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Chloe King runs out of lives

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The Nine Live of Chloe King was recently reported to have been axed by ABC Family as it failed to deliver the kind of ratings the network was expecting from the series.

The series, which was based on the popular young adult novels written by Liz Braswell involving the aforementioned Chloe King, who discovers she has cat-like powers and that she is actually a warrior involved in a battle between human beings and an ancient race of beings.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King had an impressive debut, racking up more than two million viewers for the first episode. The relatively strong showing could be attributed to the fact that the novels had a strong following. But show wasn’t able to successfully hold on to its viewers. By the time the finale episode was aired the show was only being viewed by one million viewers – compare it to one of ABC Family’s top new series Switched at Birth, which was already drawing an average of three million viewers every episode.

But while The Nine Lives of Chloe King got axed, another series in the ABC Family roster was given a new lease on life. The Lying Game, which is also based on another young adult novel series, was asked for another order of 12 episodes, to extend the previous 10-episode order to 22. The show is not showing a strong performance ratings wise as well, as it only gets 1.3 million viewers per episode. So it’s kind of a strange move that while Chloe King was cancelled, The Lying Game was renewed.

Photo Credit: spoilertv.co.uk

Canceled: Stargate Universe

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Syfy has officially pulled the plug on the third (and last?) Stargate series, Stargate Universe. Currently only half of the show’s second season has aired, and in typical Syfy fashion, the network will burn off the final 10 episodes sometime next Spring.

Following lower-than-hoped-for ratings, Syfy opted not to renew the show for a third season.

Maybe Syfy would get better ratings if they’d quit jerking fans around with their shows’ air schedules. Viewers are often left scratching their heads when Syfy’s original programs find their seasons halved, with the second half of a season assigned an unspecified air date that’s months or even a year or more (*cough* Battlestar Galactica) after the first half was shown.

AMC Cancels ‘Rubicon’

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Now that AMC has entered the “original scripted series” landscape, the cable network has been put in the difficult position of having to cancel a show for the first time ever. Rubicon is the unfortunate victim, having been undone by extremely poor ratings.

Rubicon had a strong premise in the tale of a man who stumbles upon a conspiracy involving a secret fourth arm of the U.S. government, and a great cast that included the likes of James Badge Dale and Miranda Richardson. So what went wrong? Why couldn’t a show with so much promise find an audience?

I see a few different factors to blame. Most prominent among them: critics who constantly cited the “sleepy,” “slow-moving” nature of the show. Anytime we viewers hear the word “conspiracy,” we think of suspense and excitement, but Rubicon didn’t seem to have enough of either to suit viewers’ appetites. There’s also its Sunday-at-9:p.m. timeslot, which was fine for a while, but after The Walking Dead settled into the 10:p.m. slot, it probably proved an eye-opening contrast between the low-rated Rubicon and the mega-hit that followed it.

Canceled: Medium, Dark Blue

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It’s been a long time coming, but CBS has formally announced the cancellation of Medium. Currently in its fifth season after moving to CBS from NBC, Medium‘s ratings just weren’t strong enough to justify the rising production costs of the show.

CBS will air the show’s final episode on Friday, January 21st.

Also in cancellation news, TNT has pulled the plug on Dark Blue. Likewise citing low ratings, TNT decided that 2.2 million viewers per episode simply wasn’t enough to save the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama about undercover cops. Dark Blue just aired its second season finale in September.

It’s Dead, Jim: Caprica

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Just days after Syfy announced a second Battlestar Galactica spinoff, Blood & Chrome, its first spinoff has been cancelled. Before the end of its first season has even aired, the plug has been pulled on Caprica.

Caprica won fans and critics alike, as its numerous characters have been slowly fleshed out and its overall mythology expanded. But Syfy claims that “Caprica has not been able to build the audience necessary to justify a second season.” About a month ago, Syfy began airing the final block of episodes from the show’s first season, but now says that it will end this block on Tuesday, November 2nd, and then burn off the remaining five episodes sometime in early 2011.

Needless to say, this is sad news for all fans of intelligent entertainment. Particularly when there’s mindless dreck like $#*! My Dad Says actually garnering a big enough audience to justify keeping it on the air. And another thing: Why is it that these kinds of shows always get the axe right when they’re hitting their stride? Caprica has been getting better and better with each new episode, and it’s more obvious than ever that seeds for very big things were being planted.

So very frustrating.