'Riches', 'Dirt' series cut short

The second series of The Riches and Dirt will be cut short at seven episodes.

ABC Studios for Dirt, and Fox TV, Riches producer, made seven before running out of scripts, due to the Hollywood writers' strike in December.

Channel FX has now decided they will not go back into production this season even if the Writers Guild of America action comes to an end.

The completed episodes of Dirt will start their FX run on March 2 while the Riches debut will be announced next week.

They may still be given third seasons, though being cut short could make it harder to prove themselves.

As channels anticipate the end of the writers' action they have had to decide which shows to get straight back into production and which to put on hold.

In the UK The Riches airs on Virgin 1 and Dirt on Five US.