Paul Kelly once sang, "From little things, big things grow," and this could not be more true than in the case of Kath and Kim. What began as a series of short sketches has gone on to become a television show in its own right, augmented by new characters, and a flowing and evolving story line.
Kath and Kim is the creation of Jane Turner and Gina Riley and was first seen during their short-lived, but very funny, television show Big Girl's Blouse. Before this, Turner and Riley gained nationwide popularity as members of the comedy team that gave us the sketch/parody show Fast Forward. This eventually melded into Full Frontal but it was never the same after the departure of Turner, Riley, Magda Szubanski, Peter Moon, Marg Downey, and Michael Veitch. The girls also had another brief foray into television sketch comedy with Something Stupid.
After the disappearance of Big Girl's Blouse, little was heard of the cast until 2002 and the arrival of Kath and Kim. This became an instant hit on the ABC and a second series is due to start shooting in April 2003. This DVD release of Series 1 is a fantastic introduction to Kath Day and Kim Craig, the mother and daughter team that will have you cringing with embarrassment at every turn, but also laughing at their attempts to be something they will never be, "effluent". Sure, Kim is a 'hornbag', but she's also a foxymoron. As for Kath, just as long as she gets her pumpkin-style coach for the wedding, everything else will work out. She can feel it in her waters.
The cast includes Szubanski who plays Kim's second best-friend, Sharon, a sports-obsessed tryhard who seems content to be Kim's doormat just so long as Kimmy is okay. There is also Kath's 'hunk o' spunk' boyfriend, Kel Knight (Glenn All Aussie Adventures, The Panel, Comedy Company Robbins, a butcher (sorry, a "Purveyor of Fine Meats") who wants to marry Kath, thereby turning Day into Knight (get it?). Kel is also obsessed with creating a commemorative sausage. Lastly, there is Kim's estranged husband, Brett (Peter Comedy Company Rowsthorn), who possibly loves his rottweiler, Cujo, more than he loves Kim. Surely not?
The joy of this series, apart from watching the cast having a good time, is the little things that some viewers might miss such as the subtle wordplay and numerous puns. There are also obvious laughs such as the mixed metaphors, and the characters falling in love with the most mundane and tacky elements of life. Check out Kath's wedding dress and wedding theme - and you'll never walk past any bra and panties shop again without thinking of Ooh La La.
| "I want to be effluent, Mum. Effluent!" |
There are also humorous catch phrases, the best known being "Look at me ploi-se, Kimmy. Look at me, look at me." It's easy to laugh at people like this and Kath and Kim give viewers plenty of chances. It is even more amusing when you realise that some of those laughing the hardest probably do not realise they are laughing at parodies of themselves. Something akin to watching an episode of Springer...
This release captures every great moment of the first series, and a whole swag of extra stuff such as extended scenes and outtakes. Gina Riley and Jane Turner, with the help of the other cast members, have created a rare thing; a successful and funny Australian comedy series. It remains to be seen of course just how long it can remain funny, and I am sure most of us are hoping that the girls do not run the joke into the ground and have the good sense to know when enough is enough. That's the mark of a good series, knowing when it has run its course. However, I feel sure that Kath and Kim has a little more to offer yet.
Ah this is an absolutely fine video transfer, and is presented in a 16x9 enhanced 1.78:1 aspect ratio. This is a wonderfully clear transfer and extremely sharp and detailed. Camera work is regularly shaky, but this is intentional and helps create the doco-style that much of Kath and Kim is meant to look like. Remember Sylvania Waters?
Colours are extremely accurate and there is no evidence of bleeding, discolouration or chroma noise. Black levels likewise are extremely good, and even and deep. There is no evidence of low-level noise here either. Shadow detail is faultless, though most of this is shot well and truly in good lighting. Even location filming is seamless in quality.
Grain is non-existent in any of the indoor or outdoor scenes, and even the aliasing is undetectable.
The only fault is on the second disc in Episode 5, where there are two very brief instances of digital tape dropout that look like tiny square snowflakes on the screen. As said, they last a microsecond and are not severe. In all other ways, this release is faultless.
There is a layer change on disc one in episode three, but it is not distracting. Disc two's layer change could not be detected.
As per most television shows, Kath and Kim has but a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo option, and this is crystal clear at all times. Audio synch is great, and the infrequent incidental music is well placed and does not interfere with the dialogue.
The low-level sounds are good, but extremely infrequent, and are best showed off during the theme song sung by Gina Riley, and doesn't she have a incredible singing voice?
