NBC's new comedy Kath & Kim finds humor in the battle between Kath (Molly Shannon) and her aspiring trophy wife daughter Kim (Selma Blair), who moves back home after a quickie divorce. It's probably safe to assume there will be a few very special episodes where they both learn something in the end.
Molly Shannon is Kath
"Yeah, yeah, there is," said Shannon. "Not in a corny way. Yeah, it kind of wraps up I would say. There is heart in it but it's not tied up so neatly. It's still in a funny way I would say."
A lot of comedy can come from dark places, as comedians use humor to recover. So too does Kath & Kim address real issues in a funny way.
"The darkness would be like the kind of dysfunctional family relations everybody can relate to which is like I said, she's trying to get her life on but the daughter's coming back into the house and she's like ugh. She's really sucked back into that dynamic with her daughter as mothers and daughters know with that struggle. They fight but they love one another. Fighting is part of love so it's that kind of relationship, so that's the dark side is being sucked back into that vortex of Kim. But she is a positive, together woman who's trying to move forward and not get back in because she feels like this is her time, Kath time to start her life and date. She's like, 'This is my time for me.' That kind of thing."
NBC's Kath & Kim is based on the Australian show of the same name. Shannon and co. have Americanized it. "I think the Australian women who created Kath and Kim, Jane Turner and Gina Riley, think of the equivalent as kind of Orange County. They're like Midwesterners in Florida, kind of like French manicure. I think these people don't have as much money but that kind of thinking your classy but not so. Kind of tacky but they really idolize celebrities and they worship US Magazine and Vanity Fair and they love fantasizing about these great celebrities' lives and they like to read about pop culture and they're really into that."
If the show is a hit, Shannon could be playing Kath for many years. It would be a change of page from doing one movie or even briefer arcs on Saturday Night Live sketches.
"Yeah, it is interesting because I'm used to switching around but in a way it's fun because you can develop it and really live with it and develop it more and more as you do it. So I really like that. It's fun playing a character. I find it freeing. It's different than myself. Sometimes I'll act close to myself, I'm more critical or I think, "Ooh, I don't like my hair." Playing a character, you feel freed in a way because it's so different than yourself. I prefer it I would say."
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