• by Paul Gough , October 8, 2003

NBC sophomore drama "Boomtown" has become the first casualty of the new TV season - sort of.

The critically acclaimed series, which survived lackluster ratings last year to be placed on NBC's retooled Friday schedule this fall, will go on hiatus for three weeks, an NBC spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday. Repeats of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" will run in its place until then.

"Boomtown" had premiered its second season on Sept. 26 in the 10 p.m. Friday slot but the show floundered. To give it an extra boost before the new season, NBC brought "Boomtown" back to TV in its new time slot beginning in early August. But that wasn't enough for the drama to find its legs. In two showings, "Boomtown" ranked 71st in the Nielsen total household ratings, tied with ABC's "Threat Matrix," which goes up against NBC's "Friends" and CBS' "Survivor." The season premiere delivered a 2.9/9 in adults 18-49, with 7.8 million viewers overall; a week later, it dropped to a 2.3/7 among adults 18-49, with 6.7 million viewers overall.

NBC's results on Friday nights hadn't been what it had hoped, with its ratings in the second week finishing in second- (and mostly) third-place showings in all key demographics: total households, adults 18-34, adults 18- 49 and adults 25-54. In total households, NBC's Fridays dropped from a 5.5 to a 4.9 in its second week to put it into third place behind CBS and ABC. Among adults 18-49, NBC dropped from 2.8 to 2.3, with ABC and CBS in a tie in the demo with a 2.9.

That's been disaster for one of NBC's highly touted shows, "Miss Match" starring Alicia Silverstone, and a bust for "Boomtown."

NBC will shift its schedule around, moving "Miss Match" to 9 p.m.

The spokeswoman said "Boomtown" would return to the schedule at a later point. No further details were available.