Fox Cancels 'Human Target,' 'Lie to Me,' 'The Chicago Code' and More

It's that time of year again, the upfronts, when TV networks decide which shows live and which shows die. This year Fox has become the first network to announce which shows are being culled, and it's bad news for Christian Slater. Again...

Fox announced that it's cancelling five of its live action shows: 'Human Target,' Lie to Me,' 'The Chicago Code,' 'Traffic Light' and 'Breaking In.' It also dropped the ax on some of its drama pilots, including the much talked-about 'Locke & Key' and 'Exit Strategy.'

Angry fans turned to Twitter to vent as the news broke late Tuesday, with 'Human Target' fans being among the most vocal. In fact, according to THR, they tweeted so vociferously that the show became a Top 10 trending topic.

After a promising start in its debut season 'Human Target' faltered, and it had seemed ripe for cancellation last year. However, it was instead given a radical overhaul with the addition of new central characters, together with a new showrunner and a change of direction. It wasn't enough: Season 2 never really caught fire and it steadily shed viewers as it progressed.

Similarly, procedural drama 'Lie to Me' was also in danger last year but limped on. Its cancellation has been a double whammy for its former showrunner, Shawn 'The Shield' Ryan, who left in 2010 to work on 'Terriers' (cancelled after one season) before moving on to helm 'The Chicago Code.' Which has now also been cancelled after one season ...

The newbie drama launched on Fox in February and received a warm reception from critics, but never quite connected with viewers. Despite a huge publicity campaign, an impressive cast including Jennifer Beals and Delroy Lindo, and positive reviews, it faced an uphill battle almost from the opening and constantly struggled in the ratings.

Ryan also turned to Twitter to express his feelings about the cancellation: "Dammit." He then joked that, "Now I have time to guest star on the Season Finale of 'The Office' with everyone else." Ryan also announced that the final two episodes of 'The Chicago Code' will air as planned, on the next two Mondays.

Like Ryan, Christian Slater finds himself in the unenviable position of having yet another show cancelled. His comedy 'Breaking In,' came in as a midseason replacement airing straight after ratings juggernaut 'American Idol.'

However, it could not hold onto enough of 'Idol's huge numbers to satisfy Fox, and, according to Deadline, the suits decided to jettison it in favor of new all-female-skewing comedies, like 'The New Girl.'

The demise of 'Breaking In' marks the third straight time Slater's failed to get a television series past its debut season. His previous series 'My Own Worst Enemy' and 'The Forgotten' also fell at the first renewal fence, but at least he's not alone -- his 'Breaking In' co-star Bret Harrison's continuing his own losing streak after 'Reaper' and 'The Loop' were both canned after two short seasons.

New comedy 'Traffic Light' was brought in as a midseason replacement for the cancelled 'Running Wilde,' and followed the lives of a bunch of thirty-somehting guys who've been friends since college.

'Locke & Key,' the hotly anticipated new drama pilot from Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the minds behind 'Fringe,' has also been killed off. But, although the costly supernatual thriller is reportedly dead in the water right now, it's possible that another network could pick it up at a later date.

Orci and Kurzman's other pilot for Fox, the Ethan Hawke vehicle, 'Exit Strategy,' is on the bubble right now and it seems likely that it will only progress after a retooling. Plus, a potential problem is that co-star Antoine Fuqua is scheduled to begin filming the Tupac biopic this summer.

Other Fox pilots that are rumored to be finished, are: 'Weekends at Bellevue,' 'Iceland,' 'Outnumbered,' 'Council of Dads' and 'Tagged.'