By RussWilcox [From Sea to Shining Sea]

One minute, Heather Graham was the face of ABC. The next minute, she was gone. Her comedy series "Emily's Reasons Why Not" was promoted relentlessly by the network as the linchpin of its post-football Monday night schedule, but was only given one airing before being yanked earlier this month.

ABC committed to the big promotional campaign before even seeing a script for the show, said ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson on Saturday. The series turned out to be a dog creatively, he indicated.

"Once we saw it was not launching, we felt like unfortunately it was not going to get better and we had to make a change," McPherson said.

A total of six episodes were filmed, and McPherson said no determination has been made about whether they would be burned off.

The quick hook doesn't mean producers of other ABC series with middling ratings — "Invasion," for example — should be shaking in fear.

"That's a great example for us of when to be patient and when to fold them," he said. "We believe in that show."

Yahoo News

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Russell Wilcox is a retired college professor who spends several months in Florida and several months in Rhode Island each year, and whose interests include boating and sailing, political activism, ballroom dancing and bridge. He has an MBA from Harvard, a Computer Systems CAGS from Bryant and a BS from Northeastern. He has worked in industry for EG&G and Texas Instruments, operated his own business with more than 200 employees, and served as Director of the Computer Information Systems Program for Stonehill College. He is a published author of two technical studies, and is the proud father of four children and the proud grandfather of six grandchildren. A holder of two patents in microchip connections and a true product of the melting pot, his father is the son of a Yankee farmer, and his mother the second generation daughter of Italian immigrants who retained their culture, but strove mightily to become Americans, sending four sons to fight against Hitler and Mussolini.