CBS bags Bette

CBS has put the kibosh on Bette Midler's sitcom after it struggled through the season with less than divine ratings.

Wednesday night's Bette episode is the last original one to air this season and production of additional episodes has been canceled, according to a CBS spokesman. Columbia TriStar Television had shot 18 of 22 Bette episodes ordered by CBS. The other four episodes won't be shot and two remaining episodes produced, but not aired, remain in limbo.

Bette initially scored big numbers off a big promotional campaign, but quickly lost viewers, reaching around nine million viewers per week when the plug was pulled. Midler had been publicly complaining in recent weeks of the workload involved in making the sitcom.