Unable to translate the initial controversy into ratings, Comedy Central
is canceling White House comedy That's My Bush! , the show from South
Park creators Matt Stone and
Trey Parker.
The twisted parody portrayed President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura
Bush as if they were characters in a 1970s sitcom.
The show drew criticism both for portraying a sitting U.S. president in a
sitcom and for considering portraying the Bush daughters as lesbians.
The show debuted at a huge 3.0 Nielsen household but drifted down to a 1.5
average over its Wednesday night runs before moving to Thursday nights.
That's not too bad a rating for Comedy Central, which average a 0.7 in prime
time. Martin Short's Primetime Glick! just got renewed and its ratings
have been as low as a 1.1.
But that's a much cheaper show.
That's My Bush! cost $700,000 per episode, which is huge by Comedy
Central standards.
The network would not comment on the cancellation.
However, it did say that Glick star Martin Short will produce 10 new episodes
of the faux-talk show. The new show will start airing early next
year.
