maggie Beer, and Tony Martin.

Kathleen ‘Kath’ Darleen Day Knight/Prue
Jane Turner
Kimberly ‘Kim’ Day Craig/Trude
Gina Riley
Kel Graham Knight
Glenn Robbins
Brett Craig
Peter Rowsthorn
Sharon Karen Strzelecki
Magda Szubanski