Because stars just gotta dance, and they just do not care how many untrustworthy “b”s are crammed into apartment 23, ABC’s monkeying with its Tuesday-night lineup took its next, inevitable step today when the network removed Don’t Trust The B—— In Apartment 23 from its schedule, effective January 29. This follows The Alphabet’s failed experiment in drumming up excitement for Apartment 23 and its timeslot companion, Happy Endings, with additional airings on Sunday night—a move also intended to clear room for the March return of Dancing With The Stars, a “killing two birds with one stone” scenario which instead appears to have killed one bird and one show.


Though no official cancellation notice has been handed down from ABC, the stars of Apartment 23 have already reached for the massive “save our show” button that is the Internet: James Van Der Beek in particular has taken to tweet-eulogizing the show, thanking the fans for tuning in and extending his gratitude to ABC for taking a chance on such a risky, swear-word-in-the-title prospect. Additional new episodes of Happy Endings will take the place of its one-time companion series, a move that seemingly says “burn off,” but certainly doesn’t doom the show to cancellation, either. After all, its entire 13-episode first season aired in a similar manner, and the show is a co-production of ABC Studios and Sony Pictures Television, which puts it in a good position for reaping significant syndication returns down the line. A fourth season of Happy Endings would put the show’s episode count in the high 70s, which is just right for a syndication deal; Sony’s great at negotiating such deals, and a renewal notice from ABC would boil down to the network printing money for its studio arm.

But that’s all speculation, as is all this talk about the end of Don’t Trust The B—— In Apartment 23. As the saying goes, it ain’t over ’til the fat “b” sings—“b” meaning “bitch,” because if it really is a dead show walking, the time for being coy has concluded.


UPDATE: Or the bitch in the apartment herself: Krysten Ritter has now tweeted that Apartment 23 is no more; still no official word on the matter from ABC, or whether or not the network plans to air the remaining eight episodes of the show’s second season.