Seven months ago, ABC’s “Commander in Chief” was the most-watched new show of the season on any network and looked like the network’s next big hit following “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost.”

Two show runners, a three-month hiatus and one timeslot change later, “Commander” has been yanked in perhaps the biggest single-season sizzle-to-fizzle burnout for a new show in recent broadcast history.

ABC axed “Commander” yesterday after it averaged a mere 2.1 adults 18-49 rating in its three outings back after a long benching, including a series-low 1.8 last Thursday that was half its season average. The network said the show’s remaining three episodes may air over the summer, and "Primetime" will run in its place. Its chances of returning for a second season are almost nil.

If there's any lesson to learn from "Commander," it's don't mess with a good thing. ABC, riding high on the success of “Lost” and “Housewives,” jumped in to take over the show in a dispute with creator Rod Lurie, despite strong reviews and good ratings.

"Commander" peaked with nearly 17 million viewers in its second week and was ABC’s fourth-most-watched drama when the network suddenly canned Lurie in October, reportedly because the show-runner’s scripts were coming in late and costing the network money in delayed production costs.

ABC, flush with confidence after years of underachieving dramas, perhaps figured that it could even improve on Lurie’s vision of the show, about the first woman president, by bringing in cop drama veteran Steven Bochco (“NYPD Blue”) as show runner. It was the wrong choice.

Under Bochco, whose episodes began airing in December, the show withered both creatively and in the ratings. The veteran producer turned the focus from the personal to the political, making the show little more than a “West Wing” ripoff, with Geena Davis subbed for Martin Sheen.

Viewers began to drift away, and by Jan. 24, the show’s last outing under Bochco, its audience had shrunk to some 10.4 million.

ABC yanked it off the air to once again revamp it, this time turning to writer Dee Johnson, part of Lurie’s original team, to become showrunner. By this point, though, the network seemed to have lost faith in the program.

Three weeks ago it plunked “Commander” onto Thursdays at 10 p.m., facing NBC’s “ER” and CBS’s “Without a Trace” in a timeslot where ABC has not had a hit in more than a decade.

At the time, a source close to the show told Media Life that the move was a vote of confidence, part of ABC’s plan to rebuild the night. The source expected “Commander” to be back for a second season.

But the show flopped, its identity now so fractured between Bochco’s cast additions and the storylines sinking into the ridiculous. “Commander” averaged just 7.5 million total viewers in its three Thursday outings, barely half the 13.8 million it was averaging when it went on hiatus in January.