Cancellation Watch: Reaper avoids Grim Fate; New Amsterdam and Moonlight not so Lucky

Just last week the future looked grim for the CW Network’s Reaper, but now they have decided not to axe to the Devil just yet. The network has renewed the supernatural comedy which stars Ray Wise as the lounge-lizard Devil and Bret Harrison as his slacker bounty hunter. The Faustian catch to the deal? It’s only coming back as a mid-season replacement. The series scored poorly during its initial run but did manage to win favor with critics and develop a devoted following. This (plus probably some under the table deals with the Dark One) was enough to win the series a tentative slot on the schedule after next season’s first round of cancellations.

This means that the Grim Reaper is now apparently headed to FOX with New Amsterdam tops on its list. Word is that the apparently jinxed immortal crime drama will not return with new episodes. It seems that FOX has had it in for this series from the start. It was delayed from a Fall 2007 bow then put on indefinite hiatus before a single episode had aired. In fact, it only made it to the airwaves because the writer’s strike left a dearth of original programming available to the networks. During its short run, it pulled decent ratings and actually outperformed FOX’s other genre entry Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which recently did receive a second season pickup (though arguably the latter series is the better of the two). The cancellation is not official yet, but seems quite likely considering the ongoing contempt that FOX has demonstrated toward Science Fiction and Fantasy shows during its tenure on the air.

In addition, the Grim Reaper will visit another immortal crime fighter as he heads over to CBS to prove that vampires are not as indestructible as they seem. While announcing their upcoming 2008-09 schedule, the eye network has indicated that Mick St. John and clan from Moonlight will not return for a second season. Although the series regularly won its timeslot on Friday evenings, it lost a considerable amount of viewers from its lead-in, Ghost Whisperer. CBS has to be wary of this announcement in light of the barrage of peanuts they received from Jericho fans about this time last year. Moonlight fans already staged a blood drive across the nation over the last couple of months in support of the show, so no telling what the retribution will be in response to the cancellation announcement.


Watch Episodes Moonlight and New Amsterdam on Amazon.com Unbox