‘Touch’ season 2 spoilers: Maria Bello leaves show

“Touch” season 2 has not exactly had an easy road to getting on television this past year, in between multiple delays as the show’s first season had all sorts of problems of its own (including episodes airing all over the place). So what’s the latest setback? It will not delay the February 8 premiere date, but we have learned that Maria Bello is no longer going to be a part of the cast moving forward.

TVLine first reported this news, but it was not made particularly clear within here just what the reasons were behind the departure of Bello save for the fact that the decision was mutual. Considering that production on the show wrapped last week, it is likely that she remained a part of the cast until that time, and we’re hoping that the writers found a way to remove her character from the show moving forward.

Then again, we believe that “Touch” is going to have a very difficult road even getting a third season. Friday nights are notoriously tough when it comes to drawing an audience, especially in a 9:00 p.m. Eastern slot that already has two established hits in “Shark Tank” and “Grimm.” With the long wait between seasons and all of the schedule delays, it is possible that Kiefer Sutherland and company could end up almost being buried here before they really start to get going.

“Touch” also has a challenge coming up in high expectations, as it is following up a show in “Fringe” that had one of the most-loyal fan followings on TV … even if it is pretty easy to admit that the ratings here were bad enough that it would have been canceled had it aired on any other night.

Bello most-recently starred in the short-lived adaptation of “Prime Suspect” over on NBC.

Photo: Fox