In news that’ll excite bogans across the country (this writer included), Channel 7 has announced that it will host a television reunion for the cast of the beloved Australian sitcom, Kath & Kim.
The television event will be divided into two parts and will hit screens on both Channel 7 and 7Plus by the end of this year. According to the station, the television special, titled Kath & Kim: Our Effluent Life, will reunite the show’s namesake characters — played by actors Gina Riley and Jane Turner — and feature never-before-seen moments from the show alongside special guest appearances.
The reunion comes ahead of the 20th anniversary of Kath & Kim, which first aired on ABC in 2002 and was later distributed by Channel 7 until its 2007 series finale. The show follows the misadventures of the titular Fountain Lakes residents alongside the comedic antics of their husbands Kel and Craig, and close friend Sharon Strzelecki.
Speaking of the reunion special, Kath & Kim’s executive producer Rick McKenna said: “It was great fun getting the team back together, plenty of laughs all around, which we look forward to sharing very soon.” He later referenced the show’s cultural longevity, saying that “It’s fascinating and delightful to see audiences around the world still loving Kath & Kim after 20 years.”
The show has certainly maintained its relevance in recent years, having found a renewed audience after landing on Netflix in 2019. More recently, in a true exemplar of Australian culture, fans of the show this year took to social media to suggest that Kath and Kim replace the late Queen on the five-dollar note. Last year, the house used to film Kath & Kim was spotted as the same set used to shoot a gay porn video, which was a noice, different and unusual turn of events for the show’s ongoing legacy.
Hear me out… #kathandkim pic.twitter.com/1vERTIC9f7
— Matt ✪ (@mattyxlp) September 10, 2022
Rumours of a Kath & Kim reboot first swirled in June, when Magda Szubanski — who plays Sharon — teased to various publications that “something is in the pipeline.” Speculation was further fuelled when members of the cast and crew were spotted around the show’s famous Lagoon Court home, though it was reported that they weren’t interrupting the aforementioned scene.
Kath & Kim’s reunion comes amid a swathe of similar reboots for classic Australian television shows. Last month, Netflix premiered Heartbreak High, a teen dramedy that received its first incarnation on Channel 10 in 1997. Just this week, filming began for the reboot of Australian Idol, a singing reality show competition that left screens some 13 years ago.
