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Piper Perabo: ‘Covert Affairs’ Cancelled, Actress Thanks Fans Despite Massive Ratings Crater

By Jonathan Vankin
Published on: 01:42 PST, Jan 7, 2015

Piper Perabo went from dancing on bars to defending democracy, but with her USA Network show, Covert Affairs, cancelled, the 38-year-old actress now finds herself unemployed. Since her breakout role nearly 15 years ago as a table-dancing aspiring songwriter in Coyote Ugly, Perabo’s career meandered through a long string of forgettable films, including Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Cheaper By The Dozen 2.

But, in 2010, Piper Perabo landed the role of undercover CIA operative Annie Walker in the then-new USA Network spy show. The role earned her a 2011 Golden Globe nomination — and a $75,000 per week salary as the show gained a seemingly devoted fan base, pulling in over 5 million viewers per episode, a high number for an hour-long basic cable drama.

By comparison, the far-more acclaimed and widely talked-about AMC network drama, Mad Men, never pulled in more than 3.6 million viewers for a single episode.

But in the recently completed Season 5, viewer interest in seeing Perabo as a CIA spy fell off a proverbial cliff.

The series averaged just 1.5 million viewers, sinking as low as 1.1 million for one episode, which appears to be the primary reason the show was cancelled.

Word that Covert Affairs had been cancelled apparently came as a surprise to the show’s creators and cast, who ended the fifth season with a cliffhanger, Perabo’s character decided whether to get married and take a new job inside the CIA.

After hearing about the fate of Covert Affairs, Piper Perabo took to her Twitter feed to thank her fans.

Perabo also let her followers know where they could find her on January 7, if they were already missing their Perabo fix.

The actress, whose own net worth is estimated at $10 million, said she planned to attend the AFL-CIO National Summit on Raising Wages, at which the labor union said it intended on “making clear to all policymakers and political candidates that gaining labor’s backing will require firm support for a working people’s agenda.”

USA Network has also cancelled two other hour-long dramas, White Collar and Rush. But the cable channel renewed most of its current lineup, including, Royal Pains, Suits, Graceland, Satisfaction, Playing House and Chrisley Knows Best.

In the crucial 18-49-year-old demographic, the group that advertisers watch more closely than any other, Covert Affairs was the lowest-rated USA Network show of the season, another reason the Piper Perabo vehicle was cancelled.

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