ABC Cancels ‘Wicked City’ After Airing Just Three Episodes Of The Drama Series

The new drama 'Wicked City' is nearing its end. ABC has announced it is removing the low rated show 'Wicked City' from its line-up after only three episodes of the show have been aired. The reason why ABC pulled the plug is the low audience interest in the show, reported USAToday.

The murder drama series, which premiered just three weeks ago, received a mere 0.9 rating among adults 18-49 and 3.3 million total viewers in its debut week against the World Series.

The show's ratings continued to drop with each subsequent episode, the last episode aired Tuesday drew a historically low 0.4 rating in the demo and 1.7 million total viewers. In fact the third episode's dismal 0.4 rating is believed to be the worst in-season rating for a big four show since 18-49 ratings started being recorded 25 years ago.

Production on 'Wicked City' will cease after completing Episode eight, which is currently filming. It remains unclear if the five unaired episodes will be broadcast in future, according to Variety.

Produced in-house by ABC Studios and Mandeville Television, the murder drama becomes the first official series of the fall to be canceled and removed from the schedule. The show focuses on two detectives, played by Jeremy Sisto and Gabriel Luna, who are in search of a serial killing duo reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde, played by Ed Westwick and Erika Christensen.

"Shark Tank" re-runs will air in Wicked City's 10 PM slot starting next Tuesday, November 17, reported Entertainment Weekly.

So far this fall, the broadcast networks have issued trimming orders for four underperforming new series including "The Player" and "Truth Be Told" at NBC, "Blood & Oil" at ABC and "Minority Report" at FOX. Despite receiving unsatisfied ratings, the four shows continue to run on air until their episodes run out.