A&E Cancels "The Cleaner"

[JamesG]

A&E cancels The Cleaner
Posted Sep 26th 2009 3:40PM
by Allison Waldman

While a lot of shows seem to be thriving in cable, in the last couple of days, two series have bitten the dust. TBS dumped The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons, and now A&E Network has canceled The Cleaner, opting not to give the drama series another year. Hmm... does that mean Benjamin Bratt is available to return to Law and Order?

Probably not. Been there, done that, you know. But the TV pro is now unemployed although I doubt that'll be for long. The Cleaner just never really clicked for A&E. It was as intense as the network's hit reality show, Intervention, but it wasn't nearly as compelling.



Bob suggested that The Cleaner had gotten lost in the shuffle of returning series last June when it began its second season. That's likely, but I also believe that A&E didn't do the show any favor by running it during the summer. Even efforts to make the capturing of the addicts more like a "caper" didn't help. It also didn't ring true.

The Cleaner might have done better had it been less TV drama and more like Intervention. That was clearly A&E's goal, but in the end, they didn't reach it. With The Cleaner canceled and the Patrick Swayze show, The Beast, also gone, A&E is currently devoid of original dramatic series.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/09/26/aa...s-the-cleaner/