Three ABC programs hear no pickup lines
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC has decided against giving full-season orders to "Pushing Daisies," "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Eli Stone," but is not officially saying that the struggling shows are canceled.
The network informed the shows' producers that no additional episodes will be ordered at this time. It left the door open for future orders, though that is considered unlikely.
The trio remain on the schedule for next week, and "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Eli Stone" will finish their current production order (on their 12th and 13th episodes, respectively). "Money" depicts an absurdly wealthy family, and "Eli Stone" revolves around a prophetic attorney.
"Daisies" finished shooting its 13th episode last week amid industry buzz that its days were numbered. The quirky drama stars Lee Pace as pie maker with the unusual ability to return the dead briefly to life with just one touch.
Season to date, "Eli Stone" has averaged 7.9 million viewers, "Dirty Sexy Money" 6.6 million, and "Pushing Daisies" 6.4 million viewers. On Wednesday, "Daisies" and "Money" hit series-low ratings, and "Stone" sank on Tuesday to match its series low.
ABC also ordered four more episodes of "Life on Mars." Starting on December 11, ABC will put the time-travel cop drama on hiatus until January 28, and move "Private Practice" into its Thursday 10 p.m. time period, giving the medical drama a "Grey's Anatomy" lead-in. "Practice" will air in repeats until it returns to originals January 8.
The move gives "Mars," which started production later than most fall shows, more time to stockpile some additional episodes. When "Mars" returns, it will air after "Lost," which premieres the previous week.
ABC also set a premiere date for "Scrubs," which the network picked up this year after NBC canceled the veteran comedy.
"Scrubs" will have its ABC premiere at 9 p.m. Tuesday, January 6. ABC will air an hour of back-to-back episodes for two weeks, then "Scrubs" will settle in as a single half-hour at 9:30 p.m. The network hasn't announced which half-hour program will serve as a lead-in, though one likely option is the new Mike Judge animated comedy "The Goode Family."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
