ABC Defends Cancellation of Show

ABC employed an unusually quick hook with its midseason comedy "Emily's Reasons Why Not," pulling the plug after just one week. Yet to hear programming chief Steve McPherson tell it, the decision wasn't impulsive.

"Creatively we just did not get the show where it needed to be," McPherson told reporters Saturday (Jan. 21) at the Television Critics Association press tour. "All of us tried really hard -- producers, network, studio -- but it just never got on track."

"Emily's Reasons," which stars Heather Graham as a self-help publisher with a poor romantic track record, drew about 6.2 million viewers to its Jan. 9 premiere. ABC pulled the show after that and has shut down production after six episodes.

The move was partly based on the fact that competition in its Monday-night timeslot was about to increase with the return of "24" to FOX. McPherson also says "we needed to make a quick change" to protect "The Bachelor," which he believes has the potential to grow its audience for the remainder of its run.

"You have to kind of measure your patience based on how you believe in the creative, and there we felt like, unfortunately, it was not going to get better," he says.

"Emily's" Monday companion, "Jake in Progress," also was pulled after one week, but McPherson holds out hope that he'll be able to bring the show back later in the season. "I have a crush on John Stamos," he jokes about "Jake's" star.

"You know what? I really believe in that show," McPherson says. "It's the tough thing about this business. You've got to go with your gut and just love the stuff you do and be passionate about it, and try to find a place for it to work.

"At some point, obviously, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But we still would really like to try to find a place for it to give it one more last shot. If it doesn't go there, so be it."

Just when that might be, McPherson isn't saying. He says he's waiting to see how other networks schedule the remainder of their midseason shows -- presumably, after the Winter Olympics end in late February -- before he makes announcements for ABC.

In addition to the possible return of "Jake in Progress," ABC also has veteran comedy "Less Than Perfect" in reserve, along with new shows "Sons & Daughters," "What About Brian," "The Evidence" and "The Miracle Workers."