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ABC Drops Two New Shows From Its Lineup

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TIMES STAFF WRITERS

ABC’s campaign to recapture viewers was dealt a blow Wednesday when dismal ratings forced the network to cancel two new dramas: “That Was Then” and the heavily promoted interactive mystery “Push, Nevada.”

The cancellations, confirmed by industry sources, would be the first of the new television season. ABC declined to comment.

Although it’s not unusual for a network to pull the plug on a poorly performing show just three weeks into a new season, the cancellations are especially notable for ABC, a unit of Walt Disney Co. Disney executives concede that this was supposed to be the lineup that would help ABC turn around its ratings slide.

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Instead, the network and Disney’s Touchstone Television are falling short on the drama front. Its third entry, a medical drama called “MDs,” is on life support.

The cast of “That Was Then”--which drew disappointing ratings in two Friday night airings--learned about the cancellation Tuesday night. They returned to the set Wednesday to finish filming the eighth episode, even though it’s not expected to air.

“I’m disappointed that the show is ending, but it wasn’t meant to be,” said James Bulliard, the star of the show about a 30-year-old man who travels back in time to high school. “But I had the time of my life doing it.... It was just an amazing experience.”

Bulliard, 24, won the role in February, just two weeks after moving to Los Angeles from Canada.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the town,” he said late Wednesday after wrapping up shooting.

Despite ABC executives’ vows to be patient with new shows and allow them to catch on with viewers, they apparently couldn’t tolerate the steep drop off in viewers of “Push”--the series from actor Ben Affleck’s production company, LivePlanet--and its failure to attract its targeted audience of young male viewers.

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Canceling “Push, Nevada” is problematic, however, since the series about an Internal Revenue Service agent looking for lost loot incorporated an interactive component offering viewers the chance to win more than $1 million by watching and following the clues.

ABC is obligated to hand out the money, meaning the network must play the show at least one more time to insert a “master clue” that will provide enough information for someone to solve the mystery and claim the prize.

“Push” drew an audience of about 12 million viewers for its Sept. 17 preview, according to Nielsen Media Research estimates. But after the show moved to its Thursday night slot, its ratings plummeted by nearly two-thirds in competing against CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and NBC’s “Will & Grace.” CBS is a unit of Viacom Inc. and NBC is a division of General Electric Co.

ABC finished third overall last week in prime time among adults ages 18 to 49, the demographic that is most important to media buyers, behind NBC and CBS.

Advertisers, however, remain cautiously optimistic.

Ratings for “Monday Night Football,” have been strong. ABC has found success on Tuesday night with ratings wins for “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,” starring John Ritter. The network also is pleased with the new “Life With Bonnie,” with Bonnie Hunt. Last week ABC ordered a full season of both series.

“ABC, while still having a number of problems, may have stopped the bleeding,” said Steve Sternberg, director of audience analysis for advertising buying firm Magna Global USA.

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