NBC appears to be giving up on a show the network once had high hopes for, which failed to hold viewer interest after an OK start.

The network shunted the struggling drama "Smash" to the ratings no-man’s land of Saturday night, in effect ending NBC’s ambitious goal of turning a Broadway drama into a successful TV show, reports Bill Carter in The New York Times’ Media Decoder.

Carter notes, "The move is set for April 6, and it means the show’s final batch of episodes will play in obscurity, because Saturday night is now where networks send failing shows to die."

The reality series "Ready for Love" will take over the Tuesday night time slot held by "Smash." The network believes “Love” holds promise for attracting audiences, especially female fans of "The Bachelor," which recently aired its season finale.

"NBC had hoped that ‘Smash’ might recover from a rocky end to its first season, which was undone, after a promising start, by plotlines and writing widely disparaged by critics," Carter notes.