'Ben and Kate' pulled from Fox schedule

Jan. 24, 2013, 8:33 AM EST
By Tim Kenneally
TheWrap

Fox has pulled its freshman comedy "Ben and Kate" from its schedule, effective immediately, the network said Wednesday.

The series, which has aired 13 episodes so far and aired Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m., will return at a later date to be determined, the network added.
Bing: More on 'Ben and Kate' star Dakota Johnson
For the time being, one-hour installments of "Raising Hope" will run Tuesdays at 8 p.m. to cover the programming hole through the February sweeps (except for Feb. 19, when a "New Girl" repeat will air at 8:30).

The season premiere of "Hell's Kitchen" will air Tuesday, March 12 at 8 p.m. The Gordon Ramsay reality hit will occupy the Tuesdays at 8-9 p.m. slot from there on in, preceding "New Girl" and "The Mindy Project."

"Raising Hope" will air its season premiere with a one-hour episode on Thursday, March 28, following "American Idol."

The series, which stars Dakota Johnson as Type-A single mother Kate and Nat Faxon as her laid-back brother Ben, who moves in with his sister to help care for her daughter, premiered in September with a lukewarm 2.0 rating/6 share in the 18-49 demographic most important advertisers and 4.2 million total viewers. Its most recent episode, airing this week, posted a 1.2/3 -- a modest improvement over the previous week -- with 2.6 million total viewers.

During the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January, Fox entertainment chief Kevin Reilly expressed disappointment that the network's Tuesday night comedy block hadn't been a bigger ratings hit so far, noting that he believes in the quality of the shows but that audiences may need time to find them.

Ben and Kate Officially Canceled by Fox

by Jenna Mullins Today 4:25 PM PST

Update: Fox has officially canceled Ben and Kate after pulling the sitcom from its schedule earlier this week, per The Hollywood Reporter. The series, created by Dana Fox, has stopped production and will not complete filming the two remaining episodes of its 18-episode order.

Fox is pulling Ben and Kate from its Tuesday night lineup, the network announced today. The freshman sitcom, starring Nat Faxon and Dakota Johnson, will be replaced with Raising Hope starting Tuesday, Jan. 29, with a special one-hour episode featuring the wedding of Jimmy (Lucas Neff) and Sabrina (Shannon Woodward).

Although Fox hasn't given an exact date, the network insists that the episodes that have already been filmed (15 in total) will be aired eventually. Our bet is on not seeing new episodes of Ben and Kate until after Raising Hope's finale, which airs March 28. New Girl and The Mindy Project will continue to air new episodes on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively.