h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) When FOX Entertainment President Gail Berman insisted to TV critics back in January that the remaining episodes of "Tru Calling" would air at some point, many a reporter chuckled. Well, Berman may be departing FOX for a creative gig at Paramount, but she's true to her word. The much maligned and already effectively cancelled "Calling" will return on Thursday, March 31, replacing the equally maligned and equally effectively cancelled "Point Pleasant."
Originally scheduled to air at 9 p.m. ET on Thursdays after "The O.C." this fall, "Tru Calling" was yanked first for "North Shore" and then for "Point Pleasant" this winter.

"What changed for us was when we saw 'Point Pleasant" we really felt we had a show that was incredibly compatible with 'The O.C.," so our thoughts changed, not so much about 'Tru Calling,' but about the possibility of not only having an exciting show and a winner at 8 o'clock, but also something that could really make headway for us at 9 o'clock," Berman said in January by way of explanation.


It turns out that that experiment was a failure. Despite getting a reasonably large sample for its post-"American Idol" sneak preview, "Point Pleasant" averaged all of 4.09 million viewers per episode, shedding nearly half of the audience from its more successful lead-in, "The O.C." Those numbers were right in line with the viewership for "North Shore" in the same time period.
Last season, "Tru Calling" averaged 4.55 million viewers.

The drama, which stars Eliza Dushku as a young woman who can relieve days whenever a corpse asks her to, will begin its six-episode final run with a two-hour premiere on March 31. It will take its planned 9 p.m. slot the following week.

"Point Pleasant" remains tentatively scheduled to air this Thursday before vanishing for the foreseeable future.

Apparently Eliza got a slightly better rating than Point Pleasant when Ep 1 of season 2 was screened. As far as I know these episodes have already gone to DVD.

C