While CBS is a place where shows seemingly face cancellations less frequently than elsewhere on the small screen, the network just brought the axe down on one of lower-rated dramas. The animal-attack thriller Zoo has been cancelled after three seasons, with Season 4 not going forward at CBS. We'll have to seek out ridiculous summer night stories elsewhere, I guess.
Having premiered in 2015, Zoo was part of CBS' renewed push to deliver scripted summer programming, popping up after Under the Dome proved temporarily successful. Though critics weren't exactly kind to Zoo in those early days, the show proved to be a hit with viewers who loved hooting and hollering at the over-the-top nature of the storyline, which centered on a group of people going around and investigating a pandemic of animal attacks. And while its central fanbase remained attached to the conspiratorial plotting and crazy twists, the overall audience dwindled, which no doubt led to CBS' decision, as reported by Variety.
During Season 1, Zoo was regularly bringing in audiences of over 7 million people, with a key demo rating hovering around 1.0. Those numbers slacked off in Season 2, with the average viewership bouncing between 4 and 5 million, with the demo rating taking a similar drop. And it didn't get better in Season 3 over this past summer, which didn't bring in a nightly audience of over 3 million people. The series finale, which aired on September 21, was watched by 2.84 million people on the night.
A network cancellation like this usually sparks conversations about shows getting saved by other networks or streaming sites. And that could very well be the case with Zoo if any interested parties are out there, but it's not so likely. CBS was one of the companies behindZoo, and networks are usually driven to keep their own productions on the air as long as possible. But when the audience just isn't there anymore, it's easy to see why other outlets would be skittish about swooping in and saving Zoo from going away forever.
As much of a bummer as this news is, let's take a second to have a laugh about it, shall we?
Zoo was based on the 2012 novel co-written by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge, and fans of Patterson should be glad to know that his relationship with CBS isn't over yet. The network is developing his soon-to-be-published novel Innocent, so here's hoping that all comes together smoothly.
While waiting to find out more, head to our fall TV premiere schedule to see what else is coming to the small screen soon.
