Adios to Viva Laughlin

Posted on October 23, 2007

After only two episodes, Hugh Jackman's musical drama, Viva Laughlin has been cancelled.

Viva Laughlin, the musical-drama hybrid that starred Hugh Jackman as a casino owner and was lambasted by critics, has been canceled by CBS after only two episodes. The Amazing Race will replace Viva Laughlin in the Sunday at 8 p.m. time slot beginning Nov. 4. (A CSI repeat will be broadcast this Sunday.) The Hollywood Reporter calls Viva Laughlin the first major casualty of the 2007-08 season.

When Viva Laughlin debuted on Oct. 18 in a special time slot after CSI ­ the program shed more than half of its valuable lead-in and averaged 8.8 million viewers. It then moved to its normal time slot on Sunday, following 60 Minutes, but its second episode, on Oct. 21, drew an average of 6.8 million viewers, placing CBS in fourth place for the hour.

Viva Laughlin featured a character named Lloyd Owen, a man who dreams about having a casino of his own in Laughlin, Nevada. Hugh Jackman and Melanie Griffith starred. The reviews were unbelievably bad, with one reviewer calling it the worst show on television. It was a remake of a very popular British show. We never saw it, but still --- pulling a show that had almost 7 million viewers after only two episodes? That's harsh.

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