All hope is not lost for Longmire fans. It’s been nearly two weeks since A&E canceled its star performer. In the time since, there has been a clamor for Warner Bros. Television to find a home for its hit series. Luckily, the company seems to be taking the pleas of fans seriously, and is prepping to pitch the drama to both digital and cable outlets over the next few days.
Deadline first caught wind of the news, noting that the creative team has put together a pitch regarding where the series would head during Season 4. According to the outlet, subscription based networks like Netflix and Amazon are both going to take the pitch, while some of the more traditional cable networks, Warner-owned TNT included, are passing. That’s kind of a shame. Longmire skews heavily to older demographics, which is why many of the cable networks may be passing on the popular series. However, I’m not sure how technologically savvy and into streaming most Longmire fans are.
Longmire originally premiered on A&E back in the summer of 2011. The show followed Sheriff Walt Longmire and his barebones police force righting wrongs in the wilds of Wyoming. Additionally, there were tensions in the area due to a separate police force working on the nearby Cheyenne reservation. The show was a solid performer for A&E, averaging 4.6 million total viewers an episode during its third season on the network. Although that’s down slightly from Longmire’s Season 2 average, the numbers still made the drama A&E highest rated scripted series.
Word on the street is that the network dumped Longmire in favor of signing on new programs that weren’t bought from other companies like Warner Bros. Television. A&E hasn’t made any announcements regarding new scripted programming, but the network also canceled other decent performer The Glades a little over a year ago. I would guess the network is looking for shows with a younger-skewing audience, but I’m not sure A&E has the right vibe or budget to make that happen.
Fans of Longmire have been avid about finding the show a second home. Twitter feed Long Live Longmire hosted a “stampede” to get fans invested in the return of the series. Hopefully, Longmire will get that second life. However, if it doesn’t, I think fans will miss it the most next summer, when the dearth of television available will allow us to remember the series ended on a cliffhanger without answering the questions to some of its most integral mysteries. Let’s just hope Netflix or Amazon picks the show up, first.
