'Lucky 7' canceled: ABC series pulled after two episodes

Oct 4, 2013, 8:08 pm (29 comments)

Insider Buzz

"Lucky 7's" luck has run out, and it is about to endure a lot of jokes about its unfortunate title.

ABC has axed the freshman drama after just two episodes, making it the first cancellation of the 2013-14 season.

ABC knows one thing that's working. Starting Oct. 8, the network will plug repeats of Scandal into Tuesday's 10 p.m. hour. The Shonda Rhimes drama hit series highs in its season-three premiere, jumping a whopping 71 percent from last fall.

The writing was on the wall for Lucky 7. A miserable premiere (1.3 rating with adults 18-49 and 4.4 million viewers) led to a historically weak follow-up. Pulling just a 0.7 rating in the targeted demographic, it lost nearly half of its ratings and ranked as the lowest-rated broadcast drama to air in-season ever.

And all of this was with one of the TV season's most auspicious lead-ins. Though it aired an hour after Agents of SHIELD, ABC was no doubt banking on the Marvel drama's buzz and significant ratings pull to boost the rest of its Tuesday lineup.

Based on the British series The Syndicate, Lucky 7 was adapted for ABC by David Zabel and Jason Richman with ABC Studios and Amblin Television. It follows a group of gas station employees in Queens, N.Y., who win the lottery with a shared ticket.

The show had the distinction of being one of the more diversely cast of the new fall season, with Summer Bishil, Alexandra Castillo, Christine Evangelista, Stephen Louis Grush, Matt Long, Anastasia Phillips, Luis Antonio Ramos, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Syndicate star Lorraine Bruce all series regulars.

Technically, no new fall series has received a traditional back-nine order yet — though Fox has already renewed Sleepy Hollow for a 13-episode second season, and NBC's Michael J. Fox Show earned an early order for a full 22.

THR, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

LottoBoner

NO!!!!!! Thud When are they going to release the blu-ray special edition with extra bonus footage?

RJOh's avatarRJOh

I guess it hard to take what could be an interesting news clip or paragraph in the paper and make an equally interesting TV show.

traemiah's avatartraemiah

I was waiting for the next episode.  Bummer!  Unhappy

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

I'm shocked Eek

En ReVal

So was I.  I wanted them to catch the brothers:)

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Not a surprise cancelation.  Wasn't it a network tv show about lottery jackpot winners who never began leading happier lives?

Stooges

edwardsylvia68

Why did channel 7 make a series of lottery players.  I beleive channel 4, NBC, did a series of about nine players and the series was a flop.  I watched it for the first three episodes and then I gave up on the sotry line of the series and also some of the character players.  Channel 7, ABC, is way behind CBS and FOX on the lineup.  I don't watch any shows from the ABC channel.

onlymoney

I guess that cast wasn't that lucky afterall.

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Maybe another channel will grab it because 4:57 and 2.81 mill viewers is not bad compared to most reality and even some shows on CBS.

fwlawrence's avatarfwlawrence

Figures. As soon as I like something, it gets canceled!

ShowMeTheMoney$'s avatarShowMeTheMoney$

I was hoping Lucky 7 would be a hit show.  I wanted the characters to ultimately succeed and be happy especially Matt (the hardworking dad of two and more honest brother) and the plus-size lady with the philandering husband.  But, now we will never know.  They should just air the episodes they already have in the can.

JonnyBgood07's avatarJonnyBgood07

I'm curious as to where their "targeted demographic" really was

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

When it first came on I watched it for about 1 whole minute ........it had no "hooks".  It looked like something I had seen before so of course, I changed the channel.

Saylorgirl's avatarSaylorgirl

What I don't like is the fact they pull the plug so quickly on shows that they never have a chance to catch on. I thought there was potential in the show and it could have been interesting watching the charcters as they collected the money.  Look how cute that shopping scene was last week!

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