As far as we know, the anti-Catholic sitcom “The Real O’Neals” is still in ABC’s pipeline for midseason, but the network’s Biblical drama “Of Kings and Prophets” is being pulled back from the fall schedule for retooling.
From Deadline.com:
Of Kings and Prophets received mixed reactions at the upfront, and it was a late delivery, with the completed pilot not screened before the network set its fall 2015 schedule. ABC had had big plans for the drama, which hired a showrunner and set up a writers room with an eye toward a series order ahead of the network’s May pickups, but the network brass appear to be cooling off on the show whose future is now in jeopardy. (Last year, Fox moved in to scrap its Ancient Egypt drama Hieroglyph after a lukewarm reception of the pilot at the upfronts.)
The series order has reportedly also been cut from 13 to 10, and some recasting is underway.
As the pilot hasn’t been offered to the press, it’s hard to tell if this is good or bad news. But, as this is ABC, I don’t suspect this show was heavy on theological content, so, like “Hieroglyph,” it may be that advertisers don’t think a weekly costume drama works on network television.
This past Sunday, the NBA Finals on ABC thumped the overnight ratings for NBC’s New Testament epic “The Bible Continues,” which still pulled in 4.02M viewers, but tied its series low in the key 18-49 demographics. These numbers may improve when figures from DVR viewing roll in. But, there’s been no word yet from NBC on whether the Mark Burnett/Roma Downey production, based on the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, will get a second season.
Image: Courtesy ABC
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