The gameshow, which will return to NBC for a summer run, was omitted from the key autumn schedule, although NBC said that the show might make a comeback to US primetime in 2003.
The move was one of few changes to NBC's hit primetime programming line-up, which features some of the biggest shows on television including 'ER' and 'Friends'.
Alongside 'The Weakest Link', another casualty was former 'Seinfeld' star Julia Louis-Dreyfus' new comedy 'Watching Ellie', which also failed to make it. The demise of the programme has been the subject of much speculation, but NBC did say the programme will return later this year or early next as a mid-season replacement.
The NBC line-up is expected to be one of the most unchanged of the major US networks. ABC and the WB channel are to reveal their autumn scheduling tomorrow and CBS, Fox and UPN will follow later in the week as part of the annual "upfront" presentations to advertisers.
NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker said: "The key for us is tremendous stability. We had such success this season that we have the luxury of very few holes in our schedule."
NBC did announce three new comedies: the domestic sitcom 'In-Laws', starring Dennis Farina and Jean Smart; 'Hidden Hills', an off-beat suburban comedy starring Kristin Bauer; and 'Good Morning Miami', from the creators of NBC's Emmy-winning hit 'Will & Grace'.
It had been thought that 'Watching Ellie' would suffer the same fate as two other shows launched by Seinfeld alumni. Shows starring Michael Richards, who played Kramer, and Jason Alexander, who played George, were both cancelled.
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