MONDO EXTRAS

Phil runs out after the dog, and Kim, horrifed, says the divorce is, like, totally back on. Kath peeks out and, defeated, says "Cheese and rice, there goes my rose bush." Kim sidles up to Kath as she says that Craig's not the brightest bulb in the salon. Kim strikes back that Phil's not exactly a rocket scientist and Kath defends him, saying that he's a business owner. They snipe back and forth, Kath commanding Kim once again to "zip it."

Clearly, as per usual, all is likely forgiven in the next two seconds, because next we see the pair, they're sprawled out on lawn chairs reading to each other from tabloids. Kath reads that the stars all came out for a fundraiser to stop global warming. Kim protests, saying she loves being warm, but Kath reminds her that global warming isn't good, because it's making the polar bears burn up. Kim replies that they should simply go somewhere cold. Kath admits that it's nice that with her busy schedule she can manage to get a good tan in five minutes. With that they clink their wine glasses and toast, "To global warming!"

Okay, so, all in all, not bad. Most of the funny bits were things we'd seen in the promos, so it remains to be seen whether they can keep it rolling with the bon mots and malapropisms, but Molly Shannon and Selma Blair have great chemistry, and the satire is satisfyingly clever. It'll never be quite on the level that the Aussie one is, which is impossible by definition partly because so much of the humor was distinctly cultural. And it doesn't help matters in my mind that they completely cut the character of Kim's best friend Sharon, though if they'd kept her they'd have had the staggering obstacle of casting someone who could capture the uniquely hysterical caricature that Magda Szubanski played so perfectly. It's not really fair to compare the two. As Kim might say, it's like comparing apples to appletinis. But I'm hopeful that the show will maintain. Cheers to that, fools.

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