Fox Yanks 'Ben and Kate' From Schedule

'Hell's Kitchen' to prop up Tuesday lineup starting March 12

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/23/2013 3:01:59 PM

A day after ABC essentially canceled its Tuesday comedy Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, Fox said Wednesday it is pulling rookie comedy Ben and Kate from its Tuesday lineup.

Starting Jan. 29, Raising Hope will air originals from 8-9 p.m. through February sweeps (except for Feb. 19, when a repeat New Girl will air at 8:30 p.m.). Fox said Ben and Kate, which has aired 13 episodes of a 19-episode order, will return to the schedule at a later date.

Hell's Kitchen will move to Tuesdays with its season 11 premiere on March 12 at 8 p.m., leading into New Girl and The Mindy Project for the remainder of the season. Raising Hope will have a one-hour season finale following American Idol on Thursday, March 28.

Fox's Tuesday lineup has struggled all season, with New Girl failing to get the sophomore bounce it needed to support the four-comedy block. Despite critical praise, Ben and Kate has been its lowest performer, averaging a 1.2 rating with adults 18-49 and just 2.6 million total viewers for its most recent episode. Out of New Girl, Mindy is faring slightly better, drawing a 1.5 rating and three million viewers on Tuesday.

The move to shelve Ben and Kate comes weeks after Fox entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly signaled his intention to stick with the current lineup of shows while looking for a way to protect Tuesdays in spring when TV viewing typically suffers from extended daylight hours.

"I hate to say it, but I think for the rest of this year we've just got to play through," Reilly said to a group of reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour. "I'm looking at it in spring to see if there's anything we can do to protect it a little bit when daylight savings time comes in, which also challenges the ratings, but I'm going to stick with the shows."