At this point, you kind of get the feeling that ABC would cancel "The Job" if only it could find something to replace the show with. And that's something the floundering network has been unable to do.
ABC has yanked "Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)" off its Wednesday-night schedule after just two airings — two airings that saw a huge drop in the show's ratings. (About 7.9 million viewers tuned in to the premiere, which is not so hot. But considerably hotter than week 2, when almost a quarter of those viewers — 1.8 million — deserted the show.)
And, in this case, the quick hook was deserved. "Wednesday" is a downright terrible show. The only faintly amusing thing about the alleged comedy is that a show about a messed-up network was airing on ABC, which is far and away TV's most messed-up network these days.
Which is one of the reasons it's no surprise that "The Job" hasn't been able to find an audience. It's a tough sell in any case — a dark comedy about a cop (Denis Leary) who has problems with smoking, drinking, drugs and fidelity.
"It's not a feel-good show," Leary said.
"It's a feel-bad show," added executive producer Peter Tolan.
And network TV is, for the most part, a feel-good medium.
Not only is it a tough sell, but ABC has nothing really compatible with which to pair "The Job." And it's schedule is such a disaster that promoting any show is tough.
But, for whatever the reason, "The Job" is only averaging about 7 million viewers per episode this season. Not that it's been seen all that much. A spring tryout series last year, it was picked up as a midseason replacement show for this season. Slated to come on in November, it never made it until January. And it's only aired nine times since then.
Which makes it a bit frustrating for Leary and the rest of "The Job's" cast and crew.
"Blame (fired ABC Entertainment chairman) Stu (Bloomberg)," said co-star Lenny Clarke. "He's gone."
"You can blame Stu for everything now," Leary said.
"I don't think (new ABC Entertainment president) Susan (Lyne) ever would have done it," Tolan said.
Well, maybe not. Lyne is the one who yanked "The Job" for "Wednesday" and is suddenly throwing "The Job" back on the air without time to promote it.
(A single episode airs Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on Ch. 4; two episodes air Wednesday, April 17, at 8 and 8:30 p.m.; the season — and possibly series — finale is Wednesday, April 24, at 8:30 p.m.)
Not that Leary is going to complain about the change in ABC management. As a matter of fact, he and Clarke agreed that Lyne is "very hot."
"But if it's a choice between Stu and a really hot lady, I'm going with the hot lady," Leary said. "I'm always going to go with the hot lady. I would like to get some notes from her."
Particularly one that says "The Job" has been renewed. But there's not a whole lot of chance that that's going to happen.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com