A couple years ago, Fox had two new shows- “Call me Kat” and “Welcome to Flatch”. Two off-the-walls comedies with a modest following I thought had been cancelled by last year’s writers strike.
I got curious the other day and did a little research.
I was wrong. They were actually cancelled around this time a year ago, back when it was still weather balloon and train derailment season. Strike season (impacting writers, actor and auto workers) was still a month or so off.
While “Flatch” was very strange yet lovable and oddball, following a similar formula as The Office, I really liked “Kat” and I’m sad it’s gone.
That being said, it’s not immune to criticism. Reading various reviews, even the people who liked it took issues for a bunch of things. Most of which I couldn’t help but agree with. The show was far from perfect but what show is?
There was only one criticism that was completely missing from the comments and it’s why I’m here.
Maybe this perspective makes me naive or old fashioned or whatever… but I always thought the protagonist was the star of the show and the other characters are always supposed to like them and support them.
But it seemed to me like Kat had a group of people around her that didn’t get her quirks or play them off for laughs.
The biggest offender is her mom, Sheila. All the online criticism was focused on how much plastic surgery the actress had. Nobody mentioned how horrible she is as a mom. In her mind, Kat should have kept her high paying job and started giving her grandchildren. Then when she and Max broke up, she criticized her for it and didn’t want to understand why she did it. I mean, it is a huge leap- quitting a good job to live your dream of running a cat cafe. But there isn’t one episode where she doesn’t write it off as a waste of time or a bad decision. Sooner or later, you have to get with the program and let your children live their lives.
There’d be the occasional story arc where they have a heart to heart and Sheila offers some sort of apology and is grateful she has Kat. Then she goes back to being demeaning and condescending an episode later like that understanding never happened.
I have my own opinions about female characters constantly being badgered about “when are you having kids?” so I’ll leave that alone for now. Married with no kids is my dream and I want to see more representation of that in the media.
Ok, rant over.
The quirky girl archetype is maybe a little more done by this point (Disney has really leaned into it lately between Frozen and Encanto) but I still like it. Just with Kat, it was frustrating she was the only quirky one and nobody else wanted to get on board with that. Even Max would go along with her on that for so far.
The way the other characters treated her quirks is the reason I reserve mine for my closest friends and family. I feel self conscious about showing that side of me unless I know for sure other people won’t laugh at me or treat me like I’m some sort of a weirdo. This is something I still struggle with and I’m in my late 30s.
On the other hand, New Girl had Jess as the quirky title character the other guys didn’t really get. But eventually they got her humor and they found fun quirky things to do together. Like that one game they always played and somehow knew the rules to and I still don’t know how it works. I'll have to look up the rules online at some point.
Just to give some other examples of this “battered protagonist” trend-
Abbott Elementary is a really big show that’s won a lot of awards. I couldn’t get through more than a couple episodes because of the lead character’s boss. I just remember her disagreeing with the principal and going to the superintendent for her to be reprimanded, only for that to backfire cuz the superintendent is in the principal's back pocket. I think her coworkers treated her better than Kat’s friends so this might not be a valid argument.
But that principal, ugh, can’t stand her. It’s so strange how Quinta wrote the show and cast herself as the punching bag, the idealist who wants to actually make a difference and nobody wants to assist with that.
Then “better off dead”- really enjoy that show. I didn’t see Gina Rodriguez in “Jane the Virgin” but I’ve really enjoyed her as the obituary writer who talks to the recently departed. But it’s an uncomfortable watch when her superior (Lauren Ash I knew well from Superstore, great show gone too soon) is dripping with demeaning sarcasm every other interaction. Her roommate Edward is no better but he has his occasional moments where he’s helpful and telling things like they are is actually helpful.
But does it always have to be like that? Treating someone poorly one minute but the next they’re helpful in a way you didn’t expect.
Big Bang Theory has some of this also but I like the characters enough that I can get past these issues. Even Sheldon grew on me over time even though he’s super frustrating, especially when he can talk his way out of any transgression.
Is it so hard to be nice without it coming from a back handed compliment?
“Glee” also came to mind while I was brainstorming for this. I realize it’s technically an ensemble show but I always thought Rachel was the main character and I think she gets too much hate. She’s not perfect and she’d done things I don’t agree with. (Giving up her Funny Girl lead to do a sitcom that got cancelled after one season was the absolute worst- I blame the writers... they didn't need to force a final season because it ended well with how the previous one ended)
But her whole dynamic with Santana- I’m Team Rachel all the way. No disrespect to Naya Rivera, who was gone too soon like two of other Glee cast members, I didn’t like Santana intruding on Rachel’s broadway dreams, squatting in her loft with Kurt and auditioning as her understudy. How would you like it if the person who bullied you in school came into your life and competed with you like that? She should’ve found her own dream and left Rachel alone. The only good thing she did was being the voice of reason that got her the courage to do her opening night of Funny Girl.
Anyway I digress.Back to “Kat” and its other issues.
My big draw to it was the cat cafe idea. It’s super cute setup. But I just about had a panic attack at the start of season two because it looked like they were doing away with it. The cats stayed but it became less about them as time went on.
I always liked Max and the dynamic with him and Kat. Naturally like a lot of sitcoms before it, them getting together nearly killed the show. Or at least their breakup did. It killed me when they stopped talking to each other. A similar thing happened during the last season of Psych. All of the fun got sucked out of the show and I just wanted the tension to go away.
One final comment on Max- he was fun and a great character and had great chemistry with Kat. But going forward, please stop casting gay men in straight roles. The reverse, also true. Although I really liked Darren Kriss on Glee. Blaine and Kurt were such a cute couple.
I had NO idea until Cheyenne Jackson appeared on The Masked Singer that he was gay. Adding insult to injury, he’s openly gay and I didn’t have a clue. Seriously, for every gay actor like Leslie Jordan and Chris Colfer where their sexuality is extremely obvious, there’s Zachary Quinto and Cheyenne Jackson where their sexuality isn’t as obvious. My perception, or what others would call "gay-dar," has been horrendous since high school and gays playing straight on screen isn't helping that get any better.
But I also don't want others' sexuality to be made glaringly obvious through obnoxious fashion choices. I'm all for representation and visibility, but there are better ways to do it that are a lot easier on the eyes.
The biggest issue people had and I can’t help but agree- the 4th wall breaks.
In an industry that’s become overrun with self-aware meta humor, this show was one of the biggest offenders.
The original British series Miranda apparently had this too but not to this extent.
It was funny the first few shows. Cutaways you can count on one hand and they didn’t last long. But they grew longer and became way too frequent. One commenter said it was like telling a joke and having to explain to the audience why it’s funny. And if you have to explain your jokes that much, you’re doing something wrong.
I did like the curtain calls at the end, especially when it thanked the crew for putting on the show even with all the restrictions in place with masking up and stuff. The one time it felt strange was after a big fallout between Kat and Max. And they smile and wave like nothing bad happened.
One thing about “call me Kat” that they did perfectly- how they addressed Leslie Jordan’s passing in the show.
He had his own over the top moments but he was still very likable. A bright light on that show and it wasn’t the same afterwards. Pretty much all of the comments agreed on that.
Typically when actors pass away, the shows will write them out, recast them or do a touching tribute show like Glee did for Cory Monteith (can’t believe it’s been 10 years…)
With Leslie, they did it right and more shows should do this. They gave him a happy ending off screen. Really couldn’t ask for better. Then it’s almost like the show struggled to find itself again and never recovered.
The biggest issue people had and I can’t help but agree- the 4th wall breaks.
In an industry that’s become overrun with self-aware meta humor, this show was one of the biggest offenders.
The original British series Miranda apparently had this too but not to this extent.
It was funny the first few shows. Cutaways you can count on one hand and they didn’t last long. But they grew longer and became way too frequent. One commenter said it was like telling a joke and having to explain to the audience why it’s funny. And if you have to explain your jokes that much, you’re doing something wrong.
I did like the curtain calls at the end, especially when it thanked the crew for putting on the show even with all the restrictions in place with masking up and stuff. The one time it felt strange was after a big fallout between Kat and Max. And they smile and wave like nothing bad happened.
One thing about “call me Kat” that they did perfectly- how they addressed Leslie Jordan’s passing in the show.
He had his own over the top moments but he was still very likable. A bright light on that show and it wasn’t the same afterwards. Pretty much all of the comments agreed on that.
Typically when actors pass away, the shows will write them out, recast them or do a touching tribute show like Glee did for Cory Monteith (can’t believe it’s been 10 years…)
With Leslie, they did it right and more shows should do this. They gave him a happy ending off screen. Really couldn’t ask for better. Then it’s almost like the show struggled to find itself again and never recovered.
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