TVSquad

Joel reported from the TCA event earlier this week that ABC is moving Dancing with the Stars to Monday night in order to dodge American Idol. I'm a little disappointed in that, simply because I wanted to see what would happen if the two were to go head to head. I think Idol would come out on top, but DWTS might be able to make a dent in their off-key armor.

Monday night is probably much safer for the DWTS ratings, but it might be the best news for fans of What About Brian. We've talked before about the struggles the show has had with growing an audience. This week found Brian and friends failing to draw even 5 million viewers once again. That's bad for a big three show. And worse, it makes it difficult to renew the series for another run next fall.

Entertainment Weekly's web site is reporting that ABC is pulling the troubled show Six Degrees from the schedule for the remainder of November and all of December.

The series, produced by J.J. Abrams, has been in trouble ever since its premiere in the post-Grey's Anatomy slot on Thursday nights, losing over half of it's lead-in's audience. To date, the show has been averaging 9.6 million viewers, which puts it 45th amongst prime-time shows. It has also received a critical drubbing, with many critics calling it boring and self-indulgent. No word on when or if the show will come back to the schedule, or what will replace it in its current timeslot.

This just goes to show that you don't lose half the audience of the number-one show on TV and survive very long, no matter who is producing your show. ABC may have given it a longer leash because of the Abrams pedigree, but the bad ratings were too much for it to ignore.

(UPDATE: According to Variety, ABC will put Men In Trees in the Thursday at 10 timeslot, starting November 30. It has also given Trees a full-season order.)