RIP: 'The Beautiful Life: TBL' is DOA

Sara Paxton of 'The Beautiful Life: TBL'

Credit: The CW

The first official week of the TV season is not yet over, but we have our first primetime casualty. And it's a true fashion victim.

According to sources close to its production, The CW's "The Beautiful Life: TBL" shut down on Friday (Sept. 25) and The CW will not air any future episodes of the low-rated modeling show. 

The CW will replace "The Beautiful Life: TBL" with "Melrose Place" repeats in an effort to keep that struggling series afloat until the arrival of Heather Locklear in November.

The demise of the Ashton Kutcher-produced soap was hardly unanticipated. After an already low-rated premiere, "The Beautiful Life: TBL" sunk to under 1.1 million viewers on Wednesday night to go with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demo.

"The Beautiful Life" featured an ensemble cast lead by Sara Paxton, Elle Macpherson, Corbin Bleu and Mischa Barton, whose health concerns attracted publicity this summer. The CW had hoped that that subject matter would prove compatible with "America's Next Top Model," a long-running series that has traditionally struggled as a launching pad for new programming.

This makes it a zero-sum week for The CW. In addition to canceling "The Beautiful Life" this week, the network ordered the unscripted series "Fly Girls," focusing on sexy flight attendants.