At NBC, where originality is ripped from other English-speaking countries of the world and rehashed with American accents, a decision was made to ride the success of its British import The Office with another remake. This time, the network went with Australian drama Kath & Kim, and made it into possibly the unfunniest comedy ever put on a small screen.

The sitcom starring Saturday Night Live alum, Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, known more for her film success, has been universally panned by critics, ironically just as the original series had been before being pulled just after one season. Yet there is something peculiar about this thoroughly unwatchable show; people are watching. The numbers may have dipped a bit in the middle of its freshman run, but the ratings for the show have remained relatively high.

It is an unsolved mystery worthy of Robert Stack. Though I know of a few people who watch the show, none—and I mean none—have once said they thought the show was funny. When pressed, most people say they watch the final minutes as they ready themselves for The Office. One person did say he watched the show out of a loyalty to Shannon from her days at SNL and hoped the show would just get better, which it hasn’t. Understatement.

Shocking as the success of Kath & Kim may be, it is not the first time critically lambasted shows found success. Tyler Perry’s House of Payne has been much maligned by critics, but still holds the record as the most watched sitcom on cable television in the US. Still, in the case of Payne and in the case of similar shows, audiences thought differently from the experts. In this case, supporters can be found in the Nielson Ratings, but actual fans of the show are harder to find than Detroit Lions fans.  

Still, Kath & Kim has one very good fan who counts the most, and that would be NBC, who announced the order of a full season. So masochists rejoice, while the rest of us tune in to Ugly Betty.

by Steve Anendale