Good news for fans of the new US version of Kath & Kim … despite getting pulled off the air in Australia after only 2 airings there, Variety reports that NBC has decided to give their version of the Aussie comedy a full season of eps. Kath & Kim are here to stay … at least for the foreseeable future:

NBC’s “Kath & Kim” has become the latest frosh [series] to score a full-season pickup. Peacock announced the back nine order Friday afternoon. Reveille and Universal Media Studios are behind the skein, which stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. “Kath & Kim” is based on the Australian laffer of the same name. Peacock has aired four segs so far, averaging a 2.6 rating and 6 share among adults 18-49. Show has also averaged 6 million viewers. “Kath” has retained all of its “My Name is Earl” lead-in in those two measurements, and has built by 4 percent with adults 18-34. In announcing the pickup, NBC Entertainment exec VP Teri Weinberg said the net has “incredible confidence” in the show’s auspices and that NBC believes “it’s a perfect fit with our Thursday night comedies.”

While I admit that I am not totally wowed by the US version of Kath & Kim, I have been tuning in weekly and have been enjoying the show thus far. Again, it’s not as riotously funny as the original but it does provide some good chuckles and manages to keep me coming back for more. This week’s episode was the first ep of the remake to be directly based on one of the original Aussie eps. Based on the original episode Money, this week’s episode was an American re-telling of that ep. I’m not sure if NBC plans to continue basing their eps on old eps but it’s an interesting idea. Additionally, this week’s ep featured an appearance by an actor named Mike Naughton who is a childhood friend of my friend Mark back home in Detroit:

Mike tends to show up randomly in TV shows (like The Office and Friends) and commercials … it is always a treat to see him on TV. It really sounds like NBC has put a lot of faith and money in Kath & Kim and they aren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. I’ve always said that, with enough time, the show may be able to find its audience. With a full season of eps on the way, that might actually happen. I know I’ll keep watching. Are any of y’all tuning in?

[Source]

Australian audiences are, apparently, not really lovin’ the new US version of their beloved comedic series Kath & Kim. Channel 7, the Aussie network that picked up the US version of the series down under, has decided to pull the series off the air after only two episodes … and replace it with reruns of the original OZ version of the series in its place. Ouch! Nonetheless, filming continues on new eps here in SoCal on the LA set of the show … here are a couple pics of Molly Shannon and Selma Blair shooting new scenes for Kath & Kim yesterday afternoon:

The American version of hit Aussie TV comedy Kath + Kim has failed to impress Antipodean viewers - it has been dropped from schedules after just two episodes. Actress Selma Blairand U.S. funnywoman Molly Shannon play the role of the dysfunctional mother and daughter duo in the American adaptation of the award-winning series. But Australia’s Channel 7 has pulled the show from its primetime slot after the second episode viewing figures plummeted to 729,000 after a promising 1.23 million debut. The network has put the show into “resting” - meaning it will be held until the Australian summer (Nov-Jan08), when Aussie TV returns to its non-ratings period. And as a further blow, the original Kath + Kim will replace its American counterpart. A spokesperson for Channel 7 says, “The figures didn’t stand up for its second outing. For people who want to see more of the U.S. episodes they will return later this year.”

Oh snap! That is not good. In all honesty, tho, it makes sense that Aussie audiences might be turned off by a remake of a series that is still so highly regarded. I believe the third season of the original Kath & Kim just aired last year. For them, a new remake might not make sense so soon. Unfortch for NBC, US audiences aren’t really taking to the show either. After scoring pretty good ratings in its debut week, Kath & Kim suffered a 20% loss of viewership by week two:

The American sitcom based on Australia’s foxy duo from Fountain Lakes last night suffered a 20 per cent slide in its ratings in the US from last week’s better-than expected debut on TV network NBC. Millions of Americans opted to switch channels rather than stomach Kath and Kim’s second episode, with reality show Survivor on CBS and Ugly Betty on ABC easily winning the time slot. Only six million Americans tuned in to Kath & Kim’s second episode, compared to 7.5 million in its premiere week. US magazine, Entertainment Weekly, described it as a “rough evening” for NBC. “Kim was down from its solid premiere the previous week,” entertainment industry bible, Variety, reported. NBC is airing Kath and Kim, starring US actresses Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, as part of its Thursday night comedy block of sitcoms and the network suffered declines across the board … American critics largely savaged the NBC show, with the New York Post describing it as the “worst idea for an import from the land Down Under since Vegemite”.

