CBS Cages “Love Monkey”
Looks like Love Monkey’s ready to be put down.
CBS has shelved the critically praised hourlong dramedy series, following the adventures of four single thirtysomethings in New York, after just three episodes. And the prospects for its future seem glum.
“Love Monkey is on hiatus and there’s no scheduled return date,” a network spokesperson says. However, sources close to the show tell E! Online’s TV columnist Kristen Veitch that Love Monkey won’t be coming back.
Love Monkey’s Tuesday time slot will be the latest edition of The Amazing Race, whose two-hour premiere 9-11 on Feb. 28 was already scheduled to preempt the series.
Beginning Mar. 7, Race will move to the 10 p.m. slot previously occupied by Love Monkey to make room for The Unit. The high-octane action drama from producers Shawn Ryan (FX’s The Shield) and David Mamet stars Dennis Haysbert (24) and Robert Patrick (T2, The X-Files) as covert special forces operatives on secret missions and the wives who protect their identities.
Based on the book of the same name by Kyle Smith, Love Monkey starred Tom Cavanagh as a record company executive who loses his job and his girlfriend all in the same day. With a little help from his buddies, including Jason Priestley as his brother-in-law, Cavanagh’s character manages to bounce back, not only finding a new woman, but also a new record company job.
CBS had ordered seven episodes, plus the pilot, as a midseason replacement from producers Sony Pictures Television and Paramount Network Television.
But ratings for the show have been underwhelming. Monkey shed viewers with each airing, and averaged just 8.1 million for its run, about 6 million fewer viewers than NBC’s time slot champ, Law & Order: SVU. Also not helping is its Friends-type vibe, which doesn’t quite jibe with CBS’ crime drama-heavy schedule.
Before Amazing Race takes over at the end of the month, CBS will fill Monkey’s slot with a rerun of NCIS next week and a rerun of CSI the following week.
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