While Fox still has several choices to make with its current slate of shows, as far as choosing what to renew or cancel, the network made a big decision with one of its sophomore series. The police procedural Rosewood, in which Morris Chestnut played one of TV's most attractive, charming and talented professionals, has officially been cancelled by the network. Should Season 3 enter existence, it will be somewhere other than Fox.
Rosewood's cancellation comes less than two weeks after Season 2 wrapped up on April 28, with a total of 44 episodes having aired. It's clear that the creative team was expecting something more from the network as far as the future went, since Rosewood ended on something of a cliffhanger. I won't to get too spoilery, but some characters were possibly leaving, although exceptions could be made, and the episode was over before any of it was cleared up. Fans will definitely want to know what creator Todd Harthan had in mind for what would happen next. Though it'll likely have to come right from his mouth now, instead of happening in primetime.
The news is certainly disappointing to the aforementioned creator and actor, as well as co-stars Jaina Lee Ortiz, Gabrielle Dennis, Lorraine Toussaint, Domenick Lombardozzi, Anna Konkle and others. But you wouldn't know it to look at Morris Chestnut's announcement, which oozes positivity in the face of distress.
Indeed, they were initially salad days for Rosewood, which snuck into Fox's primetime schedule and maintained pretty solid and consistent numbers across its first season, though the 3.5 million that tuned in for the Season 1 finale wasn't close to the 7.5 million that watched the series premiere. Importantly, the key demo rating for adults 18-49 remained largely above a 1.0. But it all got worse in Season 2, which opened to an audience of only 3.6 million. Though the third episode of the season managed to top that, Rosewood eventually sunk below 3 million, where it stayed throughout the finale. (It was watched by 2.9 million viewers.) The cancellation death knell, though, was apparent by Rosewood's inability to reach a 1.0 demo rating during the entirety of Season 2.
So while that fanbase wasn't necessarily as big as it was when Rosewood was first introducing audiences to Morris Chestnut's Dr. Beaumont Rosewood and Jaina Lee Ortiz's Detective Annalise Villa, they are still appreciated by those who put the show together. Ortiz also shared a touching farewell to her now-former coworkers and the fans.
While Fox's next fall season schedule will likely get touched upon during next week's Upfronts presentation, Rosewood will only live on in people's memories and Blu-ray players. To get familiar with what new and returning shows will be hitting the small screen in the near future, head to our summer TV schedule, and then check out where all the other network shows stand with our renewal/cancellation rundown.
