ABC Cancels "Designated Survivor"

[JamesG]

"Designated Survivor" Renewed at ABC
by Michael Ausiello
May 11, 2017


"Designated Survivor" will live to see another term. ABC has renewed the Kiefer Sutherland-led political thriller for a second season, TVLine has confirmed.

The series’ pickup was set in motion last week with the hiring of Keith Eisner (The Good Wife) as Showrunner No. 4 (following the exits of Amy B. Harris, Jon Harmon Feldman and Jeff Melvoin).

The heavily-promoted "Designated Survivor" launched in September to a robust 10 million viewers and a 2.2 demo rating. Its numbers have since cooled considerably, with this week’s episode pulling in just shy of 5 million viewers and a 1.0 in the demo.

http://tvline.com/2017/05/11/designa...-season-2-abc/

[JamesG]

"Designated Survivor" Canceled at ABC after Two Seasons
by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski
May 11, 2017


ABC’s "Designated Survivor" will not see a third season. The network has canceled the Kiefer Sutherland starrer after two seasons. The May 16 season finale will now serve as the series finale.

The political conspiracy drama began its run as one of ABC’s most promising. The network screened the entire opening act at its 2016 upfront presentation where Sutherland received a huge ovation. In its first months on the air, Designated Survivor drew large audiences, setting DVR lift records and snagging the Critics’ Choice award for most exciting new series in its first season.

The series saw ratings declines in Season 2 but continued to be helped by strong delayed increases. Meanwhile, the series underwent a behind-the-scene turnover with a slew of showrunner changes over its two-season run.

If renewed for a third season, "Designated Survivor" was going to bring in again a new showrunner — its fifth.

http://deadline.com/2018/05/designat...nd-1202387812/

[TMC]

Designated Survivor was doomed by showrunner turnover, move to Los Angeles
A source tells Variety that star Kiefer Sutherland "was frustrated by the creative twists and turns that the series took — shifts that were no surprise given the number of changes behind the scenes." Had Designated Survivor been renewed for a third season, it would've had a fifth showrunner. Too many showrunners already resulted in a lack of cohesiveness for what was supposed to be a political thriller. Another issue was that Sutherland's contract called for production to move from Toronto to Los Angeles for Season 3, which would've made a third season more costly.

[JamesG]

"Designated Survivor" Could be Saved as eOne Starts Talks to Continue Show after ABC Cancellation
by Peter White
May 15, 2018


We might not have seen the last of political thriller "Designated Survivor". I hear that eOne is in talks to shop the Kiefer Sutherland-fronted drama to other networks following its cancellation by ABC.

eOne sources have told Deadline that “it’s not over” and that it’s starting to look at whether there is another home for the thriller. “We’re right at the beginning but there’s more to play on that one,” said the exec.

In fact, the company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has just put out a regulatory statement, confirming that it is “in active discussions with other parties for further series of the show.”

http://deadline.com/2018/05/could-de...on-1202391307/

[JamesG]

"Designated Survivor": ABC President on “Hard” Cancellation Decision, “Creative Path Forward” Concerns
by Nellie Andreeva
May 15, 2018


One of ABC’s highest-profile cancellations this season was drama "Designated Survivor" starring Kiefer Sutherland, which was not picked up for a third season, with tomorrow’s Season 2 finale serving as the series finale — at least on the broadcast network as co-producer eOne is currently shopping the series.

“That was a hard one for us,” ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said about the cancellation decision during ABC’s upfront press call on Tuesday. “It did well in delayed viewing but its Live+same day delivery in the 10 PM hour had become challenging.”




There was another issue.

“Creatively, the show had a lot of behind-the-scenes churn in terms of the number of showrunners,” Dungey said. “We were less confident about the creative path forward than the other shows we brought back.”

http://deadline.com/2018/05/designat...rd-1202391285/

[JamesG]

Netflix Eyes "Designated Survivor" after ABC's Cancellation
by Nellie Andreeva
May 15, 2018


We reported earlier today about "Designated Survivor" producer eOne shopping the Kiefer Sutherland-starring drama to other networks following its cancellation by ABC.

I hear that eOne is in talks with streaming giant Netflix about picking up the political thriller.




Sources stress that the talks are still preliminary and complex as Netflix rival Hulu has U.S. SVOD rights to the first two seasons of "Designated Survivor", which aired on ABC. Netflix has the series internationally (outside of the U.S. and Canada), which makes it a suitable home pending untangling U.S. streaming rights and crunching the numbers.

I also hear that the series’ creative team is excited about exploring what a premium version of "Designated Survivor" would be.

http://deadline.com/2018/05/designat...on-1202391739/

[HarryWild]

I like the first year of Designated Survivor but then the episodes were serialized more and became a prime time soap opera with majority of the plots involving personal matters and conspiracy. Bigturn off for me and watched only sparely the third season because of this type of writing.

[JamesG]

I liked the first season also and didn't care much for the 2nd.

[Lee]

Terrific, this series gets a board just in time for its cancellation.