NBC will speed final servings of ‘Restaurant’

It’s the TV equivalent of being seated at a table next to the restroom: NBC has dumped the remaining episodes of “The Restaurant” onto Saturday nights.

The final three episodes of the Mark Burnett-produced series will air over the next two weekends. The fourth and fifth episodes will air this Saturday starting at 8 p.m., with the series finale set for 8 p.m. June 5.

NBC pulled “The Restaurant” from the last two weeks of the May sweeps after its first three episodes averaged an unappetizing 6.9 million viewers on Monday nights — more than 4 million fewer than the three cycles of “Average Joe” drew in the same spot this season.

It’s also down from last summer’s first season of “The Restaurant,” which about 8 million people watched on average, and represents a rare ratings downer from Burnett, the man behind “Survivor” and “The Apprentice.”

The second season of “The Restaurant” has largely dealt with chef-owner Rocco DiSpirito’s battle with co-owner Jeffrey Chodorow over the direction of Rocco’s 22nd Street, where the show takes place.

The two are involved in dueling lawsuits over the eatery, with Chodorow’s company, China Grill Management, saying Rocco’s bled money in its first months of operation and DiSpirito claiming he was frozen out of decisions regarding the restaurant’s future.