Rachel Brosnahan As Abby Isaacs In Season Two, Episode Two: Fatherland (via WGN America)
Although creator Sam Shaw already had a third season planned, WGN America cancelled the Manhattan TV series, after its second season. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, back in November, Shaw said he crafted season two of Manhattan, with an eye toward some resolution, in case of cancellation.
Upon cancelling the historical drama which starred John Benjamin Hickey and Olivia Williams, WGN America President Matt Cherniss issued a statement citing the usual culprit — low ratings. Still feeling the sting of the end of the critically-acclaimed Manhattan, Cherniss has now offered more insight into the decision he tried to avoid.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Cherniss said he did everything he could to give Manhattan some momentum in the ratings and build up an audience. Among the steps he took were moving the show to the fall, when more viewers are watching, and moving it from Sunday nights to a less competitive spot. He even tweaked the ad campaign. In the end, it just was not enough.
“As we got to mid-season of season two, reality for me had started to set in that it was going to be very difficult to bring the show back for a third season,” Cherniss says, acknowledging at that point it simply didn’t “make economic sense” to move forward. He knows it would be easy to chalk up the paltry turnout to the stresses of “peak TV,” but he has watched as WGN’s other originals delivered considerably more viewers: Witch drama Salem drew 770,000 viewers in its second season, while new entry Outsiders shattered network records with 3.9 million watching its Jan. 26 premiere. […]
“When you’re starting a network and building a brand, you’re looking for reasons to pick up a show, not the opposite,” he adds. “But at some point, you have to see some momentum.”
Were you a fan of the Manhattan TV show? Do you think WGN America was right to cancel it after season two, or should it have been renewed for a third season? Do you feel like you got some closure in Manhattan‘s second season i.e. series finale? Sound off, in the comments.
I enjoyed the series. It was interesting. The finale was good, yet it feels incomplete. Too many unanswered questions. There should have been a 3rd season
Wished I could have seen where the people involved lives led to after the testing of the bomb. I’ve watched this series over and over and enjoyed every bit of it. I was born a year after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and my dad was in the Army/Air Force in the Pacific.
Perhaps with the epic success of Oppenheimer, WGN might consider revisiting their decision to cancel the third season.
It just seems that every time an interesting series is on, it gets canceled. The show was excellent and it was just getting super interesting. Same thing happened to Designated Survivor.
Really enjoyed the show wish it hadn’t been canceled
This has been praised as one of the best TV shows of all time by critics, personally I and many other people have only found the show after it had already been cancelled! Now that the show is cancelled and WGN America shows no sign of restarting it, it’s up to us the fans of the show to help save it! Sign the is petition to tell Tribune media (owner of WGN America), Hulu, and Netflix we want to watch more!
https://www.change.org/p/kevin-beggs-get-manhattan-picked-up-for-a-third-season?recruiter=302605193&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition
Bring it back for season 3. I think it was a great show with a great story line.