Source: NBC Axes ‘Homicide’

NEW YORK (AP) _ NBC has rubbed out the critically acclaimed but low-rated ``Homicide: Life on the Street.″ It won’t be on NBC’s fall schedule, the network announced Thursday.

``Homicide’s″ seventh-season finale, airing May 21, will be its last new episode.

From its premiere in January 1993, the series, about a squad of Baltimore homicide detectives, was never a ratings winner and fought for its life year after year. Airing Friday at 10 p.m. EDT, it has clung in recent seasons to third place behind ABC’s ``20/20″ and CBS’ cop drama ``Nash Bridges.″

It won numerous honors, including three Peabody Awards, the most recent of them last year for an episode about a commuter pushed beneath a subway train.

Its evolving cast has featured Ned Beatty, Andre Braugher and Daniel Baldwin and currently includes Richard Belzer, Clark Johnson and Kyle Secor.

Filmed on location in Baltimore, the series wrapped for the season in March with cast and crew uncertain about their future.

Official word of the cancellation is expected Monday, when NBC announces its fall schedule.

In a statement, NBC Entertainment president Garth Ancier thanked ``Homicide″ executive producers Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana and ``their extremely talented cast and crew.″