'Call Me Kat' and 'Miranda'

                           

While we wait for  Call Me Kat  to return for its second season,  a quick look at its original version, Miranda. This post is not going to compare the two sitcoms; rather a mere breakdown of the original in order to  understand the current version better.  

The BBC  sitcom  was the brainchild of English actress,  comedienne and writer, Miranda Hart; which she developed from her 2008 semi autobiographical radio comedy show, Miranda Hart's Joke Shop. Miranda, which was nominated several times for a BAFTA and won a Royal Television Society award, aired on BBC Two ( BBC One later on)  from 2009 to 2015- a total of 20 episodes (3 Series with two specials). The sitcom is notable for having a very wacky main character- Miranda- who begins every episode by directly addressing the audience (with an update of what to expect in the episode or what's been going on with her)  and waving  them goodbye at the end, along with the rest of the cast. The show revolves around a single woman who finds herself getting into mishaps in every episode, dodging her overbearing mother (Patricia Hodge) and yearning for the romantic affections of her former university friend, Gary (Tom Ellis).

Miranda, played by Miranda Hart, is undeniably the wackiest sitcom main character since maybe Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers and Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em- which ironically is one of Ms  Hart's influences behind her sitcom.   Plenty to say about this character and we mean a lot. She is somewhat a social misfit, first due to her height of 6 ft. 1, causing some of her old school mates to affectionately  call her 'Queen Kong'. She is childlike and eccentric; her favourite  past time making her 'fruit friends' and 'Vegta Pals'  by carving faces on fruits and vegetables AND dressing them *eye roll*. Her other traits include unexpectedly  bursting into song in the middle of a (usually serious) conversation or situation, deliberately and unintentionally  freaking people out (the first episode she went shopping for a dress for a date with Gary but ended up being mistaken for a transvestite, and another one where she reads Hitler's  Mein Kampf to children in a library and later on punches a vicar), as well as getting thrown out from different establishments. Other times, she goes out of her way to make living alone fun for herself but also turn a serious or romantic moment to a very silly one.  

  Miranda is actually a good natured, kind soul but hides it and her constant succumbing to her inner child  is more of a smoke screen to hide her lack of confidence but eventually finds it.   All through the season run, she lives in a flat above her joke shop/gift shop/boutique (bought with an inheritance from her uncle) which her best friend Stevie (Sarah Hadland) ends up running it instead, due to  Miranda's lack of business sense.  Some of her antics would leave viewers cringing or in stiches, but Miranda is a definitely a hilarious watch.

                                            TOP 10 FUNNIEST MIRANDA MOMENTS 

The American  remake Call Me Kat stars Blossom and The Big Big Bang Theory alum, Mayim Bialik; who plays  Kat, a single woman in her late thirties who uses the money set aside for her wedding to open a cat cafe. Miranda Hart is one  of the executive producers, (hence we know the new show has her blessing and backing), and it premiered on the 3rd of January 2021, on Fox. Like the original BBC version, Kat opens each episode by breaking the fourth wall and rounding off with a  goodbye wave  with the rest of the cast. Kyra Platt plays her friend Randi- a waitress in the cafe, Leslie Jordan her gay chef, Phil,  Julian Gant as Carter who owns the bar next to Kat's cafe and Cheyenne Jackson as her 'former' college love interest, Max, who works at Carter's bar. And there's Swoosie Kurtz, as Kat's overbearing mother Sheila; who is bent on seeing Kat married. 

Compared to Miranda, Kat is more quirky than childlike  but also has an issue with  social anxiety. She loves her cafe, the cats in the cafe and is bent on proving to her mother she can be happy and single. However, being  human, she sometimes questions herself and asks for advice when she has to make a decision; especially from Max, who she yearns for. Like Miranda, she is exasperated by her mother's meddling in her personal life but after a therapy session (which Miranda and Penny also had, with hilarious results), they reach a truce, for now. 

Season 1 ended with the hint of a love triangle- Kat moves on with a new man, Oscar, (after Max made it clear that as his friend, he couldn't date her). However, after bonding with her over the death of  one of her cats, Max appeared to have a change of heart and Kat is now torn between two men.  

Call Me Kat has been renewed for a Season 2 and we yearn to see how Kat is going to handle this new development.