Fall TV Cancellations: 'Utopia,' 'Bad Judge,' 'A to Z,' 'Manhattan Love Story' Get the Axe

After making it a month into the new TV season, the networks have been on a cancellation spree lately, hanging four freshman shows out to dry.



ABC got the ball rolling in late October with its cancellation of "Manhattan Love Story," the show with the dubious distinction of being the first program axed during the 2014-2015 season. Ratings for the quirky rom-com hit a new low for the week of October 24, leading ABC to pull the plug on the Tuesday night show.



New episodes of fellow freshman comedy "Selfie" will now run back-to-back in its place on the schedule. Ironically, ABC had recently ordered three more episodes of "Manhattan," but it seems that the network quickly had a change of heart about that decision.



NBC was the next network putting programming on the chopping block, saying sayonara last week to Thursday night comedies "Bad Judge" and "A to Z." While both shows pulled in marginally better ratings than "Manhattan," the numbers just weren't up to snuff for the Peacock



Unlike "Manhattan," however, both "Judge" and "A to Z" will finish their initial 13-episode orders, remaining on NBC's schedule until then. "Judge" has already shot 10 installments, while "A to Z" just finished its 11th; those are bound to be depressing days on set, filming episodes for a cancelled show.



And finally, Fox rounds out the cancel-happy broadcasters, with its axing of experimental reality show "Utopia." The high-concept series, which focused on a group of people living in an isolated compound and attempting to create their own society, just didn't connect with viewers, and after two months on the air, the network eventually had to put it out of its misery.



The writing had been on the wall for some time, since the show was originally meant to air twice weekly, but was cut down to just one installment last month. Fox execs told The Hollywood Reporter at the time that the network would exercise patience with the show, hoping that it would attract more eyeballs over time, but it seems that that patience finally wore out.



"Utopia" has been pulled from Fox's schedule, effective immediately. Its live-stream will wrap up on Sunday.



[via: Deadline, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter]



Photo credit: Jessica Brooks/NBC







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