Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced the “Season 1″ release of NBC’s ‘Kath and Kim’ remake. The 2-disc DVD set will hit US shelves on July 7th.

It will also come with a plethora of bonus features:

• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• 10 Commentary Tracks:
  • “Pilot” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader and Series Stars Molly Shannon & John Michael Higgins
  • “Respect” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader and Series Stars Selma Blair & Mikey Day
  • “Old” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader and Series Star Molly Shannon
  • “Gay” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader and Series Stars Selma Blair & Mikey Day
  • “Sacrifice” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader and Series Star John Michael Higgins
  • “News” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader and Series Star John Michael Higgins
  • “Idols” Commentary wth Executive Producer Michelle Nader, Co-Writer Adam Barr, and Series Stars Selma Blair & Mikey Day
  • “Celebrity” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader and Series Star Molly Shannon
  • “Competition” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader and Co-Writers Jim Dubensky & Steve Gabriel
  • “Home” Commentary with Executive Producer Michelle Nader, Co-Writer Adam Barr, and Series Stars Selma Blair & Mikey Day

• The financial crisis has taken another casualty with ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios combining to form, ABC Entertainment Group.

• NBC has reduced Kath and Kim’s first season order to 17. The future of the Aussie spin off looks dire.

• NBC has ordered two medical procedurals from Universal Media Studios, Mercy and Trauma.

• Meanwhile, Fox has ordered four comedy pilots, The Station, Walorsky, Two Dollar Beer and Sons of Tucson; and three dramas, Maggie Hill, Human Target and an untitled reincarnation-themed project.

What an interesting fall it has been, with a number of good performances from The Mentalist, Smallville, Supernatural and Gossip Girl to name a few and many casualties in My Own Worst Enemy, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Do Not Disturb, Lipstick Jungle, The Ex-List, Easy Money, Valentine, In Harm’s Way and Til Death. Here is how I rate each show.

Winners

The Simpsons: Back for its 20th season, The Simpsons has been Fox’s Sunday night stable mate pulling in an average of ~9M viewers this season. Couple this with the highest rating Treehouse of Horror episode in five years. Simpsons is definitely a winner for Fox even though the jokes seem to be recycled over and over again.

Family Guy: Has not dropped out of the weekly top 10 in the 18-49 bracket and dominates the 18-34 demo against the likes of Desperate Housewives and NFL. Has a number of years left in it.

Desperate Housewives: Now into its fifth season, the housewives seem to never age. Viewership has diminished due to a lacklustre third season (?), nevertheless it is Sunday’s night top scripted drama in total viewers and 18-49 demo.

Chuck: Against some tough opposition, Chuck managed to remain around the 6.5M mark and over the 2 rating in key demos in the fall.

Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother: Continually defies the critics, occasionally winning the timeslot in the key demos and has slowly built an audience over the fall season.

Two and a Half Men: Veteran CBS comedy which defies logic and reaps in excess of 14M viewers every week.

CSI: Miami and CSI: NY: The two spin-offs constantly pull in the masses and in Miami’s case building on its lead in.

Gossip Girl: Season 2 has been somewhat of a break through season for the teen drama, hitting series high numbers and providing a suitable and beneficial lead in for One Tree Hill.

One Tree Hill: After falling below the 3M mark during its 3rd, 4th and 5th seasons, One Tree Hill has bounced back nicely, regularly rating in the mid to low 3M range.

House: The move to 8/7c hasn’t helped its numbers, but it is taking one for the team as Fox continue to develop Fringe. Still pulls in massive demos for the news corp. network.

The Mentalist and NCIS: Against the House and Dancing juggernauts these two dramas have performed admirably, especially The Mentalist which does particularly well for the eye in the demos.

90210: Was off to a flying start, but numbers have settled around the 3M mark. Occasionally out-rates CW’s other teen dramas in One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl.

Criminal Minds: Behind the CSI franchise, it is CBS’s best rating demographic show amongst all the crime procedurals.

30 Rock: Has been nurtured nicely and off the back of the US election and Tina Fey’s extra exposure, numbers have soared to series highs.

The Office: The peacock’s best rating show in the fall, challenges the likes of Grey’s Anatomy, House and Desperate Housewives for the 18-49 crown.

ER: In its final season and still pulling in the viewers left, right and centre. Also defeats the likes of lead in assisted shows Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour in the key demos. One of NBC’s top rating shows of the fall.

CSI: Still pulling in the masses in its ninth season, also stays competitive in the demos against the demo king Grey’s Anatomy.

Grey’s Anatomy: Numbers have died down for the once ratings juggernaut, but it is still the week’s top rating demo show.

