'Ben and Kate' officially canceled

Time is up for the late “Ben and Kate.”

On Wednesday the freshman comedy was pulled from Tuesday nights. Then, on Friday, production ended mid-episode, when FOX officially canceled the series. The last three of its 18 episodes ordered will not be finished, leaving three already produced episodes unaired. FOX has hinted that they will be broadcast at a later date, but has yet to confirm any time frame for their arrival.

“Ben and Kate” will be replaced on the schedule by new, back-to-back “Raising Hope” episodes beginning Jan. 29. The “Raising Hope” two-fer will run Jan. 29, Feb. 5 and Feb. 26, with the one- hour season finale airing on Thursday, March 28. “Hell’s Kitchen” will return Tuesday, March 12 at 8 p.m., and continue to occupy the 8-9pm hour going forward. “New Girl” and “The Mindy Project” will not see any changes.

“Ben and Kate” was a semi-autobiographical comedy from creator Dana Fox (“What Happens in Vegas”). Dakota Johnson played responsible Kate, and Nat Faxon played her wild- card brother Ben. Lucy Punch, Echo Kellum and Maggie Elizabeth Jones rounded out the cast.

 “Ben and Kate” debuted with a modest 2.1 rating in adults 18-49, with 4.2 million viewers. The ratings dropped following that. The show’s season to date rating average is 1.4 in the coveted adult demo, and 2.9 million viewers.