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Kath & Kim’s future looking shaky

NBC cuts 5 eps from the foxy ladies saying it "may or may not" come back, but renews The Office and 30 Rock.

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NBC has backtracked on plans for Kath & Kim to enjoy a full season of 22 episodes, trimming 5 off its order.

Instead it will have 17 episodes produced with no clear path of its life thereafter.

It is the same fate that has fallen to Knight Rider -also cut back from 22 to 17 eps.

Its current run will end on March 12th to be replaced by an untitled new mockumentary that looks at the world of local government from April 9th. It is being developed by Greg Daniels (The Office, King of the Hill), Michael Schur and features Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live) as a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana.

Kath and Kim is is averaging a modest 2.3 rating in the key 18 – 49 demographic.

NBC has also renewed 30 Rock and The Office whilst primetime entertainment president Angela Bromstad indicated Heroes is “very secure.”

“We have a great relationship with Tim Kring. … What’s important is we never lose sight of being responsible in production.”

Kath & Kim and Knight Rider, however, are “shows that may or may not come back,” she said.

Source: FutonCritic, Hollywood Reporter

16 Responses

  1. really hope there is a season 5 and more. I dont live in aussie land but we get it over here in Ireland and they are so fab. Love them to bits. Never saw the american version and could not be bothered either, nothing could be a patch on the original. please give us some more kath and kim.

  2. Gerrard: ‘Australia’s Kath and Kim is a bit too over the top. Our version exaggerates everything’

    The over exaggeration on everyday life is the whole basis of the show. It is a parody on lower middle class australia and without the over exaggeration it would no longer be a comedy, but another tragic ‘drama’ aka home and away.

    Not a huge fan of the american version, but it is a shame the NBC have decided to cut the season short, it hasn’t really had a chance to find it’s feet.

  3. it stuns me to see that there are people up there that do not think that Australian K&K is funny, i wasn’t aware you guys existed. i was under the impression that every australian loved and lol’d at it. it gets 2.5mil for gods sake.

    o well i guess everyone has a different sense of umar. it just makes me wonder if anything can be funny for some if K&K isn’t.

  4. The American show sucks. It is totally different to the original. However, I’m not saying that the original is that good either. Australia’s Kath and Kim is a bit too over the top. Our version exaggerates everything. However, our version is way better than the U.S. version anyway.

  5. imo season 4 of the local series was pretty poor too (like most ABC shows that go to commercial stations) so i’m not overly excited at the prospect of s5, however it would have to be better than the US series was & i loved s1-3 so i would probably still watch it.

  6. Ratings on a lot of shows are dropping unexpectedly. I think online-, offline-, and DVR viewing is rapidly making an impact on TV, faster than they’re realising, and instead of taking it into account, are choosing to still be stuck in the dark ages of ratings numbers.

    Having said that, offline- viewing means they’re not viewing advertising, so perhaps it’s their only recourse.

  7. So NBC will become the Leno network, no wonder Dave has been making with the jokes on Letterman. It might be good for ratings but I’m sure with a number of shows being canceled the studio won’t be happy, maybe some can more to cable in the US?

  8. Can’t say i’m fussed with this news. Made okay late night viewing for me, but it’s a poorly executed show.

    I agree Knoxoverstreet, Medium is a very good show. Hopefully NBC do more seasons, and ten don’t stuff it up scheduling on Friday’s.

  11. NBC will be cutting a lot of shows now that they are going to be airing Leno every day at 10pm to cut costs…I’d expect Knight Rider, Kath & Kim and (sadly) Life to be the first to go. Lipstick Jungle is probably gone but it has more of a chance of coming back than the others since it seemed to be rating decently on Friday nights. Medium is also probably gone now that they’ve hit the 100 episodes syndication point and with ER gone they’ll have more than enough room for their new shows next season (which will probably flop just as much as Knight Rider and My Own Worst Enemy did last year)

  12. last i heard the scripts for season 5 are just about done, we might get a 10 week season instead of the usual 8.

    can’t imagine the filming taking that long, and wikipedia is saying that it will be released mid-2009

  13. Ratings aren’t too bad but really aren’t too good either (hovering around the 5 mill mark) and in comparison to My Name is Earl, Office and 30 Rock, both in terms of ratings and quality, US K&K is quite poor. Not that US K&K is as bad as some Aussies think or the reviews said, but I doubt it will be returning for another season.

    But can’t wait for Season 5 of True Blue K&K (late 2009?) and good news that 30 Rock was renewed!

  14. Is it true to state David, that Gina Rielly and Jane Turner are in the process of writing a Kath and Kim season 5 for Australia??

    and i also heard and i thinki read in The Sunday Telegraph a few months back, that there was also a possibility of a Kath and Kim Musical?, lol

    i think there is a larger chance of being a K&K Season 5 before a musical.

    Although saying that there is some talent in the K&K cast for a musical – Magda, and Gina Rielly who sings the opening song of K&K.

  15. Might explain why we haven’t seen Knight Rider locally yet, at this rate I bet it won’t show up until next summer.

    David any news on when/if the Fox US ladies will be back late night on ch7 now they have returned in the US for the last 8 eps?

  16. Much rather see the new Amy Poehler show than this utter crap looks like it wont last beyond this season, good to see 30 rock will be back for a 4th season

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