Supernatural and Smallville: Are up year-on-year and ratings can not be better with Supernatural soaring to series highs. Well deserved winners.

On the Bubble

King of the Hill: The recently cancelled animated comedy just misses out on the winners list. Regularly winning its timeslot in the 18-34 demo and hovering around the 6-7M mark week in week out. What were the execs at Fox smoking when they swung the axe?

American Dad: My favourite animated comedy of them all, does well in the demos but poor retention out of Family Guy has it a bee’s d**k away from a winner.

Amazing Race: Has slipped significantly in the demo, sometimes even dropping below the 2 rating in the 18-34 demo.

Cold Case: Solid numbers for veteran CBS, but its demos aren’t what CBS are looking for. If not for NFL overrun, CBS would be dead last in the demos on Sundays.

Brothers and Sisters: Averages 10M every week and a 4 rating in the demos, but losing a third of a compatible lead in is not good enough. Anymore it would’ve been a loser.

Heroes: Has lost a lot of steam, in previous seasons in has dominated the demos with nothing coming close to it, but this season Two and a Half Men constantly beats it in the key demos.

Prison Break: Has been stable across the fall season and regularly clears the 2 rating in the demos.

Old Christine and Gary Unmarried: Numbers for a relatively easy timeslot are soft, but CBS haven’t had another comedy block outside of Mondays, so this deserves a little credit, only just.

Samantha Who?: Just makes it into this list, retention out of Dancing with the Stars is a paltry 50 odd percent, but nothing else has done better out of Dancing. My judgement on Samantha Who? might change when the ratings for last night are released early tomorrow morning our time.

Boston Legal: After surviving the culling last year, Boston Legal continues to out perform a number of the alphabet’s other shows even though it is in its final season.

Fringe: Still a work in progress and if it weren’t for a House lead-in would be in the trash by now. Nevertheless, does well in the demos and is Fox’s best rating drama since House itself.

Law and Order SVU: Has tumbled to series low numbers, but still a consistent performer for an otherwise struggling network.

The Biggest Loser: Constantly slides under the radar for NBC, it is one of NBC’s best performers in demos.

America’s Next Top Model: Initially numbers were soft but has built as the season progressed, with the finale pulling in 4.8M and was the night’s top rating program amongst the 18-34 demo.

Private Practice: Best of a bad bunch on a Wednesday night, numbers will improve once it proceeds its sister show, Grey’s Anatomy.

Ugly Betty: Hasn’t reached the highs of its inaugural season, but still one of ABC’s better shows.

Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour: Poor retention out of lead in, but numbers have been acceptable.

Survivor: The reality veteran continues to kick off CBS’s Thursday night with a bang.

Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs: Solid but not spectacular Friday night performers.

Everybody Hates Chris and The Game: Numbers are down on Smackdown, but approx 1.5-2M isn’t a bad effort for The CW.

Losers

The Unit: Moving it from Tuesday night to Sundays has sugar coated some flaws but retention out of Cold Case is good, however demos are a worry.

In Harm’s Way, Easy Money and Valentine: all lasted less than 6 weeks, could only muster 1M or so viewers and couldn’t even crack a point in the demo.

My Own Worst Enemy: The recently cancelled drama had a lot of potential, but numbers just didn’t stack up.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Continues to bleed viewers from its series premiere, with its last airing netting less than 5M viewers. It might have a core fan base, but that is where it ends.

Privileged: Even though its one of my favourites of the new fall season, numbers have been poor out of a compatible 90210.

Eli Stone: Poor retention out of Dancing which eventually led to its cancellation.

Without A Trace: No longer appeals to the masses, but averages reasonable numbers for procedural kings CBS.

Pushing Daisies: Struggled in a relatively easy slot, with figures slipping below the 5.5M mark and 2 rating in the demo.

Dirty Sexy Money: Another sophomore drama culled due to ABC’s stupidity, however ratings were poor and cancellation was justified.

Stylista: What were The CW thinking here? Project Runway, Shear Genius to name a few.

Knight Rider: Exciting show which hasn’t caught on to the masses.

Life: Has lost its oomph factor from its freshman season and even with the shift to a more viewer friendly timeslot, numbers have been poor.

Lipstick Jungle: Numbers have headed south since its season two premiere.

Do Not Disturb and Til Death: Should have never green lit these two shows.

Deal or No Deal: Viewer fatigue has finally set in for this once stable performer.

My Name is Earl: Novelty is wearing off this once funny comedy.

Kath and Kim: Hasn’t worked out for NBC, but has the potential to be a good comedy.

Kitchen Nightmares and Hole in the Wall: Down year-on-year in that timeslot.

