Chad Michael Murray famously left One Tree Hill before the show ended its run, but it took him some time to land a steady gig. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to be having the same problem these days. After a cliffhanger in the Agent Carter Season 2 finale left his status unknown (but looking grim), we learned that Chad Michael Murray has already nabbed a gig on the upcoming CMT drama Million Dollar Quartet. So what does that mean for his future on Agent Carter? Unfortunately, there is more than one possibility.
First and foremost, Chad Michael Murray is expected to take a lead in Million Dollar Quartet, playing Sun Records founder Sam Phillips in the period drama. Because of this, we should expect him to be around for all of the eight-episodes being filmed for the drama series. Still, eight episodes isn’t really all that much, and since Agent Carter traditionally films a shortened season and Murray only has a recurring role on that show, theoretically if Agent Carter wanted to make that gunshot cliffhanger non-fatal, it could still happen. This wouldn't mark the first time Murray has worked between Agent Carter gigs, either. It helps that Million Dollar Quartet is expected to start shooting in Memphis this month and Carter doesn’t get off the ground until some time after that.
We also already know that ABC agreed to renewal orders for a bunch of its hits a couple of weeks ago. Shows like Quantico and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were renewed while programs like Agent Carter will have to play the waiting game a while longer. Following low ratings—especially toward the latter part of Season 2--Agent Carter could very well not come back for Season 3 next year. Obviously, it was probably smart for Chad Michael Murray to take Million Dollar Quartet, whether or not it means that point-blank gunshot proves to be fatal.
Million Dollar Quartet has been set up at CMT for a while. The eight-parter is also set to star Jennifer Holland as Sam’s wife, Margaret Anne Florence as Sam’s assistant and mistress, Jonah Lees as Jimmy Swaggart, Christian Lees as Jerry Lee Lewis, and Kevin Fonteyne as Johnny Cash. Elvis Presley will also be around for this original story about the birth of rock and roll in Memphis; he’ll be played by Drake Milligan. Themes like "breaking racial barriers" in the music industry will also be explored, according to The Wrap.
CMT has been getting into the original content game for a while. Programs like I Love Kellie Pickler have been wildly popular on the network, which has helped the channel to greenlight other programming. Million Dollar Quartet is one of those programs, and it is expected to hit the channel next November. We’ll let you know as soon as an official date is locked down. In the meantime, you can find out what else the networks have coming up with our TV premiere schedule.
