D-Gen to Fast Forward and Big Girl's Blouse and Something Stupid...

[logansrogue]

I was watching some clips of the American version of Kath and Kim on Youtube and was horrified by what I saw.  I mean, the original could get a bit much sometimes with the cringe-humour, but it was always full of some good chortles, you know?  It was a merciless pisstake of our most common culture, but there was a loving streak in there, a bit of heart.   The American version seems to totally miss the mark.  What's the point of Kimmy if she's svelt like Selma Blair?  The g-string and the low-ride pants are nothing without the obscene muffin-top!   Selma seems to utter the lines with ambivalence, where as Gina would spit them out with venom and fire, knowing just how fucking hilarious she is.  Selma isn't a comedienne and she didn't create this character.  She's going at it as an actress and TOTALLY missing the mark.  The only one that's even trying to fill out the role is the guy playing Kath's new husband (I forget the name).  He has the right spirit.

Anyway, it all reminded me of how funny things used to be on TV in the 80s.  D-Generation, Fast Forward, Full Frontal, Big Girl's Blouse, Something Stupid.  (They were our Saturday Night Lives, In Living Colour, etc).  There were a few clankers in there but when they got it, when they were funny, oh, it was pure bliss. 

Chenille was always very funny.  Magda rarely got a character wrong.  In fact, most of the comedians were pretty awesome to watch, especially when they started losing their shit during a sketch.

Fuck it, I'm embedding that sketch, that's hilarious:

Makes me fucking lose it every time.  LOL!

Comments

[greenforest-elf.livejournal.com]

ughh I as wondering how it would be :(

ohhh are you coming to dinner for pride? we need to book numbers, are about up to 15

plluhhhheze come??????????

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Would love to! Can you book two more cause I'm going to ask my sister and her husband. They might or might not come, I have to ask them tonight.

[dark-joxer.livejournal.com]

Hey, when IS the pride parade? Will I be in town for it? I hope so - it's usually a good night out in northbridge.

aheh... a night *out*.... *groan*.........

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

hehehe! Shit, that's a good point! I don't even know what date it'll bet yet!

[greenforest-elf.livejournal.com]

ohhh ohh YAY I have let Kaz know :) I will do a reminder post soon

*hugs*

[zebeckras.livejournal.com]

I didn't actually know that Kath & Kim was a remake. I saw a touch of it last night and was left utterly cold, and I like Selma Blair, but I was like "WTF *is* this?" It mystified me that Selma was being played as if she's dumpy and plain or something, first of all. Secondly I didn't get that it was meant to be edgy or offensive. It ended with them saying something about "here's to global warming" and I was like "hm. topical." (you have to imagine that dripping with sarcasm) It left me cold, whereas now that you mention this I know fully well that two actresses who know how to pull it off could have made that really horribly funny. ;D

Then again aren't American remakes almost unfailingly off the mark? Have you seen clips out of the US version of "Red Dwarf"? Oh GOD! "The Office" is just about the only one to take a really snarky foreign-made show and have it work, even with a slight shift in emphasis. (And I'm actually quite sick of the US Office by now anyway. Went on too damn long.)

Oh, give me "Arrested Development" any day for some American-made cringey humour. And the hotness of Portia DeRossi. AND the hotness of Will Arnett, now that I'm thinking about it! That show was about so much more than hotness... but I won't *complain* about the high levels of hot that it contained. *G*

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Oh hun, I'm sorry that's what you saw of the show. Here it is in context:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQGiKIfMNdU

[xedra.livejournal.com]

OMG I am crying laughing seeing that video! XD
*gasping for air*

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

I was shrieking when I first saw it, (I was a kid and had seen replays of Kung Fu). Just awesome! :D

[secrets-n-lies.livejournal.com]

and apparently selma blair had to gain a whole heap of weight for that role *rolls eyes*

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

You're fucking KIDDING ME.

[scotsnow.livejournal.com]

Oh, I remember this skit! Vizard was notorious for losing it during routines; all those airline steward skits for example.

I loved that they would leave that shit in. Made it all the funnier!

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

It did! Apparently there was a dude on SNL that would lose it a lot, and I saw a skit and it just wasn't the same as Vizard. Vizard made it funny.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

The Late Show was probably our equivalent of SNL when it was good etc. For people that are a bit older like me, the Big Gig and The Gillies Report were both awesomely funny.

Though to be honest I found a lot of the other ones you mention pretty mediocre.

I am completely weirded out that not only is The US Kath and Kim being shown on commercial TV here, it is being promoted only by showing clips of the Australian show. It is almost as if they know it is so awful they will only scare viewers away if they see it, and just hope they'll watch it just out of loyalty to the Australian version.

And yeah, casting Selma Blair just completely missed the point.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Oh, The Big Gig and the Gillies Report were AWESOME. And the Late Show - LOOOOOOOOVED the Late Show!

[zzzzsleep.livejournal.com]

Did you ever see the fast forward skit with Magda as a proctologist that they eventually had to abandon because either Peter Moon, Magda or both would crack up laughing. The furthest they got into the skit was:
Magda: Okay drop your dacks.
*Peers*
Magda: It's a bit woofy down here... *bursts out laughing*

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

I vaguely remember that!