Kath & Kim

Kath & Kim is an Australian television situation comedy series that is character-driven in its storytelling. Created by and written by Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who also portray the title characters, the show centers on a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship between Kath Day-Knight, a cheerful 50-year-old woman, and her self-indulgent daughter, Kim Craig. The main cast also includes Kath's boyfriend and second husband, the metrosexual Kel Knight, Kim's estranged husband Brett Craig, and Kim's lonely, overweight "second best friend," Sharon Strzelecki. The series is set in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Fountain Lakes and is primarily filmed in Patterson Lakes. The concept for Kath & Kim was developed by Turner and Riley in the early 1990s as a weekly segment on the Australian comedy series *Fast Forward*. The skit was later expanded into a full series. The first series of *Kath & Kim* premiered on ABC TV on 16 May 2002, followed by three additional series. A television movie, *Da Kath and Kim Code*, was broadcast nationally on 25 November 2005. The show has received critical acclaim, winning two Logie Awards for "Outstanding Comedy Programme" and the "Best Television Drama Series" at the Australian Film Institute Awards. In Australia, it became a pop culture phenomenon and was widely popular with audiences. Internationally, it developed a cult following, and in 2006, it was announced that an American version would be produced for NBC. Riley and Turner served as executive producers on the U.S. adaptation. The American version was also acquired by Seven, which premiered the series on 12 October 2008, just three days after its debut in the United States.