'Next Joe Millionaire' Pulled from Tuesdays

Well, it looks like I was wrong when I said, earlier this week, that even though The Next Joe Millionaire has had poor ratings, “It would, however, be rather pointless to pull Joe off the air. For one thing, they don’t necessarily have anything better to put on the air.” Because now it looks like Fox is indeed pulling the second airing each week and going to a more usual once a week schedule.

As we’ve discussed before, Fox was relying on two nights of Joe to rocket them through sweeps. Instead, they are getting swept by just about everything else on TV.

So Fox is cutting its losses. The show has already filmed and filling two nights during sweeps would be pushing it, but cutting it to a single night still leaves the possibility that it could use the extra time to pick up some steam – although it’s unlikely.

So what is Fox putting in its place on Tuesday? Next week, it will be a third running of 24’s third season opener. The following week will feature repeats of That ‘70s Show and The Simpsons. After that, who knows.

Another reality series, The Simple Life (about Paris Hilton on a farm), is still scheduled to premiere on December 2, which was to be the first Tuesday after Joe ended. Instead, Joe will still be going on Mondays while Simple Life begins on Tuesdays.

Will this do anything to help increase ratings? Probably not. It’s possible, as having a show on only once a week will make it more likely that people remember it’s on and can catch it. But at this point, it looks like Fox just wants to stem the bleeding more than anything.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find all of our recent Joe Millionaire articles at the Bachelor 4 page and take a look at our sections on Survivor: Pearl Islands and The Bachelor 4. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about Joe Millionaire, be sure to check out SirLinksALot!