What’s next for Lethal Weapon? Recently, executive producer Matt Miller spoke with TVInsider about the future of the FOX TV show without star Clayne Crawford.

As previously reported, Crawford was fired from the cop drama and has since been replaced by Seann William Scott for the show’s upcoming third season. The FOX series also stars Damon Wayans, Keesha Sharp, Kevin Rahm, Jordana Brewster, Johnathan Fernandez, Dante Brown, Chandler Kinney, and Michelle Mitchenor.

In the interview, Miller revealed the producers were prepared for Crawford’s exit from Lethal Weapon: 

I obviously had been brought up to speed along the way and was very aware of the challenges that the show was facing. So when [Clayne’s dismissal] eventually did happen, we were prepared for it. Season 2 did end with Riggs being shot and we weren’t sure exactly how that was all going to play out, but creatively, we were prepared for every possible contingency plan. So we set ourselves up in a position where we could go with whatever direction the forces that be decided to go.”

Miller added that season three will try to close out Rigg’s (Crawford) storyline in a respectful way:

It’s about finding that balance between paying proper respect to the first two seasons of the show and also, at the same time, launching a new show that feels equally exciting and interesting and dramatic and funny and romantic and all the other things that we sort of had in that stew of Season 1 and 2. We’re going to close the Riggs chapter and start a new one in a way that feels properly respectful of Riggs and at the same time, exciting and an enthusiastic way to launch our new season.”

Later, the EP added that Seann William Scott’s character, Wesley Cole, will have no relation to Riggs:

There is no relation to Riggs. They don’t know each other and they’re totally different. The idea is that, in regards to the last name of Cole, there is a character brought into the third Lethal Weapon movie that they did named Lorna Cole, played by Rene Russo. We wanted to name this character Cole to stay within the canon of the Lethal universe but Lorna would’ve been an odd name for a guy. [Laughs] So his name is Wesley Cole and he did a lot of time overseas in a more covert CIA capacity. Circumstances happen abroad that are very tragic for him and end up sending him back to Los Angeles for reasons that we’ll come to learn in that first episode. He does have an estranged family that lives in L.A. and he gets a job working for the LAPD. In the first episode, we see Cole and Murtaugh intersect first as adversaries, working the same kind of case, and ultimately they end up teaming up throughout the course of that episode.”

What do you think? Do you watch Lethal Weapon? Will you watch season three?