Picky stations and antsy advertisers were bad enough. And then “God, the Devil and Bob” had to go and commit the worst TV sin: Bad ratings. NBC announced Wednesday that it was pulling the half-hour animated series from its 8:30 p.m. Tuesday time slot effective immediately. For “God,” the end came after only four broadcasts.
In a statement, the network said it was “very proud of the work” but “disappointed that it wasn’t able to garner a larger audience.”
What the show did garner was lots of ink. As many as 22 NBC affiliates — covering roughly 5 percent of the TV nation — refused to air the show in primetime. Objections ranged from: It’s not funny to it’s blasphemous to hey, God looks too much like Jerry Garcia. (That last one was lodged by the relatives of the late Grateful Dead rocker.)
For the TV week ended Sunday, “God, the Devil and Bob” ranked a lowly 80th place.
IT’S THEIR PROFILE: Dolly Parton has been tapped to host CBS’ telecast of the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 3 in Universal City, Calif. In making the move, an awards spokesman compared Dolly to Oscar emcee Billy Crystal.
WHO ASKED HER? Do you know who Maria Bartiromo is? No? Well, just so you know, she tells TV Guide she’s very happy working for CNBC as a financial reporter, but — if pressed — she’d consider taking the Kathie Lee Gifford job in “Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee” when Reeg‘s better half leaves in July.
