Media Scribbler

You know that a remake of a foreign show is doing badly when it gets canceled in the country where the original hailed from. It only took “Kath & Kim” about three weeks to earn that.

Australian network Channel 7 has dropped NBC’s remake of the Aussie hit comedy after two weeks. According to News.com.au, the second week’s airing only attracted 729,000 viewers.

A spokesman for Seven said the re-airs will return later during the summer after the key ratings period.

“The figures didn’t stand up for its second outing,” the spokesman said.

For comparison’s sake, the premiere of the fourth season of the Aussie version of “Kath & Kim” drew 2.5 million viewers on Seven.

The American show, which stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, only has series creators Gina Riley and Jane Turner and executive producer Rick McKenna attached to the NBC project as consultants. Geez, you would think that NBC execs would’ve learned their lesson with  their remake of “Coupling”, which ended with creator Steven Moffett cursing the project.

“It’s like your footy team, when you see your favourite player leave and go to another team,” McKenna said earlier this month. “There’s an angst and an anxiety and a bit of ‘How dare they?’ There’s also a notion of why don’t they leave it alone? That’s actually delightful.”

The NBC show debuted to 7.5 million viewers in the United States, then dropped off to 6 million in its second week. But considering the show was considered dead in the water before it even aired after the network completely reworked the pilot, that’s not as bad as it could’ve been. That’s not saying too much.

For those who would like to put the US remake of “Life On Mars on deathwatch (and you really shouldn’t) no one is yet re-airing the remake of the BBC hit in the UK.

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