US “Kath & Kim” Slammed by Critics

The American version of hit Australian comedy Kath & Kim has failed abysmally, with advance reviews labelling the remake as “jaw-droppingly awful”.

TV commentator Tim Goodman told the San Francisco Chronicle that the much-hyped NBC version of the show was possibly the worst remake America has ever produced.

“The first two episodes of Kath & Kim… were jaw-dropping in their awfulness,” Goodman said.

“[The show is] a fantastically funny Australian comedy that goes into the record books on these shores as a contender for worst remake ever.”

“(The show is) a fantastically funny Australian comedy that goes into the record books on these shores as a contender for worst remake ever.”

He added: “The American version misses the mark so badly that it’s barely recognisable as a distant cousin to the original.”

Goodman also had criticism for the show’s lead actresses, Molly Shannon [Kath] and Hellboy’s Selma Blair [Kim], who he said “lacked the well-drawn humour” of the show’s original portrayers, Jane Turner and Gina Riley.

“Shannon is able to get down some of the tackiness, translated to American mall culture,” Goodman said, “but misses pretty much all the other Kathisms.”

“Blair’s Kim is merely stock poutiness and insincere anger, it all goes nowhere.”

Another reviewer, Glen Walker from the website Welcome to Hell, had something slightly more scathing to say about Shannon and Blair’s performances.

“The three leads are at best uninteresting and at worst annoying and nerve-grating, I hated this,” Walker said.

Kath & Kim, the US version, premieres in the States on NBC Thursday, and on the Seven Network in Australia this Sunday. But with reviews like that, I wouldn’t expect many people would be bothered to tune in, if only to laugh hysterically at how extraordinarily LAME it all is.

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Mischa Snubs Cannes Premiere of Lesbian Film

Former O.C. starlet Mischa Barton has been criticized for failing to attend the scheduled premiere of her new movie, You And I, in Cannes, because she thought the film was “awful” and “didn’t want to be involved in the project.”

Barton, who turned 22 in January, opted to party at Chopard’s Cannes bash instead of attending the premiere. She pulled out of all promotional work for the film earlier in the day, saying she was going home, but a source has revealed Mischa was still on the Riviera and drinking champers when You And I was due to debut.

The source apparently asked the young actress why she wasn’t at the premiere, to which Mischa snapped: “I was never due to go.” Not a very good argument, considering she was in partying in Cannes at the time.

In the film, Mischa plays one of two teenage girls who attend a t.A.T.u. concert in Moscow and fall in love. Bandmembers Lena and Yulia play themselves in the cross-continental film. As you all know, t.A.T.u. is the Russian girl band who’ve made a controversial come-back, appearing naked in their new music video for the track, Beliy Plachik.

The plotline is pretty simple: “[The girls] are swept into a dangerous world of obsession, drug abuse and murder.” Sounds a lot like the plot to Lindsay Lohan’s D-grade stripper romp, I Know Who Killed Me.

Here are some pics of Mischa from Britain’s Best 2008 Awards in London. Read more