TNT’s Murder in the First is being put down.
The Turner-owned cable network has opted to cancel the Steven Bochco procedural after three seasons.
The decision hardly comes as a surprise for the cop drama starring Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson and co-created by Bochco and Eric Lodal. The series wrapped its three-season run Sept. 4 with just more than 1 million viewers — down considerably from its series debut of 3 million-plus.
The determination to cancel the drama, produced in-house, comes as TNT topper Kevin Reilly has been looking to refocus the cabler toward edgier fare. Gone is veteran Rizzoli & Isles and in its place are series like Michele Dockery entry Good Behavior and the adaptation of Animal Kingdom.
Murder was one of a dwindling number of scripted originals that were greenlighted before Reilly’s arrival at TNT. Still remaining are Major Crimes and Eric Dane starrer The Last Ship.
Bochco, meanwhile, is readying a reboot of L.A. Law at 20th Century Fox Television, though the project has yet to find a network home.
