Fox's Sleepy Hollow has been an underdog since the very beginning. It constantly has found itself on the bubble between renewal and cancellation, and after Nicole Beharie officially left the series at the end of Season 3, it seemed the death knell would probably be tolling. However, Sleepy Hollow still managed to nab a Season 4 renewal order at Fox and the network recently explained why the show earned that elusive Season 4 renewal. Here's what Fox Entertainment President David Madden had to say:
[The writers] pitched us an array of new characters and new situations for Crane to get into. And the first seven scripts are really fun. We think there's a lot of good new stories to tell.
Speaking at the TCA summer press tour (via TV Line), Madden explained that it was a last minute pitch that kept Sleepy Hollow on our radars for Season 4. Obviously, because of what happened to Team Witness at the end of Season 3, any new episodes will have to come with a major upheaval in regards to the plot. If you've been keeping tabs on casting, however, you may already know a little bit about what is coming.
In regards to Season 4, so far we know that Ichabod Crane will have to find a new member of Team Witness. The series has already signed on Janina Gavankar to take on the new role. True Blood fans will likely recognize the actress as Luna, but hopefully she'll make her mark on the Fox drama this fall. Fans always particularly loved the banter between Abbie and Ichabod, so hopefully we'll get a fun rapport between Ichabod and Gavankar's Diana, as well. Some other new characters are also being included, as characters like Pandora and Betsy Ross will be out of the picture along with no more Abbie.
The interesting thing is that Sleepy Hollow has basically been revamped for most of the seasons it has been on the air. New characters had to be introduced after John Noble and Katia Winter's characters left the drama, and the same thing is happening again this season. Obviously, people really, really like what Tom Mison has done with Ichabod Crane, and the show has seemed to be a better fit in its Friday night timeslot (facing off against the likes of Grimm and The Vampire Diaries) than it ever was earlier in the week. It's hard to tell what the drama will look like without Abbie Mills' practical perspective, but I will be once again giving the series one more shot. Hopefully, this will be the reworking that takes Sleepy Hollow from a fun show that is a bit of a mess to a show that is both fun and stable.
Sleepy Hollow won't return to the schedule until midseason, but you check out what is coming up this fall with our premiere schedule.
