ABC Cancels Low-Rated ‘Knightwatch’ Series

ABC has canceled its new series “Knightwatch,” the network announced Thursday.

The 8 p.m. Thursday series, about a Guardian Angels-style community watch organization founded by a reformed street gang member, is the first new ABC series to be pulled from the schedule. The hourlong show will have its last telecast Jan 19.

“Knightwatch” ranked 70th out of 72 prime-time network shows in last week’s Nielsen ratings. It airs opposite NBC’s top-rated “Cosby Show” and its spinoff, “A Different World,” and CBS’ “48 Hours.”

“Knightwatch” is the second new network show to be canceled this week. Earlier, NBC axed its science-fiction series, “Something Is Out There.”

Kevin Sullivan, the 29-year-old executive producer of “Knightwatch,” said ABC put the show on against “Cosby” because the network expected the urban crime-fighting series to draw a young male audience, the only demographic group likely to not be watching “Cosby.”

Meanwhile, with one new show axed, ABC gave the green light to two new series. “A Fine Romance” and “The ABC Mystery Movie,” both delayed by last summer’s 154-day Writers Guild of America strike, will join the network’s prime-time lineup after the first of the year, along with “HeartBeat,” a returning show about a progressive medical clinic.

“A Fine Romance,” which premieres Jan. 26 in the “Knightwatch” time slot, stars Christopher Cazenove and Margaret Whitton as a divorced couple who co-host a hit TV series about worldwide travel. Although the couple can’t stand to live together, they are still in love. Cazenove’s role was originally played by Anthony Andrews, but it was recast after the pilot episode was filmed because the producers could not come to terms with Andrews. The network describes the comedy series as “a 1980s romp in the grand tradition of the comedy classics of the 1940s.”

The two-hour “ABC Mystery Movie” premieres Feb. 6 at 9 p.m. in the time slot occupied during the fall by Monday night football. The show was originally intended for Saturday night, but ABC Entertainment President Brandon Stoddard said in a prepared statement that the show will air Mondays because it exceeded the network’s expectations in terms of quality and potential audience appeal.

“We’ve decided to debut the show on Monday, when viewing levels are higher than on Saturday and where the program can have a greater impact on the schedule,” Stoddard said.

The “ABC Mystery Movie” will rotate a series of two-hour movies: “Columbo,” with Peter Falk returning in the role of the raincoat-clad homicide detective; “B.L. Stryker,” starring Burt Reynolds as a former New Orleans policeman who moves to Florida and becomes a private investigator (Tom Selleck is executive producer); and “Gideon Oliver,” featuring Louis Gossett Jr. as an anthropology professor who solves crimes. He does not carry a gun, but is an expert at kick-boxing.

“HeartBeat” will have its season premiere Jan. 5 at 10 p.m. The Thursday time slot has been filled with specials and movies so far this season. The series from Aaron Spelling Productions stars Kate Mulgrew, Gail Strickland, Ben Masters, Darrell Larson, Julie Ronnie and Lynn Whitfield.