UPN cans Tuesday comedies

United Paramount Network has pulled low-rated Random Years and As
If
off its Tuesday-night schedule.

The comedies, which ran back-to-back from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., averaged UPN
lows of 1.0 and 1.2, respectively, in their most recent Tuesday outings for
which ratings are available.

The shows are being replaced next Tuesday with a repeat airing of new Endemol
BV reality series Under One Roof, which premieres Friday.

The network hopes its Buffy the Vampire Slayer viewers (8 p.m. to 9
p.m. Tuesday) will stick around to sample the show, which features five families
in Fiji fighting for a beachfront home.

The following two Tuesdays, the slot will be filled with repeats of The
Parkers
and Girlfriends.

Then Tuesday will become back-to-back Buffy at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. April
16, after which the time period will once again play host to drama
Roswell through the May sweeps.

UPN had ordered eight episodes each of Random Years (Paramount
Pictures) and As If (Sony Corp.). Random Years got four airings
before it got the hook, while As If got two.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.