ABC drama Pushing Daisies ended production of its second season today and this season will likely be its last, according to industry sources:

Word of the show’s apparent death began spreading around Hollywood Thursday morning, though an ABC spokeswoman insisted no decision has been made on the show’s fate.

Under one scenario making the rounds, ABC might find a way to extend the options on the “Daisies” cast and crew for several months so that the show could be revived next season. But such a plan would be costly.

Producer Warner Bros. TV had no comment.

“Daisies” wraps production on its 13-episode fall order today. A decision to end the show has been expected for some time now, but it nonetheless represents a stunning reversal of fortune for the Warner Bros. Television-produced fantasy drama.

Has anyone actually watched this show? It actually seems like a novel approach to a series, but have you ever walked into work and overheard two co-workers raving over last night’s episode? Nah, didn’t think so.

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ABC’s Lost and its increasingly multiplying number of mysteries will come to an end… after three more seasons totalling 48 episodes, the show’s producers and ABC execs have decided:

“Due to the unique nature of ‘Lost,’ we knew it would require an end date to keep the integrity and strength of the show consistent throughout and to give the audience the payoff they deserve,” ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson said.

Lindelof said having the end point in sight was “incredibly liberating. Like we’ve been running a marathon and we actually know where the finish line is for the first time.”

Lindelof and Cuse said they’ve had “a road map for the series with all the major mythological milestones and the ending in place” for a while.

“What we didn’t know was how long we had to play the story out,” Cuse said. “By defining the endpoint we can now really map out the rest of the series in confidence.”

In case you’re keeping track at home, that will round out the run of the show at about 120 episodes…

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NBC cancelled The Black Donnelly’s, the CW cancelled 7th Heaven, FOX cancelled Wedding Bells, and ABC cancelled Six Degrees today:

The David E. Kelley’s dramedy “The Wedding Bells” has ceased production, but the network plans to air three more episodes. The Friday night drama most recently earned a mere 1.4 rating among adults 18 to 49.

ABC pulled “Six Degrees” last fall, then brought back the show as a March addition to Friday nights. Its last airing earned a 1.1 rating. Repeats of “Wife Swap” will air in its place.

NBC’s mob drama “Black Donnelly’s” filled a Monday night hole vacated by “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and has bled viewers nearly ever airing. Last night’s episode earned a 2.0 rating. “Donnelly’s” will be replaced by the reality series “The Wedding Crashers.”

The CW’s “7th Heaven” will finish its final season, with a finale to air May 13, but will not return this fall.

There’s no indication why four networks decided to cancel shows all on the same day, but NBC’s cancellation of The Black Donnelly’s really caught us off guard. NBC didn’t give this Irish mob drama a chance. Meanwhile, they’ve given Studio 60, a show with similar ratings, several chances this season.

Viewers must be getting tired of almost every new show being cancelled each season. Why bother trying out new shows if odds are networks will cancel them just as you’re starting to get into the show and it’s characters?

ABC announced it is renewing Lost, Ugly Betty, Men in Trees, Boston Legal, and a number of other shows for next season:

Getting a jump in planning for next season, ABC announced yesterday that it had ordered new episodes for the programs, which include three series that debuted this season: the hit “Ugly Betty,” the drama “Brothers & Sisters” and Anne Heche’s Alaska sojourn “Men in Trees.”

Most of the other returnees are no surprises. “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Boston Legal” will all be back. ABC committed to several of its successful reality shows, including “The Bachelor,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Supernanny” and “Wife Swap.” […]

None of the network’s comedies, including “According to Jim” or “George Lopez,” received a commitment for next fall. The broadcast networks all announce their fall schedule in May.

ABC will shelve freshman comedy In Case of Emergency earlier than planned to make room for Notes from the Underbelly:

ABC has set a premiere date for its new comedy series “Notes From the Underbelly,” and plans to shelve “In Case of Emergency” earlier than planned. […]

“Notes,” from director/producer Barry Sonnenfeld, focuses on a couple who’re having a baby. The series will debut April 11, replacing “Emergency.”

ABC pulled at least one upcoming “Emergency” episode so that the intended season finale will air sooner, one week before the “Notes” premiere.

We’ve tuned in to watch In Case of Emergency a couple of times and it seemed pretty funny, but the show doesn’t seem to have caught on since going up against American Idol.

ABC has pulled The Knights of Prosperity from their schedule immediately, even though four episodes remain unaired and there’s an outstanding order for nine additional scripts:

They failed in robbing Mick Jagger, and now ABC has cut their mission short: “Knights of Prosperity,” starring Donal Logue as the leader of a ragtag gang of wannabe criminals, has been pulled off the sked, effective immediately.

A repeat of “According to Jim” will fill the “Knight” slot this Wednesday; repeats of “George Lopez” will also take over the spot in future weeks.

Four segs of the quirky comedy — in which the team aims to rob Ray Romano — remain unaired. It’s unclear whether the Alphabet will give the show another spot elsewhere; a network spokeswoman noted the show is being pulled in a “natural spot,” as the new Romano story arc was slated to begin with this week’s episode.

The show probably would have had more luck if it weren’t put up against American Idol before it found an audience. Plus, I thought the show was supposed to rob Kelly Ripa next — what happened to that?

The producers of Lost and ABC executives are discussing a possible end date for the hit drama:

“It’s time for us now to find an endpoint for the show,” said executive producer Carlton Cuse. “JK Rowling announced there were seven books in the Harry Potter series and it gives fans [a framework for understanding the arc of the show]. ‘The X-Files’ was a cautionary tale for us. It was a great show that ran two seasons too long. ‘Lost’ has a short-half life.”

“None of us want to be doing the stalling show,” added executive producer Damon Lindelof. “We don’t want them to be building sandcastles next week.”

This new idea of planning an end to the show seems to be in response to fans and critics growing frustration with the route the show has been taking, continuing to add more and more mysteries and new characters.

So how many more episodes can Lost fans expect? Lindelof suggested 100 episodes would be a good maxumum, while ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson downplayed announcing a specific number.