Fox yanks 'Do Not Disturb'

UPDATE: It's official. "Do Not Disturb" is canceled. Seven episodes produced, three aired, unclear what will happen to remaining half hours. Show averaged 4 million viewers and a 1.6 rating.

PREVIOUS: Fox yanked ailing comedy "Do Not Disturb" off the air after its third episode, replacing it next week with an additional episode of "'Til Death" to fill the 9 p.m. hour.

Fox said the show isn't officially canceled. But it's also difficult to imagine "Disturb" making a return. That means "Disturb" will likely become the first axed show of the season.

Replacing the low-rated silly comedy "Disturb" with an additional episode of the low-rated silly comedy "'Til Death" is an odd joke, like a calorie-minded dieter swapping french fries for onion rings. "Death" was only a tenth of a point higher than "Disturb" in Wednesday night's ratings and actually dropped more week to week ("Disturb" fell 13% from last week; "Death" dropped 26%).

Thing is, "Death" has long been an aptly named zombie sitcom incapable of being killed despite terrible ratings and critics bemoaning its existence. The show keeps devouring its equally under-performing time period partners and replacing them with versions of itself, like some sort evil replicating twin (remember "Back to You"?). If anybody owns incriminating photos of Rupert Murdoch, it's the producers of "'Til Death."