Archive for November 2nd, 2008

NBC Gives ‘Kath & Kim’ A Full Season

A fighting chance
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

Good news for fans of the new US version of Kath & Kim … despite getting pulled off the air in Australia after only 2 airings there, Variety reports that NBC has decided to give their version of the Aussie comedy a full season of eps. Kath & Kim are here to stay … at least for the foreseeable future:


NBC’s “Kath & Kim” has become the latest frosh [series] to score a full-season pickup. Peacock announced the back nine order Friday afternoon. Reveille and Universal Media Studios are behind the skein, which stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. “Kath & Kim” is based on the Australian laffer of the same name. Peacock has aired four segs so far, averaging a 2.6 rating and 6 share among adults 18-49. Show has also averaged 6 million viewers. “Kath” has retained all of its “My Name is Earl” lead-in in those two measurements, and has built by 4 percent with adults 18-34. In announcing the pickup, NBC Entertainment exec VP Teri Weinberg said the net has “incredible confidence” in the show’s auspices and that NBC believes “it’s a perfect fit with our Thursday night comedies.”

While I admit that I am not totally wowed by the US version of Kath & Kim, I have been tuning in weekly and have been enjoying the show thus far. Again, it’s not as riotously funny as the original but it does provide some good chuckles and manages to keep me coming back for more. This week’s episode was the first ep of the remake to be directly based on one of the original Aussie eps. Based on the original episode Money, this week’s episode was an American re-telling of that ep. I’m not sure if NBC plans to continue basing their eps on old eps but it’s an interesting idea. Additionally, this week’s ep featured an appearance by an actor named Mike Naughton who is a childhood friend of my friend Mark back home in Detroit:


Mike tends to show up randomly in TV shows (like The Office and Friends) and commercials … it is always a treat to see him on TV. It really sounds like NBC has put a lot of faith and money in Kath & Kim and they aren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. I’ve always said that, with enough time, the show may be able to find its audience. With a full season of eps on the way, that might actually happen. I know I’ll keep watching. Are any of y’all tuning in?

[Source]

Ken Paves Gets Bashed Bloody

Ouch!
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

Celebrity hairstylist to the stars and all-around BFF to Jessica Simpson accidentally got his face bashed by an over-eager paparazzo as he tried to lead his BFF Jess thru a scrum of paps as the pair tried to make an exit from Madeo restaurant last night. Leading the way for Jess to get to her waiting car, Ken’s face made unfortunate contact with a pap’s camera, causing his face to split open and start gushing blood … EEK!


Jessica Simpson watched in shock as her BFF/hair stylist Ken Paves had his face busted open during a crazy paparazzi crush on their way out of Madeo late Saturday night. Ken was escorting Jess out of the restaurant, when the sea of snappers swarmed — and in the madness, one guy hit Ken near his eye with a part of a camera. With blood trickling down his face, Ken still managed to get Jess inside their waiting ride. Their driver then whisked the group to a nearby hospital, where Jess accompanied her friend inside the building.

Aww … poor Ken :( On the one hand, it’s pretty crappy that celebs and their friends can’t make the simple walk from a restaurant to their car without getting injured but, in actuality (and thankfully), this sort of thing doesn’t happen too often. It really looks like it was an accident but cameras should not be that close to people’s faces. I am deffo of the mind that people who seek fame have to take some ownership of the attention they receive but no one should be physically injured in this way under any circumstances.

[Photo credit: X17, Splash News; Source]

‘Quality, Value & Convenience’ From John McCain

"My only showbiz connections are Jon Voight and Heidi from 'The Hills'"
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

John McCain made a very funny appearance on Saturday Night Live last night where he participated in the show’s opening skit and later appeared during the Weekend Update. Spoofing Senator Barack Obama’s half-hour infomercial which aired on 3 major networks earlier this week, McCain appeared with Tina Fey (as Sarah Palin) on a late-night program airing on QVC, the 24-hour cable shopping network:


LOL! Now this skit was hilarious! I gotta give McCain props for really getting in on the fun. While I thought Sarah Palin’s appearance on SNL a couple of weeks ago was pretty lame, I think John McCain really nailed this guest appearance. I totally died when Cindy McCain made her cameo … seriously, she could get a job on the real QVC should things not go McCain’s way on Tuesday. One of the best lines of the skit, “I’m a true maverick … a Republican without money.” I gotta say, I’m really impressed that he was such a good sport:


Well done! Tina Fey killed as Palin again. I loved it when she “went rogue” — LOL! I am very impressed with this week’s SNL performances :)

[Source]