No Season 3 for the cable drama.
April 14, 2017
It is being reported that WGN America is cancelling Outsiders after two seasons. The news, which comes ahead of the drama's sophomore finale on April 25, is a bit of a surprise considering the series is the cable network's highest-rated scripted original.
According to network boss Peter Kern, the move to end the series was the result of a decision to focus on a more diverse programming strategy aimed at reaching a broader audience. What that means exactly is not yet clear, though it does leave only Underground as WGN America's only remaining original scripted drama.
Outsiders follows a clan that has spent decades living off the grid in rural Kentucky. Following their own rules outside of the law, they will do whatever it takes to defend their way of life on their mountaintop residence in the mysterious and rugged hills of modern-day Appalachia.
Comments (52)
To be clear, the highest ratings for an original series on the network doesn't mean good ratings. It was getting a .2, which is a problem and also .1 down from last year's ratings. That's still much better than Manhattan averaged (tragically) or Salem Season 3 (which outright killed it after two strong seasons) but it's not a success that you can build a network on. Underground (which is sometimes doing better than Outsiders, sometimes worse, on average about the same, but also down a ton from last year) may also be not long for this world.
If any of the WGNA shows had gotten in the awards stream or had caught buzz the way AMC's early shows did, the network might have kept them for the hype in order to try new things. At this point, though, they're pushing a rock up a hill and getting nowhere. WGNA took a shot at the big leagues, and they had some very strong shows, but they've been trying for a few years now and are coming up dry. No buzz, no new viewers. They're running expensive, high-quality shows, and they're getting re-run and basic-cable-movie ratings. That's just reality. They need to move on or try new things,
WGNA would had done better to adopt The CW's policy of giving its shows an ending wherever possible. That at least could have earned them some devoted fans despite having to make some hard decisions. Manhattan and Salem reached something of a finale moment on their own (I haven't seen Outsiders past the pilot, I assume Season 2 did not end conclusively?,) but unless they have plans to pair it with something, it might be best to give Underground a final season order and at least have closure.
So in other words, they want to put out garbage like the CW and the legacy major networks ?
I can't wait for "Gritty cop drama", "Romantic hospital drama", and "Wacky, kooky bunch of people sitting around a coffee shop getting into wacky kooky situations comedy"
(Page 4 of 6) < Previous Next >