The Writers Guild of America strike that halted production of network programs for much of the 2007–08 season affected the network in 2007–08 and 2008–09, as various ABC shows that premiered in 2007, such as Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Samantha Who?, did not live to see a third season; other series such as Boston Legal and the U.S. version of Life on Mars suffered from low viewership, despite the former, a spin off of The Practice, being a once-highlighted breakout series when it debuted in 2005. One of the network's strike-replacement programs during that time was the game show Duel, which premiered in December 2007. The program would become a minor success for the network during its initial six-episode run, which led ABC to renew Duel as a regular series starting in April 2008. However, Duel suffered from low viewership during its run as a regular series, and ABC canceled the program after sixteen episodes. On August 15, 2008, Disney denied rumors started by Caris & Co. that it would be selling the ten ABC owned-and-operated stations.