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CBS Axes Reality Show After 1 Episode

By Steve Gorman,
Reuters
Posted: 2008-04-11 09:36:17
Filed Under: TV News, Reality TV
LOS ANGELES (April 10) - It looks like country music star Clint Black has told his last joke on prime-time television. The CBS network Thursday canceled its new celebrity-based reality show, "The Secret Talents of the Stars," after just one dismally rated episode.

How to Waste 64 Seconds of Your Life

The program, hosted by "Seinfeld" veteran John O'Hurley, who himself competed on ABC's first season of "Dancing with the Stars," featured a line-up of celebrities competing to determine who has the best unknown talent.

Black tried his hand as a stand-up comic, Olympic figure skater Sasha Cohen performed as a contortionist and actor George Takei, a.k.a. Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek," crooned some country tunes.

Veteran entertainer Debbie Reynolds, Grammy-nominated R&B singer Brian McKnight and TV producer Gavin Polone made up the panel of judges.

But the debut episode on Tuesday drew an anemic audience of just 4.6 million viewers, finishing a distant third in its hour among the three major broadcast networks, according to Nielsen Media Research.

CBS said it would replace "Secret Talents" for the next two weeks with "48 Hours Mysteries," then swap in new episodes of the returning legal drama "Shark" for the remainder of the season.

Network patience with building audiences for new shows has grown shorter in recent years, but it is still rare for a program to be axed after just a single episode.

"Quarterlife," the first Web-based drama to air on network television, was canceled after its NBC debut in February fizzled in the ratings, but it was moved sister cable channel Bravo.

Earlier this season, CBS dumped its ambitious new musical drama "Viva Laughlin" after just two little-watched airings.



Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-04-10 14:25:19
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Recent Comments

1 - 10 of 321
321 comments

toughguynj 10:30:16 AM Apr 13 2008

CONTINUED:

Those days are gone and so is any influence from The Howard Stern Show. Future producers who think that a Stern-esque booking is golden -- BEWARE! .

toughguynj 10:28:54 AM Apr 13 2008

I watched only because I'm a fan of George Takai from the Howard Stern show..... but in light of his recent passive homo roll-over-and-pretend-it's-comedy to the very offensive Artie Lange and his non-stop-over-the-top gay bashing, I've not only lost all respect for Takai, but also for the "getting older and more boring by the moment" Stern and for that matter, Sirius radio --- which by the way, kind of sucks as I drive and lose signals at a non-stop rate for the prividledge of paying my lifetime membership.

In the old days everything that the Howard Stern show promoted had great ratings and a willing, supportive audience. It now appears that everything that the over-the-hill Stern touches -- Takai, Lange and now, Secret Talents, is doomed to fail. Too bad, too. I used to be a die-hard, never miss fan, right smack in the middle of his target demo audience. Those days are gone and so is any influence from The Howard Stern Show. Future producers who think that a Stern-esqu

grapevinenutt 11:28:19 AM Apr 12 2008

It's wasn't the greatest show, but I was so looking foward to seeing Josh Morrow next week!!!

sonofdarkness666 04:39:06 PM Apr 11 2008

i hope this is the first shot in the real decline of so -called reality televison reality tv shows have become an infection it has even been infecting education tv ,all the documentries from history channel , tlc, and the discovery channels have disapeared and have been replaced with reality type shows just like how reality based shows replaced music videos on mtv and vh1,its ridiclous

momandtheguys 04:30:59 PM Apr 11 2008

Thank goodness! Now when will those other stupid reality shows go?

drjeff21 03:44:26 PM Apr 11 2008

"Reality" shows appeal to the most moronic people.

SkeePink1908 01:00:07 PM Apr 11 2008

Monk is not a stupid show at all and neither is House. Those are two of my favorite shows.

little514 12:14:52 PM Apr 11 2008

NO MORE REALITY SHOWS!!!!!

lorgarv7 12:11:03 PM Apr 11 2008

I watched "Secret Talents" , and I can understand why it was cancelled. Perhaps if their first episode had featured stars with better secret talents it would have lasted longer. From the promos, Danny Bonaduce was scheduled to skate board on a future episode. Need I say more?

love4664 12:04:13 PM Apr 11 2008

get some of this horror program off the air please!!

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