Fox Calls a Halt to ‘Brimstone’ Production

“Brimstone,” the new Fox drama about a dead man hunting down 113 souls that escaped from hell, will--as it turns out--fall 100 souls short of fulfilling that mission.

Fox effectively canceled the program Friday by halting production after completing 13 episodes. The remaining installments of the series, which stars Peter Horton, will continue to play at least through February. The network will preempt the series once during next month’s rating sweeps to air the feature-film thriller “Seven.”

A Fox spokeswoman said the network has yet to decide what will take “Brimstone’s” place at 8 p.m. Friday nights. Candidates include “Beyond Belief”--a reality program that previously occupied that time slot--and “Guinness World Records: Primetime,” which currently airs Tuesdays.

With “Brimstone’s” demise, Fox has canceled all but one of five programs the network premiered during the fall. A sixth, “Hollyweird,” was put into production last May but scuttled before ever being broadcast.

The lone survivor among those new series, “That ‘70s Show,” has received a commitment to run through the season. Still, the nostalgic comedy may soon lose its Sunday berth after “The Simpsons,” most likely to make room for “Family Guy,” an animated series that will premiere after the Super Bowl this Sunday in advance of joining Fox’s prime-time lineup in March.