A&E Network Wednesday announced the cancellation of 100 Centre
Street, its highly touted night-court drama.
Supervised by Academy Award-nominated director Sidney Lumet, the New
York-produced program earned critical kudos when it began in January 2001, but
it couldn't gain enough ratings traction for its second season of episodes,
which kicked off a few weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist acts.
The show -- featuring an ensemble cast led by Alan Arkin and LaTanya
Richardson -- was shot in digital high-definition, then transferred to film.
Sources placed average installment costs at about $900,000 -- expensive, but
still below those of broadcast and some other cable drama series that can range
from $1.3 million to $1.5 million per episode.
A&E tried to drum up more interest for 100 Centre Street through a
change of nights and an all-day marathon of past episodes last month, but to
little avail.
While the premieres of the first season's 13 episodes generated Nielsen Media
Research household ratings in the 1.8 to 1.9 range, second-season debuts hovered
around a 1.0. A total of 31 episodes were produced.
Lumet is working with A&E on another project, limited series May It
Please the Court, featuring Gore Vidal-scripted dramatizations of Supreme
Court oral arguments.
