Wilmore out at Bernie Mac

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Fox Tuesday fired Larry Wilmore, executive producer and creator of 20th
Century Fox/Regency Television-produced The Bernie Mac Show.

Wilmore is likely to end up in a deal with another studio, with NBC Studios
the leading candidate, sources said.

Word was that Fox was unhappy with the program's performance under Wilmore,
who won a Primetime Emmy Award for writing the show.

Although Bernie Mac is likely to come back next year, Fox has not
officially renewed it.

Bernie Mac started the season on Wednesdays at 8 p.m., opposite ABC's
My Wife and Kids, with ABC winning the ratings race.

In January, Fox moved the show to 9 p.m., following the American Idol: Search for a Superstar
results show, which has given Bernie Mac a ratings boost.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.