Reaper Is "Gone," Says Trade

The sci-fi shows are dropping like flies. After five confirmed kills earlier this year (Eli Stone, Kyle XY, Life on Mars, Pushing Daisies, and Valentine), and intense speculation that poor ratings would kill Fox's sci-fi Friday line-up of Dollhouse and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the trades are now reporting that Reaper has itself been reaped.

A recent run-down in The Hollywood Reporter of "bubble" shows – marginal series that could be either canceled or salvaged depending on the whims of network programmers – indicates that Sarah Connor is "considered all but gone" and tersely asserts that Reaper "is gone."

Neither putative cancellation has been confirmed by the respective networks, but as my About colleague Rachel Thomas noted, Reaper star Tyler Labine has already lined up another gig (Fox series Sons of Tucson), and the series creators recently signed a long-term deal with another studio.

Still, we need to remember that this is a roundup of pure speculation, however informed it may be; bubble shows are bubble shows partly because things could go either way depending on other variables.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the article by Nellie Andreeva suggests that the fan-beloved but underperforming Chuck is in trouble, partly because Jay Leno's take-over of the 10 p.m. weeknight slot has left NBC starved for hourlong drama slots. Andreeva suggests that the "reliable" Medium actually stands a better chance of being renewed. I've been pretty irritated by the cancellations we've seen so far this season, but if NBC cancels Chuck I'll be mad enough to eat my laptop.