US TV network NBC has announced the long-awaited American version of the hit Australian comedy Kath & Kim will be part of its new autumn line-up.
NBC says the show, starring US actresses Molly Shannon and Selma Blair in the roles made famous by Jane Turner and Gina Riley, will be the centrepiece of the network's Tuesday night schedule.
Kath & Kim will air at 9.30, between the weight-loss reality show, The Biggest Loser: Families, and the police drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
"NBC has established itself as the place to go for the hottest, highest quality programs on television, and now we're ready to take it to the next level," Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, said.
Along with Kath & Kim, NBC confirmed its list of new shows.
They include the spy drama, My Worst Enemy, starring Christian Slater; fantasy series Merlin; crime drama The Philanthropist, about a billionaire vigilante and The Listener which is about a paramedic who can read people's minds.
NBC is also making the old new again, with modern versions of the 1980s action series Knight Rider; Crusoe, a new take on the shipwreck tale about Robinson Crusoe and a spin-off of the US version of The Office ingeniously titled, The Office Spinoff.
The TV network is yet to select the supporting cast for Kath & Kim, although it appears the US version will have similar storylines to the Australian series.
"They're the most dysfunctional duo in suburbia," is how NBC talked up the series in a press release sent to the American media.
"Kath Day (Molly Shannon) is the mum, a foxy, 40-something divorcee who finally has time for herself and her search for love.
"Kim Day (Selma Blair) is the daughter, a princess recently separated from her husband who finds consolation in food."
Riley and Turner are executive producers of the series.
NBC is also investing heavily in Kath & Kim on the internet, with an extensive online element to the series.
Each week after the show airs the full episode will be available to watch on www.nbc.com.
The internet site will also have weekly "wine time" segments featuring Shannon and Blair as their characters discussing the week in pop-culture, fashion and neighbourhood gossip, beauty question and answer sessions and Kim's dating profiles.