NBC isn’t doing very well overall so mebbe the straits aren’t quite so dire for Kath & Kim here in the US just yet. I’ve been watching the show and while I think it’s cute, I wouldn’t necessarily call it funny. Well, mebbe that’s not entirely true … I do find myself laughing out loud at times but I am still comparing it the riotously funnier original. The show is still very new and mebbe once it hit it’s stride it’ll do better. NBC just picked up their remake of Knight Rider for a full season of eps. I stopped watching that mess after the second episode (IMHO, it’s really bad, y’all) … so if they can take a chance on that show then they should deffo take a chance on Kath & Kim. Have any of y’all been watching the show? What do you think … keep it or cancel it?

[Photo credit: INFdaily; Source, Source]

So let me tell you about my day yesterday … for the most part, it was pretty chill … no big problems … until I found out that Yahoo! mail has been effing up for the past month and, long story short, has been filtering out some very important emails out of my Gmail inbox. Essentially, they stopped forwarding my email even tho I pay for their email forwarding service. I mean, it’s not that big a deal but I missed out on a lot of important emails over the past month so I was a bit perturbed. I decided to go down my sorrows in a deep dish of Aussie Cheese Fries (pronounced Auzzie Chayze Froys) at the Outback Steak House in Burbank, CA last night and I was brutally rebuffed upon arrival. It turns out that the cast and crew of NBC’s new series Kath & Kim had closed down the place for a private party. Not only was I really annoyed that I couldn’t get my cheese fries fix but the gentleman turning away paying customers at the door was very rude … needless to say, they are all on my shit list right about now:

I actually considered hanging around for a bit so that I could give Molly Shannon and Selma Blair a piece of my mind but … meh, I just went home instead. Grrr … I can forgive most things but if you eff with my cheese fries, you’re pretty much dead to me.

Tonight is Britney Night at Tiger Heat and Darion suggested that we venture out to check it out … I think I may take him up on the offer. I’ve not been out on the town in quite a while and I have a hard time saying no to anything Britney related … so we’ll see. I might have to sate my hunger at Outback before I go tho … we’ll see.

The US debut of Kath & Kim is only about 2 weeks away and NBC is doing the final push to promote the series debut. As I’ve said all along, I’m going to give the show the full benefit of the doubt even tho I know it won’t be exactly like the amazing original Australian version of the show. I do trust, tho, that Molly Shannon and Selma Blair will be able to make me laugh … and that, over all, is what I’m most looking forward to. Here are a few screencaps from the latest NBC promo video for Kath & Kim:

At least I’m relieved to see that the US version of the series will showcase Kim’s love of thong underwear … on that account, I can breathe a hefty sigh of relief. After the jump, check out this latest Kath & Kim promo video and judge for yourself … (more…)

NBC has released a new promo pic of Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, in their respective roles as Kathleen ‘Kath’ Darleen Day Knight and Kimberly ‘Kim’ Day Craig, sitting side-by-side in their backyard porch/deck area seeming to emulate the regular closing scene of each ep of the original Aussie version of Kath & Kim … which I think is a very good step in the right direction:

Those familiar with the original Australian version of Kath & Kim know that each ep ends with mother and daughter engaging in a little banter on the back patio (or lanai, if you will) at the close of each episode. It appears that the new US version of the series will be doing the same. This is a good sign, I think. You may recall that we recently got to see new video promos for the show and new pics from filming of the series. All this new Kath & Kim stuff just keeps adding to the anticipation for me. I can’t wait to see this new incarnation of the show … for better or worse, I’m curious as hell. Still no word if the character of Sharon Karen Strzelecki will make it in the new US version … that should determine if NBC has made a fatal error or not.

[Source]

Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, stars of the new US version of the outrageously hilarious Aussie comedy Kath & Kim, were spied shooting new scenes for the first season of their new series. The gals were snapped filming a scene (with the actor who plays Kel) on an escalator at a SoCal shopping mall (the Burbank Town Center?) yesterday afternoon … take a look:

You may recall that I recently posted a few promo vid clips of the new US version of Kath & Kim which give us a good feel for what’s in store with this new incarnation of the show. It’s really hard to judge comedy from just pics like these so I am still reserving judgment on the show until it debuts on NBC this October. I dunno tho … there seems to be an awful lot of American Apparel being used in this new series. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

[Photo credit: Splash News]