Reproductions

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now - ever since I saw an episode of the American version of Kath and Kim.

Why is it that something that is a flop for one person can be a massive hit for another (and vice versa)? Just look at the song My Island home - it was recorded by three other people (including the writer) with limited success, before Christine Anu recorded it and had a massive hit.
As for Kath and Kim, the script seemed to be as word for word as i could tell, and yet it didn't quite have the same je ne sais quais as the home grown original. When I was talking about it to my workmates, they asked was it because it was Americanised? I don't think that was it per se, though there are a few minor differences: the accents for starters, though I wasn't sure if they were trying to do Australianesque accents or that was their base accents; Kel isn't a butcher, he owns a sandwich store and is called Phil; Kim and Brett (called Craig in the US version) are much younger and Sharon has been replaced entirely. But there is one major difference - and that's in the appearance of the actresses and I think that's were the big difference is. Both actresses are the typical American actress - skinny and relatively good looking. But most of the humour I think, comes from the fact that Kim thinks herself exceedingly attractive and fashionable, but isn't. And Kath worries about her age and how her body is changing with it, but Molly Shannon has a figure any 20 year old would be jealous of. Not to mention the disappearance of Sharon - Kim's overweight sport obsessed second best friend. She's been replaced with yet another good looking (though more voluptuous) woman. Whereas the men are more "normal" looking. And in the episode where Kel/Phil is getting secret dance lessons, the reacher isn't a little old lady, but a rather attractive woman that works in the same mall as him. They were just ordinary people, and we could laugh at them because they reminded us of ourselves in someways. But I think they've lost out on that in their casting choices of the women.