Fox cancels Ancient Egypt drama 'Hieroglyph'

Fox has decided not to make its big Ancient Egypt drama series after all.



The network is shutting down Hieroglyph, the network’s ambitious historical-fantasy thriller that was previously given a straight-to-series order for midseason.



The show’s writers were informed earlier Monday, sources say. The show starred Max Brown, Reece Ritchie, Condola Rashad and John Rhys-Davies. Only one episode had been shot, but scripted had been written for several more episodes. We’re told that the series wasn’t creatively coming together the way executives had hoped.



The move comes following the departure of Fox’s former programming chief Kevin Reilly, who greenlit the series. Fox has yet to announce its new programming leadership.



A broadcast network axing a greenlit series before its even aired is pretty rare, but it does happen. Last year Fox shot a Jason Ritter sitcom called Us & Them, based on the UK comedy Gavin & Stacey, which ultimately did not air. Also last year, NBC’s Next Caller starring Dane Cook was scheduled for midseason, yet the network changed its mind. Most of the time, such instances are relatively inexpensive sitcoms or reality shows, however, not pricy dramas, which tend to have a more momentum given the upfront commitment involved. Still aborting a drama is not without precedent either — in 2010 NBC shot a post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama called Day One which ultimately never aired.







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