Fox has canceled the Pittsburgh-set newsroom sitcom "Back to You" after a single season, a surprise decision that also caught producers off guard.

At the same time, Fox renewed "'Til Death," even though it gets lower household ratings. "Back to You" has regularly built on the ratings of "'Til Death," its Wednesday night lead-in.

Despite some midseason tinkering with the cast -- one actress was let go, another role recast -- Fox seemed high on "Back to You," which stars Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, was created by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd and is directed by James Burrows ("Friends").

Hollywood trade publications suggest it was those marquee names on-screen and behind-the-scenes that pushed the show's cost up to a point that even its ratings superiority relative to "'Til Death" didn't matter.

"Back to You," a traditional sitcom that always seemed like it would have been an out-of-the-box hit in the '80s or '90s, garnered interest from multiple networks while in development more than a year ago. The show seemed like a better fit for CBS than Fox, but it landed on Fox, sister-company of the Fox studio that produces the show.

Producers may try to shop "Back to You" to another network, but such last-minute attempts for a reprieve seldom bear fruit. The show's final episode airs at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on WPGH. Fox will announce its full fall schedule on Thursday.

-- Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor