Kath & Kim - Premise

Premise

Kath & Kim follows the day-to-day Australian suburban life of Kath Day-Knight (Jane Turner), her only child Kim Craig née Day (Gina Riley), Kim's husband Brett Craig (Peter Rowsthorn), Kath's love interest and eventual husband "purveyor of fine meats" Kel Knight (Glenn Robbins), and long-time family friend Sharon Strzelecki (Magda Szubanski).

The main setting is Kath's townhouse in Fountain Lakes. It is taped in a house in the waterfront street of Lagoon Place, Patterson Lakes, Victoria.

The storyline of first series follows Kath's engagement and plans for her wedding to Kel. Kim frequently stays in her mother's house owing to her rocky relationship with Brett (most of which is due to her own childish, spoilt, and rude behaviour towards Brett). Sharon's always around with a helping hand and her own relationship problems. Her history with Brett is also explored.

The second series follows Kim's pregnancy and her rekindled relationship with Brett. Kath and Kel's relationship goes through some teething troubles. Kim and Brett have a baby in the final episode of the second series whom they name Epponnee-Raelene Kathleen Darlene Charlene Craig, shortened to Epponnee-Rae. Several episodes of the third series focus on Epponnee-Rae. The series finale features an adult Epponnee-Rae, played by Kylie Minogue.

Storylines follow the characters' day-to-day lives, and document their personal struggles and the banality of their achievements and aspirations. Kath & Kim satirises the mother-daughter relationship and the habits and values of modern suburban Australians, and emphasises the kitsch and superficial elements of contemporary society, particularly the traditional working class which has progressed to a level of affluence (or "effluence" as quoted by Kath) which previous generations had been unable to achieve.

They visit places such as the Westfield Fountain Gate (some parts filmed at Westfield Southland), the local IKEA, Target, and various local restaurants.

It also occasionally mocks Australian and international popular culture, such as popular television shows Big Brother and Australian Idol. It sometimes makes statements about Australian politics. The crass and embarrassing behaviour of the characters, and their gaudy, out-dated fashion sense are popular features of the show.

The highly developed alternative vocabulary including the mixed metaphors, hypercorrection, malapropisms and mis-pronunciations of the regular characters are much-repeated by the show's fans. These include: "Look at me"—used by Kath to command attention during arguments, and "It's noice, different and unusual"—used by Kath, Kim and Sharon to express approval or agreement.