‘Coach’ Removed From Saturday Night Lineup

ABC is benching “Coach” and two other members of its struggling Saturday night lineup in the network’s first shakeup of the fall television season.

“Coach,” the sitcom starring Craig Nelson as coach of the fictional Orlando Breakers, will be off the air indefinitely after two episodes are broadcast on Oct. 26, said ABC.

“Second Noah” and “Common Law” will have their last Saturday night broadcasts this week. “Second Noah” premiered in February, while “Common Law,” about a lawyer with a blue-collar background, was new this fall.

“Coach” and “Second Noah” are continuing production of new shows and are expected to be rescheduled, while the fate of “Common Law” is uncertain, a network source said.

Debate ratings plummet

Early figures for the second - and last - presidential debate indicate that some 55 million viewers watched five minutes or more of the 90-minute broadcast from San Diego Wednesday night, pointing to another sharp drop-off in viewer interest from four years ago.

Keep in mind that four years ago there were three such presidential debates and that besides the estimated 81 million for the first (which CBS didn’t even carry), some 84 million watched the second and 91 million the third.