ABC Shelves 'Sisco,' Bets on 'Bachelorette'

[Brian]

Despite its strong reviews, ABC's new series "Karen Sisco" could barely get arrested on Wednesday nights opposite "Law & Order."
The show has been pulled for the time being, but the network says it will relaunch "Sisco" in a new timeslot in March. Meanwhile, ABC has announced that second seasons of "The Bachelorette" and "Celebrity Mole" will debut in January, while "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital" will fill the "Sisco" spot starting in March.

"We love this show, but it has become increasingly obvious that it's not working on Wednesday nights," ABC Entertainment president Susan Lyne says of "Karen Sisco." "Rather than give up, we're going to complete production on the [six] remaining episodes and aggressively relaunch the series this March in a new time period.


"We're hopeful that this course of action will result in the show becoming as popular with viewers as it is with critics and ABC executives."
"Karen Sisco," based on the Elmore Leonard character played by Jennifer Lopez in "Out of Sight" and starring Carla Gugino as a U.S. marshal, averaged about 7.7 million viewers a week. Both it and CBS' "Brotherhood of Poland, N.H." got flattened by NBC's venerable "Law & Order."

ABC will fill the 10 p.m. Wednesday spot with an original episode of "Extreme Makeover" on Nov. 26 and the debut of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," hosted by "Trading Spaces'" Ty Pennington, on Dec. 3. The network will unveil the new "Bachelorette" and "Celebrity Mole Yucatan" on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

The identity of the next Bachelorette hasn't been revealed yet. The second "Celebrity Mole" will feature returnees Stephen Baldwin and Corbin Bernsen, former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis, "Growing Pains" star Tracey Gold, comedian Mark Curry, basketball curiosity Dennis Rodman, ex-"Cosby" kid Keisha Knight Pulliam and model/actress Angie Everhart.

"Kingdom Hospital," which was originally scheduled to premiere Thursday, Feb. 5, will debut at 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 3 with a two-hour episode. It will settle into the 10 p.m. Wednesday spot the following week.