CW cancels 'The Beautiful Life'

Network aired only two episodes of the drama

By Nellie Andreeva and James Hibberd

Sept 25, 2009, 06:33 PM ET

Updated: Sept 25, 2009, 07:09 PM ET

We have the first casualty of the fall.

The CW has canceled the Ashton Kutcher-produced drama "The Beautiful Life" after two episodes.

Production on the show, which had been filming its seventh episode, was shut down Friday.

"Beautiful Life" has been pulled off the schedule effective immediately.

Beginning Sept. 30, the CW will air a repeat of the "Melrose Place" segment that had aired the night before in "Beautiful Life' " Wednesday 9 p.m. slot, a strategy that the network used with "90210" last year.

Wednesday's episode of "Beautiful Life" was seen by only 1 million viewers and generated a 0.5 rating in the adult demo.

The cancellation comes on the heels of two reality show pickups for the network, "Fly Girls" and a Tinsley Mortimer docusoap.

The CW's freshman revamp of "Melrose Place" has had difficulty achieving liftoff as well, but Thursday night's "Vampire Diaries" has been performing strong. Thursday's third "Diaries" episode grew in the adult demo despite facing increased competition.

The main driver behind the CW's order to "Beautiful Life" was the similarity in setting with the network's veteran reality series "America's Next Top Model," which served as its lead-in on Wednesday.

"Beautiful Life" got a lot of prelaunch publicity stemming from the medical problems of star Mischa Barton.

In July, the show's production also was postponed by a week because the stages were not ready.

CW cancels 'The Beautiful Life'

Network aired only two episodes of the drama

By Nellie Andreeva and James Hibberd

Sept 25, 2009, 06:33 PM ET

Updated: Sept 25, 2009, 07:09 PM ET