Station Yanks 'Hannibal' Due to 'Extensive Graphic Nature'
A local NBC affiliate has decided to pull "Hannibal" - a new show depicting the violent crimes of premeditated killers.
NBC's new violent crime drama has met with mixed reviews. Only four episodes in, some television watchers are ready to proclaim that it is the best new show on local TV. Others have been less captivated, however, and are ready for the show to be cancelled by the network completely. One local network has done just that.
"Deliciously disturbing, Hannibal is bound to leave viewers hungry for more," Lori Racki wrote for The Chicago-Sun Times.
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"If you watch Hannibal, it's likely to stay with you for days. Despite the darkness at the heart of it, that's a good thing this time around," Maureen Ryan wrote for the Huffington Post.
For the most part, critics overlooked the violence in the show- even when it came to the bad reviews. But some viewers are on a different page.
"After viewing the past few episodes, as well as receiving numerous complaints from viewers, KSL TV will cancel the airing of the NBC show Hannibal on Thursday evenings," the station, based in Utah's Salt Lake City, posted on Facebook.
Instead, the station has opted to replace the primetime spot with a special news series and suggest that those viewers who enjoyed the show would still be able to watch it online.
"This decision was made due to the extensive graphic nature of this show. The time slot will be replaced with a special edition of KSL 5 News at 9 p.m. NBC remains a valued partner to KSL TV. KSL is confident that with the proliferation of digital media, those who wish to view the program can easily do so," the station said.
But canceling the show on NBC may not be enough to keep Hannibal off the air.
"We're going across the street, as they say," a source told Entertainment Weekly, suggesting that it would attempt a move to the CW instead.
