Say goodbye to Kansas AND primetime. We won’t be off to the see the wizard again next season, but the cancellation of ‘Emerald City‘ is just the firstof further primetime victims…
We’re at that time of year when US series are winding down, many with just a couple of episodes or so to go before they wind up their current season and with some limited runs already finished. It’s also the time of year when we start to get a better idea of what shows WON’T be back… essentially when circumstances and/or ratings mean that the show isn’t seen as viable by the networks.
NBC announced today that Emerald City will not be coming back. The series was a darker and grittier take on the themes of the Wizard of Oz, but never quite found its footing. With its mixture of magic and violence, it clearly wanted to be the next Game of Thrones but its network presence basically kept the sex and violence aspects down to inferred rather than explicit and though the cinematography was beautiful and the production design elegant, the story itself never came together.
There will be a wave of renewal and cancellation news in the weeks to come. The likes of the NCIS shows are almost certainly secure with deals already in place with their casts. But we already know Training Day will be gone – the iffy ratings were an early indicator but the sudden death of Bill Paxton removed any doubt about the show’s future. We’ll be monitoring the fortunes of the top action shows as their future is revealed.
