"Eli Stone" premiered on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central, following the return of "Lost"; its first-season finale aired April 17, 2008. On May 13, 2008, ABC officially announced that the show had been renewed for the 2008–09 season. Moreover, in Canada, CTVglobemedia announced that they would send down the series to CTV's relaunched "A" television system for the 2008–2009 season. Season 2 premiered on Tuesday, October 14 at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central. On November 20, 2008, however, ABC told the show's producers that it had opted not to order any new episodes, signaling that the series would be cancelled once all the episodes were aired. The last scheduled episode of "Eli Stone" aired on December 30, 2008. The final four episodes of the series aired on Saturdays at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central on ABC starting Saturday, June 20, 2009. The final episode, "Flight Path", aired on July 11, 2009. The unaired episodes, starting with "Sonoma", were broadcast in Ireland by RTÉ starting on March 13, 2009. The British Sci-Fi channel aired the final four episodes starting on March 16, 2009. The episode aired in Israel's Yes Stars Drama/HD channel and German TV channel Pro7 starting on March 31, 2009. Finally, in Australia, the Seven Network aired the final four episodes in the month of April, on Tuesdays at 22:30. On November 6, 2008, "TV Guide" reported that Jamey Sheridan would guest-star as an evening news anchor. On December 1, 2008, "TV Guide" reported that Gregory Smith would make a guest appearance in the show's finale. Season one was met with generally favorable reviews, and currently holds a Metacritic score of 62 out of 100, based on 24 collected reviews. Season two was met with a more enthusiastic response, and holds a Metacritic score of 72 out 100, based on 9 collected reviews. The debut episode attracted controversy due to its plot line, which depicts the hypothesis that autism is caused by a mercury-based preservative formerly used in common childhood vaccines and treats the hypothesis as being credible and legally compelling. This hypothesis is not supported by scientific evidence, but has contributed to decreased vaccination rates. The American Academy of Pediatrics asked ABC to either cancel the episode or include a disclaimer emphasizing that mercury is not used in routine childhood vaccines, and that no scientific link exists between vaccines and autism.