Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

NBC's Thursday stalwarts, "My Name is Earl," "The Office" and "ER" joined forces with the new comedy "Kath & Kim" and the first of three Thursday "Saturday Night Live" election specials to propel the network to its highest Thursday rating in 18-49 since last March, excluding sports, according to "fast affiliate-based" "live plus same day" viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research. NBC finished within one rating point of the nightly lead in adults 18-49 and won this highly competitive Thursday in adults and men 18-34, pending updates. "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" began its three-week Thursday run with a 47 percent gain over NBC's time-period averages last season in adults 18-49. "It's already been a historic season for 'Saturday Night Live,' with its earliest premiere ever and its biggest audiences in 14 years," commented Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC ...

It's that time of the year again when the Fall TV Season kicks into high gear. And once again, the Director's Cut Blog will give you a sneak peak at what you'll be seeing this fall. The American adaptation of the Australian hit comedy series, "Kath & Kim" stars Molly Shannon (NBC's "Saturday Night Live") and Selma Blair ("Hellboy 2") as the hilarious and iconoclastic mother-daughter duo. "Kath & Kim" focuses on Kath (Shannon), a cheerful, foxy, forty-something, and her self-absorbed daughter, Kim (Blair), who have the love/hate, push/pull dysfunctional relationship that only a mother and daughter could share. Kath has finally found love in the form of a sandwich shop owner named Phil Knight, played by John Michael Higgins ("Best in Show"). Kim is a self-absorbed princess newly separated from her husband of six weeks, Craig (Mikey Day, MTV’s "Short Circuitz"). Kim decides to move back home...