LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - The WB isn't monkeying around with underperforming freshman drama "Tarzan." With the show's ratings in a slow, but steady decline, the network has halted production.
Five episodes of "Tarzan" have aired and three more have completed shooting. The network intends to air those three remaining episodes as scheduled, but sources close to the show doubt that production will resume, even if the ratings somehow improve. Fueled by a summer of hype, promoting star Travis Fimmel as the network's latest "It" boy, "Tarzan" premiered on Sunday, Oct. 5 to a respectable audience of 5.5 million viewers. The modern vine-swinger (all mention to callow lady-love Jane was removed from the show's title before it ever aired) dropped to 4.07 million viewers in its second airing, 3.77 million in its third and 3.05 million for the fourth airing. The addition of "Xena" star Lucy Lawless to the cast failed to increase the audience and this past Sunday (Nov. 2), "Tarzan" fell to an anemic low of 2.84 million viewers. Even with a reliable lead-in from "Charmed," ratings for "Tarzan" slid every week. Despite the successes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Smallville," The WB's strategy of aiming for franchise hits has yielded decidedly disappointing results in recent years. The network's attempt to spin a series out of "The Lone Ranger" produced only a poorly received telefilm, while "Birds of Prey" remained on the roost for only 12 episodes. The network's high concept "Fearless," from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, was supposed to launch this fall, but it was pushed to midseason when Bruckheimer determined that the show wasn't ready. "One Tree Hill," which aired in its place, has developed into a demographic hit for The WB, which recently gave the basketball drama a full season pick-up. It's unclear how the retooling for "Fearless" is going, though production on the revamped show reportedly has yet to begin.. ________________________________ Changes to your subscription (unsubs, nomail, digest) can be made by going to http://sandboxmail.net/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
