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Saturday, May 31, 2014

Arseino Hall Got Axed!

CBS Television announced the abrupt cancellation of Arsenio Hall's late night program.

You stand next to him, you're going down! The famous words of soon to be washed up celebrity Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson on the feud with Game (another soon to be washed up celebrity).

Well I guess when That Guy Who Helped Obama Win interviewed Arsenio Hall, it must have turned off a lot of his supporters. For you see, even with a great start, you can't survive if the ratings bar fails to move.

CBS Television announced the cancellation of The Arsenio Hall Show. After one season, the show which was distributed on many CW affiliates was given the ax. It failed to live up to the challenges of late night.

With David Letterman, Jimmy Fallion, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson leading the late night gig, Arsenio was supposed to be the return of the old guard.

CBS Television Production had previously announced Hall's syndicated show would be back for a second season, but faced the prospect of stations moving it to lesser time slots as ratings fell.

In a statement, Hall said he knew launching the show would be a challenge.

"I'm gratified for the year we've had and proud of the show we created," the actor and comedian added.

The show is in reruns and won't resume production, a show spokesman said. The last original episode aired May 21.

When Hall began his original series in 1989, he was seen as the cool alternative to Johnny Carson and "The Tonight Show" on NBC. Guests including sax playing-presidential candidate Bill Clinton helped push Hall into the spotlight.

By 1994, with increased competition from new "Tonight" host Jay Leno and CBS' David Letterman, Hall's ratings had slipped and the show ended.

When Hall returned last year, he was fighting for attention with even more programs, including ABC's Jimmy Kimmel and the Comedy Central lineup.

The cancellation of Hall's show returns the late-night talk show scene to almost uniformly white male hosts, with a few exceptions such as Tavis Smiley on PBS.

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