Fox cancels 'Skin' after three airings
NBC nixes 'Boomtown'
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The cast of "Skin."
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LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Fox has canceled prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer's new series "Skin" after three low-rated airings.
Meanwhile, NBC has officially pulled the plug on the critically praised sophomore drama "Boomtown."
"Skin," Fox's "Romeo and Juliet"-esque serial drama set in the world of Los Angeles' adult entertainment industry, shut down production Tuesday after completing eight episodes.
Fox will run back-to-back original episodes of "The Next Joe Millionaire" at 8 and 9 p.m. Monday for the next two weeks, leading into the two-hour "Millionaire" finale November 24.
Meanwhile, "The O.C." will return to its original Thursday 9 p.m. time slot -- sort of. Fox has slated encore airings of its hot new teen soap on Thursday for the remaining three weeks of the sweep in addition to original episodes in the series' new slot at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Despite the massive promotion "Skin" received during Fox's highly rated postseason baseball telecasts as well as mostly positive reviews, the Ron Silver starrer opened to a disappointing 6.3 million viewers and a 2.7 rating/6 share among adults 18-49. It most recently averaged 4.1 million viewers and a 1.8/4 in adults 18-49, beaten by the WB Network's "Everwood" in total viewers by 1.4 million viewers and tying "Everwood" and UPN's comedies in 18-49.
The cancellation of the character-driven "Skin" marks the first series demise for Bruckheimer, who has been on a roll with such hits as CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "CSI: Miami," "Without a Trace" and, most recently, "Cold Case."
The cancellation of the Peabody Award-winning "Boomtown" was expected after NBC first benched the show two weeks into the season and then moved "Third Watch" from Monday to "Boomtown's" Friday 10 p.m. slot.
"Third Watch" had a strong premiere on Friday last week, handily winning the time slot in the 18-49 demographic, while "Boomtown" trailed CBS' "The Handler" and ABC's "20/20" in its most recent outing.
Production on "Boomtown," which was on hiatus, will not resume. Six episodes were filmed, with two making it to air.
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