TV Bulletin Board (Thurs., Oct. 18) -- Animal Practice axed
10/18/12 13:49
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom
NBC's Animal Practice became the fall season's second casualty Thursday, with Whitney set to take its Wednesday 7 p.m. (central) habitat on Nov. 14th.
The Peacock comedy, which didn't feature a peacock, offered recurring sight gags from Crystal the Capuchin monkey, whose character's name was Dr. Rizzo. But a monkey can only do so much.
Whitney, starring comedian Whitney Cummings, survived a so-so first season after receiving mixed reviews and marginal ratings. Its return may not last long either.
***FX's grisly, campy, discombobulated American Horror Story: Asylum had what the network is calling an "insane" start Wednesday night. Its premiere episode drew 3.85 million viewers nationally, with a sizable percentage of them (2.78 million) within the 18-to-49 motherlode demographic.
The network says that Asylum had more viewers than any single episode of its predecessor, which was just plain American Horror Story. The two lead actors, Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott were killed off and aren't a part of Asylum. But Emmy-winning Jessica Lange has returned in the new role of twisted Sister Jude.
***As expected, Fox's The X Factor has named Mario Lopez and Khloe Kardashian Odom as its two new hosts.
"The worst kept secret in Hollywood is out," creator and head judge Simon Cowell said in a publicity release. "They will debut in our first live show in November and I couldn't be happier."
***CBS has green-lighted the reality-competition series Bake Off. As in almost all cases these days, it's adapted from an ongoing overseas hit -- namely The Great British Bake Off.
Competitors will undergo various "baking challenges" before one emerges to win a yet to be announced prize. It's scheduled to premiere sometime next year.
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