• by Wayne Friedman , January 4, 2007

Fox's "The O.C." and NBC Universal syndication talker "The Megan Mullally Show" will leave the airwaves.

"The O.C." has been a young-teen cult hit since it arrived on Fox in August 2003. But the show never lived up to its fuller potential after its move to Thursday night in 2005--an effort to give it a broader TV audience.

This season, Fox waited until after the Major League Baseball playoffs in November to start "The O.C." in a 9 p.m. time slot. But all that gave ABC's new 9 p.m. show "Grey's Anatomy" a running head start, since it had been on since September.

"They had the same audience as "Grey's Anatomy," says Bill Carroll, vice president and director of programming for Katz Communications. "Since then, they have been struggling."

Fox tried to save the show by moving it off Thursday night. It will air new episodes starting tomorrow, running through Feb. 22, when it airs its series finale.

Another casualty: NBC's rookie syndication talk show "Megan Mullally" always had a hard road to follow--given tough time periods on some struggling daytime NBC stations. In addition, viewers had a certain perception of Mullally from her former sitcom character.

"Viewers had a certain anticipation of Megan Mullally," adds Carroll. "They know her from "Will & Grace." Viewers were looking for Karen Walker to host a show."

At the end, "Mullally" was earning a difficult-to-sell Nielsen 0.8 national rating. NBC Universal said the show would cease production immediately. It will continue to air through the end of January with a mix of originals and reruns.