NBC Orders Kath and Kim Straight to Series
NBC Green-Lights Aussie Remake with Selma Blair, Molly Shannon
By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/5/2008 11:26:00 PM
NBC is going ahead with a six-episode straight-to-series order for comedy Kath and Kim.
The project, from Reveille and NBC Universal's Universal Media Studios, had fallen out of favor at NBC but was resuscitated when Ben Silverman moved from Reveille to NBCU.
The straight-to-series order follows NBCU president and CEO Jeff Zucker's keynote speech at the National Association of Television Program Executives' conference last week in which he claimed that the budgets for pilots would be cut back and more projects could be ordered direct to series.
"This hilarious new series exemplifies how we are changing the pilot process by ordering shows that we believe in and green-lighting them straight to series," Silverman said.
Based on an Australian series of the same name, it will star Selma Blair and Molly Shannon.
Michelle Nader (King of Queens) will serve as executive producer along with original series creators and stars Gina Riley and Jane Turner, original series executive producer Rick McKenna and Paul Feig. Feig (The Office, Freaks and Geeks) will direct the first episode.
