'Unpatriotic' comic's show axed

America's ABC network has axed a new sitcom from outspoken comic Janeane Garofalo after she criticised the war on Iraq.

Showbiz journal Variety says it is "unclear whether [her views] had any residual effect on the decision".

However executives were said to be disappointed with the "direction" of the show, Slice O' Life, after hearing a script read-through on Monday.

So they have axed the pilot, just days before it was scheduled to begin shooting in Vancouver.

Garofalo, who played booker Paula in The Larry Sanders Show and who has a string of movie credits to her name, has faced fierce criticism for her anti-war views which some Americans considered unpatriotic.

In Slice O' Life she was to play a TV news producer whose job it was to devise the quirky stories to end each bulletin.

Published: 3 Jun 2003