Update
A&E Just Canceled Patrick Swayze's Beast
Michael Muller /A & E
UPDATE: A&E protested too much. The network confirmed Monday that it did, indeed, cancel The Beast after one season. A&E president Bob DeBitetto called the cop drama a "labor of love" for Swayze and praised the star's work ethic while battling cancer as they shot the first season.
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The Beast is no longer A&E's burden. Or Patrick Swayze's.
While the cable net has yet to make an official announcement about the crime drama's future, network sources told Variety the show's first season would also serve as its last.
Swazye starred as a rogue FBI agent in the Chicago-set series, whose 13-episode run ended April 23.
It's not immediately known if the 56-year-old's cancer battle played any part in the decision to close down the production, but the actor remained committed to the show even through his hospitalization for pneumonia earlier this year.
However, should the series have continued on, there were reports that another actor may have been brought in to replace the ailing star as the show's lead.
Neither Swayze nor the network has yet to comment on the cancellation report, but in the meantime the actor already has another professional commitment to keep him busy.
His memoirs, which he's cowriting with wife Lisa Niemi, are due out this fall.
UPDATE: A rep for A&E tells E! News that the show's fate has not yet been finalized.
"This is not accurate," a network spokesperson said. "We have not made a decision yet."
(Originally published June 4, 2009, at 8:10 a.m. PT)
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