Why was Prodigal Son canceled after two great seasons?
If there is one crime drama I’m still salty about being canceled, it’s Prodigal Son. Why did FOX think that canceling it was the better idea?
Prodigal Son started off with a bang. In terms of storylines, they never disappointed. Even some of the wackiest of storylines fit the series. After all, we had Michael Sheen playing a complete psychopath and Tom Payne taking on the role of a man who literally chained himself to his bed because of his night terrors.
However, FOX decided not to keep going with the series after two seasons. That was despite the second season ending with a major cliffhanger and many potential storylines to develop. Why did FOX make that (I say bad) decision?
It all came down to linear ratings for Prodigal Son
Despite an initial good start, the show struggled to keep the linear ratings up. Now, that did come down to the change of night. The show started on Mondays and then moved to Tuesdays, and I said as soon as it happened that it was a bad idea. We’d seen a lot of FOX shows have this happen, leading to a large dip in the linear ratings. Just look at Lucifer and The Gifted, two of which were canceled by FOX immediately after moving to Tuesdays.
However, FOX wasn’t happy with the linear ratings. The dip in the ratings in Season 2 meant that there would be a dip in the ratings in Season 3. Networks expect a small dip in the ratings, but for this show, the dip was too much and a high risk for the next season.
It’s a shame the series couldn’t at least move to streaming. FOX could have at least given us a TV movie to wrap up the storylines. Fans deserve closure when it comes to shows we’ve been loyal to.
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Prodigal Son is available to stream on Max and The CW Seed.