As expected, NBC has decided not to move forward with a second season of AD: The Bible Continues. The 12 episode mini-series wrapped on June 21st and has now been cancelled.
Produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, AD: The Bible Continues tells the tale of the later chapters of biblical history (following the Crucifixion of Christ). It focuses on the disciples who had to go forward and spread the teachings of Jesus Christ to a world dominated by political unrest. The cast includes Juan Pablo Di Pace, Adam Levy, Richard Coyle, Vincent Regan, Greta Scacchi, Babou Ceesay, Chipo Chung, Emmett J. Scanlan, Jodhi May, Joanne Whalley, Ken Bones, Kevin Doyle, Helen Daniels, and Fraser Ayers.
The series debuted on April 5th to a respectable 2.33 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 9.68 million viewers. Unfortunately, the ratings saw severe drops in the weeks that followed. The finale hit a series low with a 0.7 demo and 3.56 million.
Though NBC doesn’t want a second season, the story isn’t over. Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have said that their writers have been working on scripting season two for some time.
Now that NBC has cancelled the show, the producers see it as a tentpole for the launch of OTT. They have been working on the online channel since partnering with MGM to form United Artists Media Group last fall. The online channel is envisioned as a base for faith and religion-based content but won’t be launched until 2016 or 2017.
The castmembers of AD are being released from their contracts because the next incarnation won’t be filmed for awhile. As a result, there may be some recasting when production resumes.
What do you think? Should NBC have cancelled this show? Will you watch the next season online when it becomes available or prefer to watch on DVDs. Would you pay to watch this kind of programming?
Love this show. I was looking forward to the next season. I’m completely upset to hear it was canceled. One of the best shows on television.
I don’t understand why NBC would cancel this series with all the religious persecution going on they’re the first one’s to air religious movies on TV. Isn’t NBC the first one to make the movie Jesus of Nazareth on tv.
What religious persecution going on? This is still a free country.
True we’re still free. However I believe all those christians dying in N. Korea, Sudan, Iraqu, and several other areas in the Middle East and Africa might raise an eyebrow at that question. As a matter of fact those students in Oregon might also like to weigh in…
Christians are the only ones being killed, right? Everyone is. If everyone is being persecuted, no one is. The LRA are Christian fundamentalists who kill people that aren’t Christian. They want a Bible-based state that uses the Ten Commandments as guide posts. The National Liberation Front of Tripura in India wants ” to expand the kingdom of God and Christ in Tripura,” and often does so at the point of a gun. They threatened anyone celebrating the Hindu Festival of Durga Puja with death, and are backed by a Baptist Church that’s selling them arms. They’ve orchestrated at least two… Read more »
Really loved this true and clean show. People these days want to see dumb and untrue trash like reality shows; people naked and gays this is trash.people these days are idiots. Jejj
What’s wrong with gays?
The show was awsome and they should air a sec season. It doesn’t make sense anything that’s good always gets taken off but the fowl mouthed stuff that’s just ridiculous gets multiple seasons, doesn’t make sense.
Would love for this show to return. I looked forward to it every week. Please bring it back.
Would love for the series to continue even if it’s online. Being a Catholic I still need to be reminded of what my faith is in its entirety and this show is a very good reminder of keeping the faith. Please ….
It was the best show NBC has ever put on. A high quality production in every way, with superb acting, costumes, sets, but most of all the script, which is part of history, not just an ordinary tale, but based on actual events that changed the world and is still having an impact on many people today. So impactful was the life of Jesus that we tell time by weather it happened before He came to earth (B.C.), or after He died (A.D.). He is alive forevermore because He rose from the dead, so whether or not it comes back… Read more »
How could the year 1 B.C. have been “before Christ” and A.D. 1 been “after death”? B.C. does stand for “before Christ.” A.D. actually stands for the Latin phrase anno domini, which means “in the year of our Lord.” The B.C./A.D. dating system is not taught in the Bible. It actually was not fully implemented and accepted until several centuries after Jesus’ death.
I absolutely loved this show and am very disappointed that there will not be a 2nd season anytime soon.
I loved this show and as usual a really good show gets canceled and all we get are the new season’s shows which are old and tired cop dramas or rip off Dallas like nighttime soaps…
Netflix, here I come!
Loved the show. Worth every second and penny spent to see it. It’s a shame people didn’t receive it too well.
I’d pay in a heartbeat to see a season 2. Best mini series ever. Just praying that it continues. Great casting.
I think it’s criminal that such a refreshing show was dropped in the first place! The studios need to revamp the way they look at the ratings system, with the current glut of great shows and so many channels including the streaming services, people have only so many hours in their busy lives to sit and watch anything. This show was fantastic, it was bold and took a refreshing new view in the way of presenting the story of Peter and the disciples and their battles with Rome, the public, Jewish royalty ect. We, as a family, loved to watch… Read more »
It is clear the sponsers dropped out because viewers went away.
http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/ad-the-bible-continues-cancelled-no-season-two-on-nbc-37335/
I believe that new viewers, not already familiar with the Bible stories in detail, could not relate to the detail and context of these episodes. Very familiar Christians enjoyed the added detail and humanity context that these episodes added. New people could not relate to it at all.
Besides that, the time slot has no strong network contention because it is not a good slot for marketing product.
Carl
I loved the show! It is refreshing from all the criminal and violent shows on tv as well as the comedies that contain a lot of subjective material. I truly hope it is returned back to tv. I had looked forward to watching it with my husband.
Great show, looked forward to seeing it. Will watch when it becomes available
Great show. I love history and especially Biblical. I will look for it and hope I can get it.