CBS has announced renewals and cancellations for three scripted summer dramas. Both Under the Dome and Extant will be returning in summer 2015 for season 3 and season 2, respectively, though freshman drama Reckless has been cancelled.
“We’re committed to delivering our viewers and advertisers year-round programming with a wide variety of storytelling,” Nina Tassler, Chairman of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. “We continue to see summer as a great place for unique concepts, innovative business models and passionate television audiences.”
Both Under the Dome and Extant are sci-fi dramas that originally were supposed to be limited event series. But after Dome broke out as a hit summer show last year, CBS renewed it. There has been talk by producers that the series could last anywhere from three to five seasons.
Dome centers on the town of Chester’s Mill after a dome traps its residents inside. The series, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, stars Mike Vogel, Rachelle Lefevre, Dean Norris, Alexander Koch, Colin Ford and Mackenzie Lintz.
Following the success of Dome‘s freshman run, CBS attempted another limited event series this summer. Unfortunately, ratings for Extant weren’t too strong over the course of the season, with the network changing timeslots at one point and even doubling up on episodes for a couple of weeks.
Extant, which stars Academy Award winner Halle Berry as an astronaut who returns from space and ends up involved in strange and mysterious circumstances beyond her control, began with 9.58 million viewers, averaged 8.64 million across the season and ended up with 5.4 million viewers for the finale. That’s compared to Dome‘s freshman run last year of 13.5 million viewers for the premiere, with season 2 averaging 11 million.
The renewal of Under the Dome isn’t surprising, but the announcement of Extant‘s return is, considering how low the ratings ended up being. But what likely factored into the renewal was CBS’s exclusive streaming deal with Amazon, along with profits from deals to air the show internationally.
While Reckless, which averaged 4 million viewers across its first and only season, won’t be a part of the summer lineup next year, Deadline notes that there are ongoing talks to renew Unforgettable, though nothing official has been made at this time.
Are you excited by these renewals? Surprised that Extant is coming back? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
