Fox has called off "Happy Hour" and scratched "The Rich List" from its schedule. As part of a shuffle announced Friday, net has also slotted an original episode of "The O.C." for Wednesday at 9 p.m., in addition to the regularly scheduled Thursday seg. If "The O.C." gets some traction on Wednesday, Fox is expected to move the skein to the night permanently. Not surprisingly, fourth season premiere of "The O.C." fared poorly Thursday opposite brutal competish from three top 10 skeins: "Grey’s Anatomy," "CSI" and "Deal or No Deal." Making things tougher was Univision’s broadcast of the Latin Grammy Awards. "The O.C." scored its best ratings when it aired on Wednesdays during its first season, and the competish on the night is somewhat less intense. Skein still faces a challenge next week, however, since it’ll go up against the fall season finale of "Lost" and CBS’ red-hot "Criminal Minds." If Fox execs aren’t happy with how "The O.C." performs on Wednesday, net will air repeats of "Bones" in the 9 p.m. slot. If they are, it’s expected comedy repeats will fill the 9-10 p.m. Thursday slot. As for "Happy Hour" and "The Rich List," Fox wouldn’t confirm that skeins have been officially canceled, but insiders said neither show is expected to return. Eleven episodes of "Happy Hour" have been produced, and Warner Bros. TV is expected to shoot the remaining segs in the show’s initial 13 episode order.
Variety
The OC has a better chance of an audience on Wednesdays when LOST goes on hiatus, but I doubt it will help much.
