Not effluent enough?
Uh oh. This sounds worrying. The US version of Kath & Kim is apparently being revamped to make it ‘more appealing’ to American audiences.
The show, starring Selma Blair and Molly Shannon, is believed to be having some emergency reworking after NBC executives had concerns with the first episode, says news.com.au.
The production is rumoured to have had a major shake-up in recent days, with a number of the key crew - including possibly the director, director of photography, the hair and make-up team and editor - apparently being replaced. Losing the director, Paul Feig, at this point would be a major upheaval.
The move comes after influential US media industry group, Horizon Media, which is responsible for analysing the new shows for the American autumn TV season, predicted the program would fall flat with US audiences.
The first episode, which is due to go to air on NBC on October 9, is understood to be undergoing heavy reworking and may even be reshot.
Sources say executives have asked the show be “more highly stylised”.
“Think CSI: Comedy,” a source says. “They want to de-Kath & Kim it a bit.”
Kath & Kim’s creators and Australian stars, Gina Riley and Jane Turner, and executive producer Rick McKenna have been heavily involved in the development of the US version of the show. They are all executive producers of the US version.
McKenna could not be contacted yesterday to comment on the rumoured changes to the show.
Meanwhile, Selma Blair says And Blair had to fight hard to make TV executives believe she was the right candidate for the part - because no one wanted her to be involved in the project.
She explains, “We’re trying to do it on our own terms. But it’s a different show. This one has a little more heart than the Australian one.
“I really fought to do it. No one really wanted me, but it was great material. I really wanted to be on the show and stay put (in Hollywood) for a while. I think it will really work.”
Source: news.com.au, PR-Inside
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Not a big surprise, the US takes original shows a messes with them thinking they can make it better and most times the stuff it up.
“Has a little more heart than the Australian one”.
Yep, that’s why so many overseas viewers understood the Aussie one and the re-vamped American version will fail.
Because we got it right the first time.
The train of thought that the Americans should not alter or adapt Kath & Kim to US tastes, or should just play the Australian version is very narrow-minded.
NZ has about 30% local content Oz about 60% the UK 85% and the US 100%. It's the way the US is, they don't air foreign shows. To do so would be ratings suicide.
To presume that the show would work in the US (a very different culture and market) without adapating it to local American tastes is very one-eyed. Many American TV shows do not work in Australia (Office, Moment of Truth) and if they WERE to work it would take a considerable amount of tweaking and adapting the shows to Aussie tastes.
When McDonalds or any other smart multinational company enters a new local market they adapt to reflect local culture - obly a stupid company stubbournly digs it heals in and refuses to adapt. NBC is doing the same with Kath & Kim.
Adapating it to US tastes is the smart and best thing for the show - to give it a chance of being a success in the US. While us Aussies might not like "them" messing with "our" show - I think they have more idea of what makes they fellow countryman watch TV than we do.
Shaun, how do you know if airing a foriegn show in the US would lead to "ratings suicide?" They've never bloody given ANY foreign show a chance (except on cable TV; bless their hearts).
If Americans can appreciate a film like Muriel's Wedding which heavily revolves around the Australian culture (although the ABBA influence would have been the driving force behind marketing it overseas) then there's no reason why they can't appreciate a show like Kath & Kim. I understand that not all foreign shows would work there, but it's not as if the show and the culture embedded within it is so complex that US audiences can't understand and appreciate our version of K&K.