Off to a disappointing start to its fall schedule, FOX is making some minor changes. Nothing serious can be done until November after the annual rite of passage known as playoff baseball is completed, but for now the struggling comedy "Method & Red" is off of the network's schedule. FOX also scratched Friday encores of "The Next Great Champ."

"Method & Red" had been on a death watch for some time. After averaging nearly 6.2 million viewers per week during seven summer airings, the comedy, which stars hip-hop personalities Method Man and Redman, dipped to only 3.9 million last week, well below the numbers for its lead-in of "The Bernie Mac Show."

FOX reportedly offered "Method & Red" a tentative pick-up of three additional episodes at the end of the summer, but the producers declined in the hopes of righting the show's creative ship and sticking around for a full season. Plagued by rumors of creative discord almost since shooting began, "Method & Red" has been on hiatus for some time and Method Man has publicly discussed the show's bleak future. Three episodes remain unaired and it's unclear if they'll ever be burnt off.

For at least the next two weeks, FOX will air a second episode of "Bernie Mac" in the 9:30 p.m. ET "Method" slot.

On Friday nights, FOX is moving "The Complex: Malibu" to 9 p.m. and pulling encores of "The Next Great Champ" in favor of repeats of "The Simpsons" and "That '70s Show" for the near future. This past week, "The Complex" brought in 2.32 million viewers (numbers that make the ratings for "Wonderfalls" or "Playing it Straight" look good), but "Champ" could only muster 1.59 million (numbers that make "The Complex" look good).

Originals of "Next Great Champ" had been scheduled to move to Fridays starting in October, once the baseball begins. However, that move was planned for when FOX anticipated having a hit on its hands, rather than a glass-jawed flyweight.