For the last couple of seasons, A&E has put together a crime-oriented summer lineup that takes fans into the heat of Miami and the often very cold weather found in the mountains of Wyoming. While Longmire and The Glades never particularly complemented one another, they did bring in decent ratings for the network. Moving forward, however, A&E has opted to keep Longmire in the schedule but cancel The Glades.
Longmire just finished its Season 2 finale earlier this week, pulling in 4.4 million total viewers for the finale and 1.5 million in the 25-54 demographic, which means a lot of retirees really like the drama. Still, those numbers are enough to ensure Longmire’s status as A&E’s most-watched drama, which means the network will be happy to bring the show back for a third season. This should be great news for fans of the series, as Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger involving Sheriff Longmire’s (Robert Taylor) pal, Henry (Lou Diamond Phillips), and a set of teeth.
Show co-creater and executive producer John Coveny announced the good news via Twitter, also mentioning the show’s ratings success as a reason to bring the series back.
Unfortunately, the folks over at The Glades don’t get to do the same sort of celebrating. A&E announced on Friday that the series will not be returning to the schedule next summer. THR first reported the news, noting that the cancellation of The Glades actually marks the end of an era. A&E’s drama program was actually the very first scripted offering the network managed to make work for more than one season. The drama put the network into play as a scripted contender and paved the way for programs like Longmire and Bates Motel to work in the schedule.
What seemed to seal the deal was the show's ratings. During its Monday timeslot, the show averaged an alright 2.6 million total viewers, but when you look at the numbers in the 18-49 and 25-54 demos, your heart sinks a little. In the advertising demos, the show averaged less than a million total viewers. Between that and some wacky plotlines in Season 4 (the first episode mentioned a ghost), I'm not surprised that A&E feels like the show had a good run, but doesn't need to come back next summer.
A&E does have some new fodder headed into the lineup over the next year. Big Love and American Horror Story actress Chloe Sevigny has signed on as the lead in Those Who Kill, a Boston police drama following a profiler and a police detective who use their skill sets to catch killers. Sounds like it will fit right in to the network’s crime drama bent. We’ll be getting the new drama sometime in 2014.
