By Melanie Mayberry, programming editor
NBC has cancelled its fifth primetime show in the last 15 days, although this pink slip will actually allow the show to wrap things up before heading for the exits.
Deadline reports that the network has axed the Magnum P.I. reboot after five seasons. The show stars Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, who was played by Tom Selleck in the 1980s original. (The first four seasons ran on CBS and NBC picked up the show for the fifth season after CBS cancelled it.)
Despite the cancellation, NBC will air the final ten episodes of the fifth season sometime in 2024. (The first 10 episodes of season five ran from February to April of this year.)
The show’s ratings have been decent, leaving some to express surprise at the axing. But Deadline reports that the writers’ strike may have contributed to the cancellation since it’s unclear when production could begin for a sixth season and some cast members have contracts set to expire.
NBC last week also cancelled the primetime game show, The Wheel, after one season, reports the industry web site, TV Line.
Two weeks ago, the network cancelled American Auto, the workplace comedy that followed a quirky CEO and her employees at a Detroit-based automaker. The show starred Ana Gasteyer as the CEO.
And three weeks ago, it cancelled two other primetime shows, Young Rock and Grand Crew.
Young Rock, which aired for three seasons (2021-2023), was a sitcom based on the early life of actor and wrestler Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. The show featured The Rock in the future as he was running for president with flashbacks to his days as a youth through college where he played football for the University of Miami.
Grand Crew, also a sitcom, aired for two seasons and starred Echo Kellum as a hopeless romantic who thinks his entire life is a romantic comedy movie.
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