It's ironic that ABC thought "Welcome" would be a good fit in the "Desperate Housewives" time slot. Both shows are set on a street where the neighbors interact, but on the fictional "Housewives" nobody thinks twice about the Hispanics who live next door and nobody bats an eye when an African-American family moves in.

We were assured that over the course of the six "Welcome" episodes, the neighbors would have epiphanies and learn that their prejudices are wrong. That they would "confront preconceived notions of what makes a good neighbor" (according to a network statement); that they'd become better people; and that viewers would learn something, too.

That assumes viewers watch all six episodes. And, in a statement, ABC acknowledged that watching the first couple of episodes could leave the impression that bigotry is a great reason to keep people from moving in next door.

"The fact that true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging, and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes we have decided not to air the series at this time," the network statement continued.

Frankly, this was the right thing to do. And a bit surprising, given that the network had not only paid for the show but had promoted it heavily. Plus, the decision to remove it from the schedule came only 10 days before it was set to premiere.

What's even more surprising is that network executives and producers thought that, in the 21st century, it would be OK to let hatred and bigotry reign on the airwaves for several weeks.

ABC is not promising it will never air the show. And I suppose it might be possible to condense it into a single, two-hour special so that we see all that progress toward understanding we're assured was there.

But it's probably a better idea just to let this one fade away.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com