In further evidence that Australian TV shows rarely survive a remake for an American audience, the US version of Rake will exit screens quietly after attracting few viewers.
The critically acclaimed Australian drama, starring Richard Roxburgh as the brilliant but self-destructive Sydney barrister Cleaver Greene, has just completed a third successful season on ABC1.
But American audiences greeted the US version, which stars Greg Kinnear, with little enthusiasm and now Fox is moving the show's timeslot for a third time.
The character of Cleaver Greene, based loosely on Sydney barrister Charles Waterstreet (one of the Australian series' co-creators) has cut a rough swathe through clients, girlfriends and colleagues since 2010. Australian audiences warmed to the show's combination of risque comedy and shrewd social satire.
The US version has been less fortunate, even though Greg Kinnear, a star of the 1997 hit film As Good As It Gets, plays its central character of Keegan Deane.
When the series began on the US Fox network in late January, it ran on Thursday nights after American Idol. In March it was shifted to Friday because of low ratings.
The final two episodes will now be, ahem, raked to this Saturday evening, with pundits speculating there will be no series two.
Last Friday the show garnered just 1.9 million viewers in the 8pm slot, compared with the 8.5 million who tuned in watch college basketball on CBS at the same time.
This Friday it will be replaced with back-to-back re-runs of Kitchen Nightmares.
Rake is not the first Australian TV show to fail miserably in the US.
Our much-loved suburban duo Kath and Kim were transformed into an American series of the same name starring Selma Blair and Molly Shannon.
The pilot received poor reviews, with the San Francisco Chronicle labelling it "a contender for worst remake ever". NBC cut back the first season's episodes before eventually cancelling.
Chris Lilley's mockumentary Angry Boys also copped heavy criticism on its US debut, despite trending worldwide on Twitter during the broadcast.
Variety's Brian Lowry described it as "low-brow", and the New York Daily News reviewer David Hinckley called it "rambling and dull".
