It's sort of a sign of the times that Fox had already canceled one of its new fall shows ("Luis") before it had premiered another ("Arrested Development"). And now that we're into the highly competitive November sweeps period, the carcasses of dead shows are cluttering up the TV landscape.
Of the six broadcast networks, only the WB hasn't yanked a show off its schedule yet. But it's about to — production has been halted on "Tarzan," and, barring some sort of death-row reprieve, the show will disappear after the two remaining episodes already shot have aired.
Not all of the shows that are off the air have officially been canceled. Some have been sent on hiatus, a TV limbo-land of shows that aren't on the schedule but haven't been axed. Some make it back on the air eventually; some are never heard from again.
ABC: ABC programmers did a lot of yapping about how they were going to "incubate" the retitled "L.A. Dragnet" in a bad Saturday-night time slot, and critics were hugely skeptical. Turns out we were right.
The show has been dying. And it's off the air (on hiatus) until further notice.
CBS: Officially, "The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire" is on hiatus. Unofficially, the betting is that it will never return.
This is the latest in a string of losses by one-time powerhouse producer David E. Kelley. The past couple of years have seen the demise of "Ally McBeal," the quick cancellation of "girls club" and the swift exit of "Brotherhood." Plus, "Boston Public" is floundering on Fridays. The only good news for Kelley is that there appears to be new ratings life in the revamped "Practice."
NBC: The celebration over the demise of "Coupling" has to be short-lived. That horrendous sitcom got the ax, but NBC is moving the dreadful "Good Morning, Miami" back to Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. as of Dec. 4. Which will be one more reason to turn to CBS and watch "CSI."
"Good Morning, Miami's" departure from Tuesdays will prompt not one, not two, but three changes on that night. "The Tracy Morgan Show", a sitcom that stars the former "Saturday Night Live" cast member as a husband and father, premieres Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. That pushes "Whoopi" back to 7:30 p.m., which in turn pushes "Happy Family" back to 8:30 p.m.
All of which will still leave the declining "Frasier" (at 8 p.m.) as the comedy highlight of a weak two hours on NBC.
NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker promises that Rob Lowe's "The Lyon's Den" will return from hiatus in December. And it might. But it's worth remembering that Zucker promised "Coupling" would return from hiatus in December and then axed it.
Zucker has, however, removed the critically acclaimed "Boomtown"from the ranks of the hiatus-ized. He's canceled that show, too.
FOX: After three episodes that not much of anybody watched, "Skin" has bitten the dust. Which is somewhat surprising — who would have thought that a Fox show that revolved around the porn industry could do so badly? It seemed like such a natural fit.
The network doesn't know what it's going to do on Monday nights. For the moment, it will air back-to-back episodes of "Joe Millionaire" (7 and 8 p.m.), a show that has done so poorly in the ratings that just last week Fox dropped plans to air it twice a week (Mondays and Tuesdays) so as to sabotage itself on only one night instead of two.
UPN: Like its corporate sister, CBS, this network (and I use the term loosely) has dropped only one show this fall. And, officially, "The Mullets" — a show too dumb even for UPN's wrestling audience — is only on hiatus.
But, again, the betting is that the show will never return.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com