‘Bernie Mac’ creator’s contract not renewed

Larry Wilmore, creator and executive producer of “The Bernie Mac Show” and the winner of an Emmy for outstanding comedy writing last year for the series pilot, has left the Fox comedy.

Fox Television declined to renew Wilmore’s contract, which was about to expire. Insiders said the decision was prompted by the show’s declining ratings and its creative direction during its second season.

Sources added that Fox Television Entertainment Group Chairman Sandy Grushow, along with Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman, and the show’s producers, 20th Century Fox Television and Regency Television, were said to be particularly unhappy since “The Bernie Mac Show” was a critical and popular favorite in its first season.

The show is now averaging about 8.5 million viewers, down from a 9.5 million average during its first season -- a drop producers say was sparked by the network’s failed strategy to move the show from 9 p.m. Wednesdays to 8 p.m. where early in the season it faced “My Wife and Kids,” the popular ABC comedy starring Damon Wayans.

Reached early Wednesday, Wilmore declined to discuss the situation, saying only, “I have nothing negative to say about Fox or Bernie.” He has already been in discussions for different projects with other studios and networks, including NBC.

Fox executives and other producers declined comment, and Mac could not be reached for comment.

Possible replacements for Wilmore include co-executive producers Warren Hutchinson and Steve Tompkins.

In winning the Emmy last year, Wilmore became the only African American writer to earn a solo Emmy award for writing a network show.

Wilmore has talked in the past about friction with network heads in regard to the series. Despite the Emmy win, he said he continued to encounter opposition to his vision for the show.

“Fox has always been supportive of me, but we often don’t see eye to eye on the way I tell stories,” Wilmore said in an interview late last year.

He also lashed out at TV executives in a recent Entertainment Weekly article in which he and several other prominent producers blasted the trend of “reality TV.” He complained that, despite the accolades for series and its status as a hit African American comedy, Fox still took it off the air during much of the February sweeps in favor of shows such as “American Idol.”