"Kath & Kim" Finds Lead in Selma Blair

While the town was abuzz today about which pilot projects had been gutted by CBS' recent announcement that they've pulled the plug on about twenty pilots (with other networks supposedly slated to follow suit), one pilot was moving ahead and had secured the second of its two series leads.

NBC's comedy pilot Kath & Kim, based on the Australian series about a woman's dysfunctional relationship with her adult daughter, has finally locked down the missing piece of its cast puzzle. Pilot, which was originally developed for the 2007-08 season, was pushed to summer when it couldn't cast its two leads in time.

Enter Molly Shannon, who was cast as Kath & Kim's abrasive Kath back in October, after a new writer--Michelle Nader (The King of Queens)--was brought in to rewrite the script. But since then, the project has languished as the search for the pilot's other female lead continued.

That search is over as Selma Blair (Hellboy) has now signed on to play Kim, opposite Shannon. Blair is no stranger to the small screen, having starred on the WB's Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane.

I haven't read the Nader's draft of the pilot script for Kath & Kim yet, but I do have to say that I am more intrigued now that both Shannon and Blair have signed on as the deliciously amoral mother/daughter double act.

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NCIS (CBS); Biggest Loser (NBC; 8-10 pm); Reaper (CW); Just for Laughs/Just for Laughs (ABC); American Idol (FOX)

9 pm: The Unit (CBS); One Tree Hill (CW); According to Jim/Carpoolers (ABC); House (FOX)

10 pm: 48 Hours Mystery (CBS); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC); Boston Legal (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

9 pm: Life on Mars on BBC America.

The brilliant UK import Life on Mars concludes tonight with its series finale. On tonight's installment, the team investigates the murder of a miner, with all fingers pointing towards a notorious cop killer. While Gene and Morgan both race to arrest the killer, Morgan makes Sam a tantalizing proposition in order to bring him home...