THINGS look black for the Donnellys on NBC, while over at Fox, it’s splitsville between the network and producer David E. Kelley’s new series “Wedding Bells.”
NBC will replace “The Black Donnellys” with “The Real Wedding Crashers,” a new reality series from “Punk’d” producer Ashton Kutcher, on April 23, NBC announced.
Only eight episodes of “Donnellys,” the series about a family of young Irish thugs in New York, will have aired by then.
There is no word on when the remaining episodes – five of them, reportedly – will air, although it’s doubtful they’ll air before the official end of the network TV season in May.
It is also doubtful that “Donnellys” will be back for a second season. The series has averaged about 6.7 million viewers per episode, according to Nielsen.
Meanwhile, David E. Kelley, producer of such shows as “Boston Legal” and “Ally McBeal,” has struck out with “Wedding Bells” on Fox. The show has suffered in the ratings since being moved to Friday nights after premiering following “American Idol.”
“While we’ve been pleased with the show creatively, and David’s writing was first-rate, [the show] just didn’t secure the ratings we’d hoped for,” Fox said in a statement reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The magazine said “Wedding Bells” will cease production after its seventh episode.