The search is truly over for the Magus crew. ABC has cancelled The River, their mid-season thriller series, after just one season of eight episodes.
The River follows the search for Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood), an adventurer, TV host, father and husband who disappeared while on an expedition deep in the uncharted waters of the Amazon River. Others in the cast include Joe Anderson, Leslie Hope, Eloise Mumford, Paul Blackthorne, Thomas Kretschmann, Daniel Zacapa, Shaun Parkes, and Paulina Gaitan.
The TV series had an okay premiere, registering a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 8.35 million viewers. Unfortunately later episodes didn’t do nearly as well and towards the end of its short season it went as low as a 1.3 in the demo with 4.09 million.
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On our ABC Ratings Report Card, which measures the relative success of shows on the network, The River has a “D” grade and is one of the lowest-rated shows on ABC this season. It’s no surprise that the network has cancelled it.
While you won’t see a second season ABC, there’s still a glimmer of hope that Netflix could pick it up. The movie rental/streaming service had preliminary discussions with ABC Studios about possibly picking up the show if ABC ended up canning it.
There’s been no word since the initial story but, now that the show’s been cancelled, perhaps we will. ABC holds their upfront presentation on Tuesday so we may learn some more information at that time.
What do you think? Are you surprised that The River has been cancelled? Do you think Netflix should pick it up for a second season?
Image courtesy ABC.
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So upset to hear there won’t be a second season, i loved the first season and often still watch the episodes on hulu, guess you could probably say im totally obsessed with it. Finally a new show came along with an awesome story, beautiful scenery, twists and turns that kept you guessing, and good actors. With so much crap on TV, those of us that can’t stand all those mind numbingly terrible reality shows and can’t bring yourself to watch the other series that have been playing for the last 20yrs or so, finally something new and fresh came along! I never missed an episode and was waiting for news of the second season to be released. Please netflicks pick it up, i don’t have a subscription but totally will get one of you run this show.
Finally, a good sci-fi show worth watching on ABC! I am th0roughly disappointed in their decision to cancel. I am constantly amazed by what Americans think is good TV these days. It seems they care more about horrible reality TV than a well written, beautifully executed, TV series. I loved the twists and turns, interesting back drop and constant intrigue. I am re-watching the Firefly series on my Roku box now. Firefly is also another wonderful show with an enormous amount of potential, cancelled too by the network. From where do these supposed “ratings” come? Steven Spielberg cancelled on ABC? Has the world gone insane???? Apparently it has. Netflix PLEASE save this show!!!!
I am so disappointed this great show was canceled, it was one of the few shows I looked forward to watching on TV! This seemed to be one of those shows that gets a devoted following, albeit not a ridiculously large one. I was actually surprised more people didn’t get into it; it has elements of the popular Paranormal Activity trilogy. Netflix, if you pick it up, I’ll get a subscription.
Are you kidding me? My favorite restaurant gets closed down , my favorite mall gets relocated , and now my favorite show is getting cancelled. I’ve waited every Tuesday to see The River. I rarely watch TV , and I’m 16 years old. The River was intriguing and I loved it. I was inspired by it , made poems , suggested ideas in a forum, and tried writing a sequel, since waiting for Season 2 , IF it doesn’t get cancelled , was a long wait. I’ve recommended this show to friends, and they all loved it. There was a feeling of suspense, mystery, and horror. And many people watch it on Hulu that I know of, which is why you don’t get as many views. As fans from Emmett Cole’s show says, “It feels like the amazon is brought to you.” Or something along those lines, it feels like the River is brought to your house. The Magus, boiana , Morgecos, ect. Just because some people don’t like this show, and when many others do, why is it that WE get let down?
I’m really disappointed by this. I thoroughly enjoyed the setting-the mystery of the Amazon jungle, secret research facilities, spiritual forces a super-cool river boat. This was fun TV! I thought the production value was more than acceptable and each episode had as many twists and turns as the river they were exploring. It did a more than adequate job of combining adventure with horror and scifi. Much like the horribly misjudged Firefly, this was fantastic escapest entrtainment that never came off as contrived or ridiculous. There is nothing with real quality that remains on television any more. I can’t even bother with TV. I’m almost exclusively watching with little black box that streams Netflix and other services so that I can watch those shows that are worth plunking myself in front of the TV. The garbage most of America seems to find interesting is just disappointing. Come on Netflix, let’s save this one!
This show was awful. None of you should be surprised it got canned.
Agreed! I don’t see why everyone is surprised! As soon as I’d seen the 1st episode I knew it was getting cancelled! Poor acting, horrible camerawork, horrible selection of characters it was just plain bad and it could of been so much better!
I enjoyed the show too—hope Netflix will pick it up!
I’d like to see it continue on.
I am just getting sicck of it all. I guess I am just in the minority all the way around. It just seems that any good sci fi style show, that I start to like and stay current on, gets yanked. When Lost came along, I made up my mind not to watch till i knew it had run through fully. Then came the double whammy of surface and invasion being cancelled in the same season. I have been gunshy about getting into anything new now they yank the river. How is it that mindless drivell like survivor ( showing the worst backstabbing behavior) all these other mindnumbingly stupid reality shows just go on n on n on… if you want reality, open the door and step outside. I like my shows toentertain me and make me think. All American Idol did for me was prove that the money makers in the music industry can make anyone with a modicum of talent and force feed the ignorant sheep
Yes please Netflix, I love this show!
Netflix please pick this show up!!!!
I love this show. I would love to see it continue!!
What can we do to keep it on air? The show is too good to be cancelled!
I enjoyed the show, sorry to see it has been cancelled.
Hopefully Netflix will pick it up!!
I’m so disappointed ABC is cancelling The River. I just started watching it towards the last half of the 1st season and got hooked by the end of the season. I’ve been waiting eagerly for season 2 to find out how the crew finds a way out of the jungle or if they will find a way. I wish ABC would change their minds about the cancellation, but if not, I would be stoked if Netflix would pick it up.
I really enjoyed this mystery scifi thriller because even though it had an air of campy-ness that was undeniable, it was thoroughly entertaining. Judging by looks alone, this show seemed to cost a pretty penny no matter which way you cut it. To which I credit as one of the factors of it’s demise. It was also very very rushed being that they tried to cram all of that character backstory and all of that lore of the Boiuna into a mere eight episodes. This all makes it kind of hard to surmount when you’re taking a crack at a new show. Lost did so well on it’s first season because it had a huge dramatic set piece that grabbed your attention and instantly connected you with the characters that survive the crash and the rest of the season was more or less all dialogue filled scenes with little action making it cheaper than the crazy antics of The River every episode. phew!… *catches breath* well… that’s my two cents
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