April 26, 2003
thefutoncritic.com

The troubled run of NBC's "Just Shoot Me" officially came to an end yesterday as the Peacock announced it has canceled the long running comedy.

The news comes as no surprise as Tuesday's relaunch averaged an embarrassing 1.9 rating and 5 share in adults 18-49 for the 8:00/7:00c hour. Various specials are set to fill the slot in the coming weeks, including "Most Outrageous Game Show Moments 4" on May 6. NBC had originally planned to run seven more installments of the comedy over the next four weeks.

Executive producer Steve Levitan was understandably outraged at the news. "They threw it back on after four months and barely promoted it; what did they expect?" Levitan told Daily Variety. "The frustrating part is that Jeff [Zucker, president of NBC Entertainment] called a meeting with the producers and the cast and promised that he will air these episodes, that he would not pull them. Then they toss us back on and pull us the next day." He added, "Where has all the dignity and integrity gone in this business? That's my point."

"It's very frustrating when this show has done very well in 9 of its 11 timeslots over the years for them to treat us so badly in the end," he said. "And when we complain, they get indignant. I don't understand it."

Levitan continued to vent his frustration to The Hollywood Reporter, saying "Jeff Zucker came and assured our cast, promised our cast, that [NBC] would not pull us and they would be airing these episodes. Now it's clear to me his word meant nothing. It's a real slap in the face to the show and the crew for NBC to treat the show the way they've treated it."

In total 13 episodes of "Just Shoot Me" remain unaired from its seventh season. It is not clear if NBC will burn the fresh installments off this summer.