The American version of The Kumars At Number 42 has been dropped from the schedules before it has even been aired.

The Ortegas, featuring an immigrant Mexican family in California, was to have been one of the highlights of the Fox network's autumn season.

But a schedule shake-up has been bounced out of its planned 8.30pm Sunday slot to make way for new episodes of The Bernie Mac Show.

The network has also slashed the number of episodes on order from 13 to six, the Washington Post reports.

A new slot for the spoof chat show has yet to be found, but it is likely to be given a 'midseason' run, where executives try out shows they are less certain about.

The move will be a blow to Britain's Hat Trick productions, which was co-producing the show. However it is still working on a US version of Father Ted.

More than 200 hours of British shows, including Men Behaving Badly and a host of less successful sitcoms, have been sold to a new comedy channel in Hungary. Robert Niemann of Fremantle International Distribution told industry website C21.net: "Eastern Europe has discovered English humour and just loves it."