Luke Dennehy
October 13, 2007 12:00am

THE creators of Kath and Kim have not yet thought
about the next series after higher-than-expected
ratings for the show's arrival on Channel 7.

Instead Jane Turner, Gina Riley and executive producer
Rick McKenna will turn their attention to America,
where television giant NBC will produce a pilot later
in the year with the three as co-producers.

This year Kath and Kim has averaged 2,087,000
nationally and 705,000 in Melbourne.

Weekly consistent average figures such as those have
not been seen on a Sunday night since The Block in
2003.

"We couldn't be happier," McKenna said.

"When I read the scripts I always felt they were the
funniest, the most confident that Gina and Jane had
written.

"It's fantastic to see it all come into fruition."

They are not thinking of another series yet -- Riley
and Turner write the show, act it, help produce it,
and do the website and the PR.

"It's exhausting," McKenna said.

"Sometimes the girls, during the third day of a
gruelling publicity tour, say 'Never, never again'."

They and McKenna have co-producing roles for the US
pilot, in which Molly Shannon has been cast as Kath.

They will head to the US later in the year and are in
constant touch with the NBC network.

NBC CEO Ben Silverman, the man behind the worldwide
launches of Ugly Betty and The Biggest Loser, is a
huge supporter of the format.

McKenna said: "Ben Silverman is an amazing person and
he surrounds himself with great people, so we think
it's going to go really well."

Tomorrow night Shane Warne will be the last big-name
cameo, and the girls say they had a riot working with
him.

"He came on to the set and it was like a mutual
admiration," McKenna said.

"We couldn't believe we had Shane Warne on set, and he
couldn't believe he was on the set of Kath and Kim."

Source: news.com.au/heraldsun/


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