NBC axes 'Lipstick Jungle,' 'My Own Worst Enemy'

[November 14, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Add Christian Slater and Brooke Shields to the list of actors with TV failures on their records.

NBC is pulling the plug on "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Lipstick Jungle," two of its more high-profile young series, according to two network executives who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the decision.

The network will not order new episodes of either series when their current orders -- nine in the case of "My Own Worst Enemy" and 13 for "Lipstick Jungle" -- run out, the executives said.

"My Own Worst Enemy" was given a big promotional pitch by NBC. The psychological thriller starred Slater as a man who had two separate identities and lives, and was slowly coming to learn about the situation.

But it was just another new series that viewers shrugged their shoulders at in the lackluster new TV season. The series ranked No. 61 in the Nielsen Media Research season standings, averaging just under 5 million viewers each week.

Shields was one of three hard-driving Manhattan career women in "Lipstick Jungle," one of two series that premiered last season with clear bloodlines to HBO's "Sex and the City." It was averaging just 4.2 million viewers for each new episode this season, according to Nielsen.

If it's any consolation to NBC and Shields, "Lipstick Jungle" at least lasted longer than "Cashmere Mafia," the ABC version of the New York career women story.

The executives said it was still not clear whether all the episodes that have been shot for each series will be used.

[Associated Press; By DAVID BAUDER]

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