Mid-February, CBS announced the details of the post-strike return of several of its shows, one of which is the vampire drama, Moonlight. The network scheduled the show’s return for Friday, April 11.
However, according to Moonlight‘s official website on CBS.com, the four new episodes will actually begin airing two weeks later than the previously announced date. In addition, a number of fan sites dedicated to the show are claiming the network has confirmed that Moonlight‘s return has indeed been pushed back to April 25. The extra weeks will presumably be added to production time.
While CBS has yet to release an official statement regarding the scheduling change, one thing that’s certain for now is that the show is not yet looking for a replacement for showrunner/executive producer Chip Johannessen. The current plans are to let executive producer Joel Silver and the show’s writing team work together in producing the four post-strike episodes. However, a search for Johannessen’s replacement will be put in motion should CBS renew Moonlight for a second season.
Johannessen’s exit isn’t the first behind-the-scenes shakeup to hit the series. Johannessen’s predecessor, David Greenwalt, joined the series last May, but announced his departure a few months later, citing “personal, health reasons.”
While Moonlight has earned satisfactory ratings for the network and consistent viewership numbers, CBS has not yet awarded the series with a renewal. Last December, CBS president Les Moonves said that the show is likely to return for a second season, while TV Guide‘s Matt Roush recently gave fans a ray of hope by noting that the network would not have gone through the trouble of putting the show back into production if the series will be canceled anyway. Roush also pointed out that a renewal could be given if the upcoming installments perform as well as – or even better than – the earlier episodes.
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: CBS, moonlight-detective.com, TV Guide
(Image Courtesy of CBS)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
