molly shannon
The Top 8 Women Who Changed the Face of ‘SNL’
8:40AM Kyle Buchanan | In honour of Saturday Night Live alum Molly Shannon, whose poorly-received sitcom Kath & Kim premieres tonight on NBC (this weekend on Aussie screens), we thought it was time to pay tribute to the women who’ve made the biggest mark on SNL over the years. Whether it’s Tina Fey, whose profile has surged since her Sarah Palin guest appearances, or an underrated player like Jan Hooks who shines in late-night SNL reruns, we have a soft spot for the women who’ve succeeded despite being greatly outnumbered in SNL’s heavily male cast and writing room. More »
Anticipation For US ‘Kath & Kim’ Reaches All-Time Low
12:00PM Clem Bastow | As the “this is going to suck” juggernaut continues to roll in ahead of the premiere of NBC’s remake of Kath & Kim, it’s looking less and less like our Stateside friends are in any way confident that the show – starring Selma Blair as “Kim” and Molly Shannon as “Kath” – will be all NBC is no doubt hoping it’s cracked up to be. And given that here at Defamer Australia we are more or less certain it will blow, we continue to bring you even the most questionable K&K related hate mail news: here’s today’s!
US TV network NBC has rolled out a massive ad campaign and billboard blitz for the show but it appears Americans don’t really care about the foxy morons.
More » 
7:00AM Defamer Hollywood | Going for the Bronze: Though NBC’s Olympic coverage provided the network with television’s most watched event anywhere, ever, in the history of the universe, that massive audience hasn’t translated into major spikes of interest for NBC’s fall shows like Kath & Kim and My Own Worst Enemy. The network spent 65% of its promo time on returning shows (like Lipstick Jungle Lipstick Jungle Lipstick Jungle) but failed to perk awareness for anything but the 80’s retread Knight Rider. Still, before NBC shoehorns Michael Phelps into Selma Blair’s thong, they’ve got this bit of recent history to add perspective: the Athens Olympics were used to tout quickly flushed shows like Joey and LAX. Perhaps Kath & Kim will stand on its own merits — that is, as long as they didn’t advertise it during the rebellion-inducing beach volleyball marathon. [Variety] More »
US ‘Kath & Kim’ Continues To Miss The Point
10:18AM Clem Bastow | Man, it’s getting to the point where I wonder if I even need to report on the likelihood of the NBC remake of Kath & Kim sucking, since it’s such a scientifically proven inevitability.
The latest is that a thinktank of sorts has been convened in order to sex up the show.
Yes. They want to make it sexier. Really, why did they even bother? Hey NBC, I have another amazing Australian TV show for you to remake – it’s called A Country Practice!
The production is rumoured to have had a major shake-up in recent days, with a number of key crew – including the director, director of photography, the hair and make-up team and editor – apparently being replaced.
The first episode, which is due to go to air on NBC on October 9, is understood to be undergoing heavy reworking and may even be reshot.
NBC has invested heavily in the show, giving it prime placement in its Thursday evening comedy line-up. But sources say executives have asked the show be “more highly stylised”.
“Think CSI: Comedy. They want to de-Kath & Kim it a bit,” the industry insider said.
“CSI: Comedy”? They want to de-Kath & Kim it?? Why don’t they just call it “Kath & Kim”, but have it be about a wisecracking goldfish who provides relationship advice for a fat, lonely comic-book writer who lives in downtown Brooklyn? More » 
You Know What, Hang The Experts: US ‘Kath & Kim’ Does Suck
9:30AM Clem Bastow | Okay, so the promos have hit the internet and, well, let’s just say that things don’t look great for the hilarity levels of NBC’s Kath & Kim adaptation. If this were e.r., they’d be shouting things about how its comedy levels were “bottoming out” and how it’s joke “EKGs need BP and a crash cart, stat” (yes, it’s true: I did used to be a real doctor, actually, how did you guess?).
Anyway, here it is:
Wow, where to start! How about tacking the phrase “Australia’s #1 Comedy!” onto something that, on this 60-second sample, looks like it’s going to be about as funny as the Nuremberg Trials?
Way to make us look like the country with the biggest sense-of-humour deficit in the world, NBC! Cheers, we’ll slip another cyanide-laced shrimp on the barbie for you! More » 
Are You Ready To Look Upon The American ‘Kath’ And ‘Kim’?
9:35AM Clem Bastow | The American adaptation of Kath & Kim has been a source of great consternation both amongst the Defamer Australia crew and, well, pretty much every Australian with a brain and a sense of humour.
But, as Selma “Kim” Blair was quick to suggest, a whole bunch of pissed off Colonials isn’t going to stop NBC from going ahead and ruining making it – and neither has it. The network have started airing commercials promoting the show, and, well, here they are:
Your thoughts, members of the jury?
Perhaps it says something about my personal tastes, but Molly Shannon as Kath looks a bit too… good? And if they’ve re-pitched Kim as some sort of demented “kidult” with a penchant for sorbet-toned childrenswear, then I guess Patricia Field has done a bang-up job of Kim, too. More » Not Happy About The ‘Kath & Kim’ Remake? Don’t Tell Selma!
10:05AM Clem Bastow | A long time ago in an entertainment galaxy far, far away, we told you that Selma Blair had been cast as Kimmoyyy in the American, mall-set remake of Kath & Kim (Molly Shannon is taking on Kath Day Knight duties).
Well, it seems Selma is not too keen on Australia’s concerns that like, say, The Office and Wife Swap, Kath & Kim may be another thing that our American cousins just can’t do quite as well as the original.
“Some people are really protective and horrified that we’re doing it in the United States,” Blair said.
“It’s a case of, ‘How could you? Oh my god, you might ruin it’. But what’s to ruin? You’re still going to have your great show in Australia – we’re just paying homage to it. Nothing takes away from the original.”
Blair, 36, revealed the US version, which was originally set in Phoenix, Arizona, was now set in the sprawling suburbs of Florida.
“We’re middle-class, celebrity-obsessed, tabloid-crazy and kind of superficial,” she said. “We think we are so fabulous and we’re not really, at all.
“My mum Kath (played by Shannon) is wonderful and perky and positive and I’m a complete downer.”
Oh dear, already having to spell it out to viewers? This doesn’t bode well.
AND YES, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT, SELMA! Ahem, sorry, I’m not sure what came over me then. More » 
