Back in 2015 a modest webseries called 'The Katering Show' was the perfect antidote to earnest online cooking series and food trends. The series was as hysterical as its hosts, Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan.
After the series went viral and amassed an adoring fanbase the ABC picked up the second season which, in its self-aware state, saw the Kates grappling with their rising stardom while trying to tackle even more trendy foods like ramen or lasagna made from placenta.
The second season broke the record for most viewed original program on iView and allowed the Kates to move into a longer form comedy.
That's where 'Get Krack!n' comes in, the comedians have moved out of an Airbnb kitchen and into the studio for their take on a morning show.
The Kates spoke to HuffPost Australia about the series, the way they unapologetically mock women's roles in media and morning shows, and all things Katy Perry.
McCartney: We just couldn't keep talking about food anymore. We don't leave the house really.
Mclennan: There was a point in the second season of 'Katering' where Ronny Chieng was cast in 'The Daily Show' and potentially wasn't able to shoot the episode that we wrote for him and we couldn't think of another episode about food. We couldn't think about anything else to write about, we both realised we were done with the food format.
McCartney: What really appealed was the ability to talk about so many different subjects and have loads of different ways of penetrating subjects as well. So we didn't have to try and figure out what we wanted to say and then figure out how we wanted to filter that through food. There were just a lot more options available in terms of how we got to present information.
In one episode, the Kates excitedly dedicate the whole show to a key interview with pop star Katy Perry. Dressed in iconic Perry-inspired outfits, they bop along to music that they can't afford to license and discuss the dire state of the climate while wearing cupcakes on their heads.
With almost prophetic accuracy, a few weeks before the show went to air Katy Perry had her own run-in with Aussie morning TV after she was criticised for pre-filming an appearance on 'Sunrise'.
McCartney: We had no idea that was going to happen which is even more beautiful. And now there's all this Taylor Swift stuff happening again.
McLennan: We wrote it ages ago, because that's all based in truth, just after the first season of 'Katering Show' it was two weeks after I had a baby...
McCartney: ...and I had a six-month-old.
McLennan: Yeah, your kid was constipated. We got a call from our agent saying that Sony had been in touch with them and that Katy Perry was a huge fan of the show and wanted to do something with us and we couldn't quite process it but our agent was like, "Clearly you need to jump on this because... huge". So McCartney drove me to the Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages to register my child as a human being, we needed to get passports so we could fly to LA and shoot something with her. A few days later our agent rang up and told us something had happened with Katy and her diary was closed.
McCartney: It was just a very weird few days where we were just wondering... are we going to be catapulted into the stratosphere? So six months later we got another message saying Nora Jones was a HUGE fan of the show and she wanted to do something with us. THEN we got a message saying The Veronicas are huuuge fans of the show and wanted to do something with us. We're pretty sure there was just someone at Sony who was a huge fan of ours and wanted to do something with us.
McLennan: Yeah and these people have probably never even heard of us.
'Get Krack!n' is part 'Sunrise' part 'Soapdish' and fans of 'The Katering Show' will not be disappointed that the two have expanded on their winning formula. McLennan's desire to execute a perfect morning show with near psychotic energy is constantly matched with McCartney's full-body apathy to even be on set.
But they had explored that dynamic in the earlier show and moving to the longer-form series, 'Get Krack!in' provided more room to play, quite literally.
McLennan: This show has a lot of slapstick in it, which we didn't write into it but it happened once we got into this ridiculous set. You can imagine the first day that we walked in and saw that set after being in an Airbnb kitchen in Preston for 'The Katering Show'. We walked into this massive stage set...
McCartney: It was a lot to take on board. The set was designed to be a little bit discombobulating, we purposefully made it to have levels, so that you had to traverse awkwardly.
McLennan: We're being quite literal with that.
McCartney: All the steps are different heights, there's a dip and then you have to go up more stairs... we purposefully made it hard to walk in. The shelves are all skewiff, the couch is too low...
McLennan: Although that wasn't intentional that was just when we got in there and realised on our first photo shoot that the couch was too low and the cameras were too high and we just went...
McCartney: Excellent.
McLennan: Great.
McCartney: Then when you get in those clothes, it's just fun to play with. It's weird that our characters have kind of gone from ourselves to suddenly be turned into clowns. Physical clowns.
While the show is hysterically funny, the comedians also lampoon ridiculous standards set for women, the roles of women in media as well as more specifically women on television.
McCartney: It's a very strange thing, you watch these shows, it's completely geared towards women but then there's a male host saying inflammatory things and the women in that arena are meant to be like, "No you're a good guy, you're a good guy. You did say that but despite that hate speech, you are actually a good guy".
McLennan: Across networks they'll say that! "You know that guy from Channel 10, he's a good guy. He is a good guy! He has kind of controversial opinions but he's a good guy!"
McCartney: "He wants to restrict our rights, but he's a good guy."
McLennan: "He's got a daughter."
McCartney: "He's does have a daughter." It's very strange, it's a strange world and you don't know how to negotiate it when the main feminist coming out of these shows are these male hosts. "Sorry to interrupt ladies but I just wanted to say I'm a feminist."
While 'The Katering Show' was a massive success locally it also saw the Kates gain an international fanbase. In March it was announced 'Get Krack!n' had been picked up by American comedy streaming service Seeso, but in early August it was announced the service would be shutting down by the end of the year.
McLennan: Seeso's kaput now but they paid for half the show...and they can't get that money back because we've spent all of it. So they've folded but we've been quite cavalier about it for two reasons, the first because there's been a lot of love in the states for the show. We kind of figured it would work out, someone will buy it and it will be ok.
McCartney: We've had so many decisions to make during this process that part of us I think is just too tired.
McLennan: The other part is that it's just a really funny storyline if we get picked up for another series. We just love the idea of, you know, this series was pitched to America. Part of the reason it was developed was because it would have global appeal and that's the reason it's set at three in the morning, there are beats specifically there for the American audience. So there's this perverse, dark pleasure we take in the idea of that then falling through. We can't be TOO successful.
McCartney: Nah that'd be weird.
McLennan: We'll see how it pans out.
McCartney: They'll have to download it illegally like Australia does with everything else. Welcome to our world.
McLennan: Yeah this has all been our really elaborate ploy to make you realise how hard it is to torrent 'Game of Thrones'.
'Get Krack!n' premieres Wednesday, August 30 at 9:30pm on ABC.