The Ex-List, Crusoe, Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader and Don’t Forget the Lyrics: Crusoe and Ex-List both couldn’t crack it on Friday, averaging ordinary numbers. The shift to Fridays for 5th Grader and Lyrics hasn’t worked out with both pulling less than its Thursday numbers.

Worst Week: Poor retention out of Two and a Half Men.

It’s our very first episode in front of a LIVE internet audience! Under the added pressure of the live listeners, we discuss all the major headlines of the last few weeks, including: One HD, the US Presidential Election, 111 Hits, Packed to the Rafters, 30 Rock, Recent Movies and IMAX Cinemas, plus a bunch of live audience interaction.

In an interesting turn of events, the American adaptation of Kath & Kim has been given a full season order from NBC. The peacock announced on friday afternoon, that the comedy series had been given a back nine order.

While the show lasted only two weeks on the Seven Network, the series has continue to air on NBC behind seasoned comedy, My Name Is Earl. In the most recent airings of the Aussie adaptation, the show has continued to retain all of its lead in audience and has even managed to build upon the 18-34 demo.

During the announcement, NBC Entertainment executive Vice President Teri Weinberg spoke of the network’s ”incredible confidence” in the show and that they believe “it’s a perfect fit with [their] Thursday night comedies.”

Now the question remains, seeing as Kath & Kim seems to be going so well, will Seven give the American adaptation another go? What do you think?

Source: Variety

It looks like the Chaser Boys won’t be selling out to the commercial networks like Kath and Kim did, but they did garner themselves an allegedly respectable offer from the ABC network of $6 million.

After receiving numerous generous offers from commercial networks, the boys have decided to stay with aunty. The new deal includes a 10-part series to be screened on the ABC next year and 100 per cent of the revenue generated from their top-selling DVDs.

Last year, The Chaser’s War On Everything was ABC’s top rating program with an average of 1.5 million viewers a week. It included the infamous APEC stunt which netted in excess of 2 million viewers, featuring Chas Licciardello as Osama Bin Laden.

The multimillion-dollar deal is thought to be a record for an Australian comedy, surpassing the $3 million Network Seven paid for the fourth series of Kath & Kim.

The team consists of Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Craig Reucassel, Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor with Taylor playing down the deal with typical humour, “We’re still in talks with the ABC, hoping to finalise a deal soon, but we haven’t shut the door on the commercial networks altogether.”

Further, in response to Seven’s axing of Kath & Kim:US last week, Taylor humorously replied “We’ve just learnt that Channel Seven has picked up the rights to the American version of The Chaser — it stars Molly Shannon in the role of Andrew Hansen and, by all accounts, it’s a ratings winner. We’re hoping it runs at least three weeks on Channel 7 before they pull it.”

In addition to the new series for the ABC, the Chaser boys are also behind a new six-part series set to air on the public broadcaster, Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure. The comedy is in post-production and is scheduled to air next year.

ABC management refused to comment on the new deal.

Also starting tomorrow (Monday), The Chaser will be covering the US presidential race from America with an half hour weekly show at 5pm on Triple J.

Source: SMH

So by now you’ve probably already noticed that a few of those fast-tracked shows that you were watching have been already yanked off the air. You’re probably wondering, ‘what the frack?’

90210
Gone! Returning later this year (apparently). Lasted 4 episodes.

Fringe
Gone! MIA. Lasted 5 episodes.

Kath & Kim: The American Series
Replaced with the Aussie version. Lasted 2 episodes.

And you wonder why people turn to illegal downloads, if not just to avoid the headache of dodgy scheduling practices. How about not totally screwing us over for once, networks?

So you watched the Pilot, what did you think? Disappointed perhaps? This Sunday, the first original episode of the American series airs. Check out the promo below.

Maybe this might just be the episode that’ll change your mind. Kath & Kim, 7:00pm Sunday on Seven.

Episode 16 gets off to a false start, but we recover quickly and begin in depth discussions on the American Kath & Kim, Bogan Pride, The Mentalist, Heroes, Fringe, Prison Break and Psych. Plus we also brainstorm ideas for faltering network’s Ten and The CW. We wrap up with a broadband update and the future of the TVAus forum.

Aussies rejoice! Jane Turner and Gina Riley haven’t completely abandoned ship since the American series of Kath & Kim premiered on NBC last week.

According to various sources, Rick McKenna, executive producer of both the original and the American version, said the Aussie creators were back in pre-production mode.

“They’re keen to do another Kath & Kim project,” he said. ”At the moment they’ve got 4 1/2 episodes in their heads.”

