NBC Cancels 'Bionic Woman'

By MICHAEL HINMAN Feb-20-2008
Source: TV Guide

If NBC cancels a show that no one was around to watch, will it make a sound? Will anyone care?

After spending the recent Writers Guild of America strike expressing confidence in its ratings-challenged show, NBC has finally admitted the disaster that was "Bionic Woman" and has cancelled the series before it completed even its first season.

Although NBC hasn't announced it officially just yet, TV Guide's Michael Ausiello (who mentioned Airlock Alpha in his popular "Ask Ausiello" column this week) said that the cast and crew of the Vancouver, B.C.-shot show were told that the series was no more, and to start making other plans. That means executive producer David Eick can go back to concentrating on "Battlestar Galactica" full-time and new showrunner Jason Cahill doesn't have to worry about being anything more than just an asterisk in the Bionic Woman history.

The show was one of NBC's most-hyped leading into the fall, even going as far as using the show to anchor its Wednesday nights. The pre-premiere publicity worked, as "Bionic Woman" pulled in pretty decent ratings as far as new series were concerned. But by the time the final pre-strike episode aired on NBC, nearly 54 percent of its premiere audience had abandoned the program. Not even the controversial addition of Isaiah Washington, who was fired after making homophobic remarks about a gay cast member, was enough to get people to tune in.

Since this hasn't been confirmed by NBC just yet, please treat this as you would any other rumor.

"Bionic Woman" joins "Journeyman" as the two genre shows cut by their network so far this season, and both came from NBC. CBS has two shows on the bubble, "Jericho" and "Moonlight," and although ratings have been slipping for "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," it does seem that Fox has every intention of bringing that show back for the fall.

About the Author: Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.
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