Armed & Famous: CBS Pulls Celebrity Cop Series

As expected, FOX’s juggernaut American Idol is back with a vengeance. The reality singing series has been garnering incredible ratings and as a result, the other networks are feeling the pinch. Interestingly enough, another reality show is the first casualty.

Armed & Famous debuted on Wednesday, January 10th at 8pm on CBS. The series followed five celebrities through police academy training, graduation and then on patrol as reserve police officers in Muncie, Indiana. The celebrity officers were CHiPs’ Erik Estrada, singer La Toya Jackson, The Osbournes’ Jack Osbourne, Jackass’ Jason “Wee Man” Acuna, and wrestler Trish Stratus.

On the day of the series premiere, the Armed & Famous cast presented Muncie’s police department with three fully equipped 2007 Hummer SUVs. At the ceremony, Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle offered Osbourne a full-time position on his force. Osbourne respectfully declined but asked the Chief for a letter of recommendation to a Los Angeles police academy. It’s too bad this dedication didn’t translate into bigger viewer numbers.

The first and second episodes attracted only 5.5 million households each. The latest episode, up against Idol, experienced a huge drop in viewers. Only 3.5 million households tuned in. That’s apparently enough for CBS. The network has cancelled Armed & Famous effective immediately.

CSI: NY will take the Wedesday slot on January 31st and Criminal Minds will fill in on February 7th. CBS’ Jericho series returns for its midseason debut with a recap episode on February 14th. The remaining unaired episodes of Armed & Famous may air during the Summer months though, personally, I wouldn’t bet on it.

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