LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- Amid last night's scheduling commotion in reaction to President Bush's press conference addition, FOX quietly announced it has dumped its freshman comedy "Life on a Stick" for the remainder of the May sweeps period.

Fellow newcomer "Stacked" will permanently take over "Stick's" Wednesday, 9:30/8:30c slot starting next week while repeats of "That '70s Show" will fill the 8:30/7:30c half-hour. It's not clear if "Stick" will return in June following the all important sweeps month.

The news follows this week's test run of swapping the time periods of "Stacked" and "Stick." Preliminary fast national Nielsen numbers from Wednesday indicate "Stacked" retained an improved (albeit still troubling) 51.5% of "American Idol's" lead-in among adults 18-49, up from "Stick's" 40.4% retention last week.

FOX reportedly shot 13 episodes of "Stick" for midseason, which means eight installments will be available for a possible summer run.

Meanwhile, the network has also confirmed that "The O.C." will run back-to-back episodes next Thursday to make up for last night's pre-emption. "The Simple Life: Interns" then will wrap its season on Thursday, May 12 with back-to-back new episodes (instead of one new, one repeat) starting at 9:00/8:00c.