ABC cancels 'Last Resort,' '666 Park Avenue'

Friday is traditionally the day that employers deliver bad news to terminated employees. Television executives seem to follow the same mentality, as today has seen several shows get the ax.

Earlier today, TV Rage reported that CBS' was divorcing from its tepid freshman comedy "Partners," while Discovery Channel was letting "American Chopper" ride off into the sunset after ten successful years. Now, ABC is adding to the list of farewells, cutting loose two of its freshman drama series "666 Park Avenue" and "Last Resort."

The Andre Braugher war-time drama about a mutinous submarine crew rebelling against orders to launch a nuclear strike was heavily promoted by the network. While the pilot received fairly high marks from critics, its performance in the ratings didn't live up to the hype. The series debuted with 9.31 million viewers and a 2.2 demo rating, barely above the canceled "Charlie's Angels" reboot from last year. Its most recent episode was its weakest performance to date, with only 5.8 million viewers and a 1.3 rating.

The Terry O'Quinn-led supernatural drama is less of a surprise. "666 Park Avenue" debuted to mixed reviews and unremarkable ratings and never really had that turnaround moment. Ratings have consistently fallen during its run, averaging 7 million with a 2.2 share (below the 11 million and 3.1 share which the canceled "Pan Am" delivered in the same slot last year) and getting a series low of 4 million with a 1.3 share in its latest episode on Sunday.

Really though, I can't see a huge uproar from fans over the departure of the two series. "Last Resort" seemed to have a mini-series premise at best, and those I know who watched gave up on the series fairly quickly. "666 Park Avenue" seemed weak overall and not befitting the talents of O'Quinn.

Anyone losing any sleep over the two series cancellations?