CBS Says Buh-Bye to Big Apple

April 2 -- CBS has taken a bite out of Big Apple just five episodes into the Ed O'Neill cop drama's season.

Big Apple struggled to hold on to its promising lead-in numbers from Survivor: The Australian Outback and CSI, despite NBC running ER repeats in the same 10 p.m. Thursday time slot during Apple's first few weeks.

According to Variety, the cop drama had a 13-episode on-air commitment; Paramount TV has thus far produced seven of those 13 segments.

Apple had a rotten average of 9.7 million viewers and a 3.4 rating among the target audience of adults 18 to 49. (Each adults 18 to 49 ratings point represents 1.24 million viewers, 1 percent of the U.S. total.)

The series, which focused on the symbiotic relationship between feds and New York City cops, was developed by NYPD Blue creator David Milch and Miami Vice's Anthony Yerkovich.