Even after six years, 32 episodes and a telemovie, the comedy duo still love to play mother and daughter and hope to have the new series on Seven in the not too distant future.

Bring home some of that American dosh and put it into another series of the Aussie comedy! Show those yanks how it’s done, ladies!

Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as America's 'Kim & Kim'.

It has been plagued with bad press, re-shoots and shuffling of staff behind the scenes, but now the American version is just under a week away and we have our first review of the NBC half-hour comedy.

While I was never a huge fan of the Australian series, I did have high hopes for the US adaptation of our foxy ladies. I thought if anyone could pull off an adaptation, it would be Ben Silverman and the folks over at Reveille Productions, the brains behind the American versions of The Office and Ugly Betty. Unfortunately for Kath & Kim, this adaptation of falls flat on its face.

I remember seeing the original bunch of promos that NBC ran earlier this year to promote the show, there were signs of the same ridiculous comedy that the Australian version strived on. But since the re-shoots it appears all those seemingly funny moments are gone.

What made the Australian version work so well, was that it was completely outrageous and over the top. The American version doesn’t even seem to have the same style. It’s not funny enough to be a laugh-out-loud comedy and its not well versed enough to be a good dramedy. It’s sort of stuck in this middle ground which doesn’t seem to offer anything remotely new or entertaining. I kept waiting for it to really pick up, having a few humorous moments throughout, but for the most part stayed pretty flat.

While I’ve always thought Molly Shannon was an great choice for Kath and Selma Blair as Kim was starting to grow on me, it’s the script and direction that really lets this pilot down. It wasn’t particularly clever or witty, but rather dull and lacking the outrageous comic prowess of the Aussie original. It often felt half baked or even restrained. I can only imagine how much more intriguing the original Paul Feig (The Office, Arrested Development and 30 Rock) directed pilot would have been.

One thing the script did get right was the pop culture references. There were some good one liners, but the execution was less praise worthy. I don’t know if it was poor direction or just bad comic timing on the actors behalf, but they just didn’t have the impact they should have had.

There were subtle hints of the original in the dialogue and John Michael Higgins plays a pretty great replacement for Glenn Robinns, but thats about it. It don’t think it really resembles enough of the original to be called Kath & Kim. Even Gina Riley’s cheesy soap operatic theme song rendition of “The Joker Is Me” has been replaced (with “Filthy/Gorgeous” by the Scissor Sisters). To top it all off, there are horribly done voice overs which sound more like after thoughts.

Perhaps because the show has undergone so many changes, it’s lost the original spark that attracted the American producers in the first place. Maybe the series will improve as it continues (like The Office did), but for now, I gotta say – It’s nothing nice, different or unusual. I don’t like it.

1.5 out of 5 stars

Kath & Kim premieres Sunday September 12 on Seven.

Episode 15 brings us up to date with all the latest tv news, gossip and programming developments. We discuss the 90210 full season pick up, The Emmys, Prison Break series finale, NBC’s Kath & Kim, Australian Idol top 10, who is Kyle XY?, AFL Grand Finale coverage, television show recaps and a sort of new segment ‘Most Underrated Show of the Week’.

Get ready for some American bogans…If there is such a thing.

Seven will fasttrack the NBC adaptation of the Aussie comedy Kath & Kim from October 12, just 3 days after its US broadcast.

The comedy series has undergone an onslaught of problems since it was first announced last year. There were shifts in crew behind the scenes, negative first impressions during focus group testing and all round bad press surrounding the series. So how will the American version hold up? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Kath & Kim premieres October 12 on Seven.

Here is quick list of season and series premieres to get you started.  Let us know of any other premiere dates in the comments.

Hit more to see the list.

All dates are local time.

24th August

• Australian Idol – TEN

2nd September

• Prison Break –  FOX
• Gossip Girl – CW
• One Tree Hill – CW

19th September

• Smallville – CW
• Supernatural – CW

23rd September

• How I Met Your Mother – CBS
• The Big Bang Theory – CBS
• Boston Legal – ABC

25th September

• Lipstick Jungle – NBC
• Criminal Minds – CBS
• Knight Rider – NBC
• The New Adventures of Old Christine – CBS

26th September

• Ugly Betty – ABC
• Grey’s Anatomy – ABC
• The Office – NBC

29th September

• Desperate Housewives -ABC

30th September

• The Amazing Race – CBS
• Chuck – NBC

2nd October

• Private Practice – ABC
• Pushing Daisies – ABC
• Dirty Sexy Money – ABC

4th October

• Ghost Whisperer

7th October

• Samantha Who? – ABC

11th October

• Kath & Kim  - NBC

15th October

• Eli Stone – ABC

31st October

• 30 Rock – NBC