New 'Let's Make a Deal' gets zonked
HOLLYWOOD, California (Variety) -- NBC is pulling its "Let's Make a Deal" revival off the air after three weeks.
The game show had been set to run through April 1, but the network changed its mind after Tuesday night's broadcast. The two remaining segments taped will be rescheduled for a later date, and network officials haven't closed the door on ordering more episodes.
NBC had planned to run the Billy Bush-hosted "Deal" on Saturday nights at 10 p.m., a low-pressure time slot on a night the network believed was ripe for growth.
But the network made a last-minute call to move "Deal" to Tuesdays at 8 p.m., forcing the series to face off against Fox's "American Idol" juggernaut. Not surprisingly, ratings weren't what NBC had hoped.
NBC will fill the 8 p.m. time slot with the special "Child Stars: Then and Now" next week and with a Three Stooges retrospective slated for April 1. No word yet on what will go into the timeslot after that.
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