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Gone: Kath & Kim (US)

With only 729,000 viewers, Seven replaces the American version of Kath & Kim with the original series.

The curiosity factor is over and Aussies have voted with their eyeballs.

Channel Seven has moved quickly on lousy numbers for Kath and Kim: The American Series which fell to 729,000 viewers last night. It was down from 1.23m in its first outing.

It was beaten by 20 to 1 and an early edition of Australian Idol.

Seven will replace it with the original duo, Jane Turner and Gina Riley with the episode “Obsession” from this Sunday night. It guest stars Vince Colosimo. That means we may never get to see episodes that were entirely scripted from scratch…

In the US Kath and Kim took a 20% fall in its second week and fell to third in 18 – 49’s.

Turner & Riley are believed to be writing episodes for a new, local series.

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57 Responses

  1. Why oh why? 729,000 people are still a lot of people who have just been treated like crap by Seven.

    I hate the commercial networks. They don’t deserve any support from viewers if they continue to treat their viewers with total disrespect.

    Instead of hyping these shows within an inch of their life, why not start them off in a lesser timeslot and if it works really well then move it to a prime time slot. Or get advance previews and run a focus group or something.

    The commercial networks are the ones destroying themselves.

  2. I think we all know the Aussie version would never have worked in the US the Fountain Lakes accent is an accent even to us.

    Thank God You’re Here was remade, and so is Sit Down Shut Up.

    As for original Aussie successes, count them on one hand: Crocodile Hunter, Prisoner had good success (in original form before a remake), and it will be interesting to see how Summer Heights High fares on HBO.

  3. Listen Jack. We’ve had this discussion over and over again.

    The US has shown the Aussie version (not in prime time and on a huge network) but Americans just don’t get our humour. They don’t understand it at all. So that is why they just didn’t show it in a prime time. Okay?

  4. Good on them, the Australian version is far better than ammerica’s lame attempt at it.

    You see what I dont get is the fact Ammerica couldn’t have just shown the oz version in a prime time slot but no istead they insist on making their own version, thats the thing with ammerican TV companys, they just cant accept that sometimes Australia makes better shows than what they could make.

    To be honest I hate most Ammerican shows this was neevr going to apeal to me, I’m Aussie all the way!!!

  5. i want to see an australian produced comedy show on a major network channel in a good time slot. make a show like friends. i’m sure we can do it. we have the money to do so. i know we can do it and with STILL camera work.

  6. umm david, yes i’ve seen those shows and love them all very much but i’m talking about putting a comedy at 7pm on one of the three major networks like 7, 9 or 10

    also making it look like a sitcom with the laughter and the exterior shots of the apartments between scenes and the catchy opening credits and all.

    that’s what i’m on about. none of this (decide when to laugh) comedy

  7. Exactly Francis, well said. Make comedy shows about a group of friends, a disfunctional family or the situations that go on in a certain work place. There’s so many ideas that shows can be derived from, and twisted in a way to give a unique Australian style.

    Better shows than that David, some with a bit more class and plus they’re all on ABC/SBS (don’t mean to be prejudice, they produce some great TV) We need those kinds of shows on commercial networks for more exposure/promotions

  8. I think you will find Turner and Riley’s new series will be based on the Trude and Prude characters. Family life in Kooyongkoot Road, simply greashhh!

  9. Told you so!
    It is just lame, weak, unfunny and all over the place … even the performances are plastic and unimpressive.
    They lack the charm and spark of the original.
    Jack!

  10. I don’t understand why so many people were chanting for this to fail. Aussies are so quick to criticise. Why couldn’t people see this as an extreme form of flattery.

    The Office and Ugly Betty show that classic shows can be remade and successfully, this however never had a chance.

    For the record, I love the UK Office (always have, always will) but also can appreciate the US version.

  11. What i think australian tv needs are Australian sitcoms. Why don’t networks make comedy shows anymore? We have 1,000,000 american comedies such as ‘Will and Grace, Seinfeld, Friends, 2.5 men etc’ on our screens.

    We are good at police dramas and dramas in general. Get over them!! Make a comedy show. And we are certainly not lacking in comedic writers to write for a comedy show in Australia. We have 1,000,000,000,000 sketch comedy shows. NO! Make a sitcom with a situation and canned laughter or Kath and Kim style. Why not get the actors from great sketch shows such as ‘Comedy Inc or Skithouse to write and act in a new comedy show.

    I’d watch it. I think that is what Australian tv needs. We need to invest more in comedy not drama and the first network to actually wake up and do something with that idea will reap all the viewers and actually be smart. So wake up and do it! Come on. I’ll even write a show for you.

  12. my theory is this…1 something million for the first ep in oz then 725,00 for the second aint too bad considering idol WAS bought forward, perhaps viewers thought that they were just replaying the OZ series with all the bs promo with the oz cast, instead of it being new. i would have marketed it this way:

    “HEY australia, we all love our version, let’s all tune in to the US one and compare it with ours, we’re not gonna show it all anyway and you wont like it at all, but we’ll see”

    Would have got more viewers!!

  13. Why did ch7 even bother with the US version in the first place if you were only giving it 2 weeks to work? I did notice once again no ads or even credits for the News Special before it, I guess to keep people watching.

    It will be interesting to see if the re-runs rate and will ch7 promote the “Return of the Original!”

  14. why are there people up there criticizing the decision to bring back the aus series

    if american, unfunny, tacky, crap 2AAHM can continiue to score big after 10 eps a week and some episodes repeated within a few weeks. I’m sure a great, AUSTRALIAN, funny, classic show that hasnt been played for a few years can do well too, (and only one a week!) especially because a lot of people only started watching after it moved to 7

    good move seven!

  15. Watched 10 mins of first episode and almost needed a bucket.
    It was woeful.

    Did not bother with 2nd ep.
    Gave early evening Tv a miss last night – washed my hair !!

  16. A shame, the second episode was better than the first, I was looking forward to seeing where they went with it. Oh, and I think the key to enjoying it was to view it on its own terms and not spend time comparing to the show we know. Hard, obviously, but a lot more enjoyable that way.

  17. dutchie, – i’m sure ch7 saw this coming ,they would have gotten even more criticism if they left it in the cupboard. atleast thay can say that they tried now.

    spunkymonkey – people critcise ch9 for “knee jerking” because there have simply been sooo many on 9 lately, just since the olympics: attenbrough, ramsay, fringe, hole in the wall, wipeout, battlefronts, motroway (5 last week alone)
    and they replace it with even rubbishier rubbish

    this is a much more rational decision it was not rating well at all and decreasing fast. Replacing it with the much better aussi K&K softens the blow i think it will do well.

  18. i almost never support networks cutting shows but i think bringing back the Aus series is a great move by 7, especially now that everyone is talking about K&K again.
    The fact that a show is a repeat dosn’t seem to phase ausralians. just look at 2.5 men – and thats on 10 times a week

    OWR never rated that sucessfully and a factual is NOT something that we need more of. looks like they’ve pulled the mcleods daughters on it.

  19. well it was a shame it didn’t work, but with a 500,000 person decrease in one week is a obvious cut, even in the old days. the fact that it didn’t establish an audience is more a good thing :. there will be less dissapointment than if people got into it (if thats possible).

    and how could people seriously suggest that they replace it with a completely new australia comedy, they take months of preparation, let alone replace an axed show this late in the ratings year.

    keep in mind that this time last year K&K repeats were getting 2mil+ viewers , and i doubt people will be dissapointed that a crap american remake is replaced by an australian original.

    keep the “repeat” complaints for 2.5 men of which is not that great, american and repeated 8 times a week

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