(Photos courtesy of PBS / Erik Heinila)
While the quality of mercy is not strained, television productions (and their budgets) often are. We are sad to report the Mercy Street TV show on PBS has been cancelled. There will be no season three on PBS. Ridley Scott, David Zucker, and David Zabel, executive produced the series.
A Civil War-era medical drama, Mercy Street follows the doctors, nurses, contraband laborers, and Confederate loyalists at the Mansion House Hospital in Union-occupied Alexandria, Virginia. It is set prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. The PBS TV series stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Josh Radnor, Gary Cole, Peter Gerety, Donna Murphy, Norbert Leo Butz, McKinley Belcher III, Shalita Grant, L. Scott Caldwell, Hannah James, Wade Williams, AnnaSophia Robb, Tara Summers, Brad Koed, Luke Macfarlane, Cameron Monaghan, Suzanne Bertish, and Cherry Jones.
Mercy Street Cancelled After Two Seasons on PBS
According to Deadline, PBS and producers cited funding, as well as, “the complicated nature of aligning production timelines.” Here’s more:
The first season reached 14 million viewers over six episodes (Live + 7), making it the second-highest-rated drama for the 2015-16 TV season on PBS, behind jet-fueled lead-in, Downton Abbey. Season 2, which premiered on January 22 and ended on March 5, has attracted 6.5 million L+7 viewers for the first three episodes.
“We sought to bring a time and place to life that is so important to understanding American history, and in a way that was meaningful, authentic and entertaining, EP David Zucker said of the series.
“Together, we delivered twelve hours of compelling and worthwhile storytelling which we all take pride in,” added EP David Zabel. “It was five years in the making and we are grateful to PBS for its loyal support.”
What do you think? Did you watch the Mercy Street TV series on PBS? Did you expect it to be cancelled or renewed for season three?
What!?!?! So very disappointed! Love this show.
Enjoyed every episode of Mercy Street. Please reconsider for a Season 3!
Noooo… I am beyond sad! I loved this show and everything about it. I am going through withdrawals already and season 2 just finished. I hope they change their minds and come back to us 🙁
How could you possibly cancel the show after only two seasons? I feel cheated. Please reconsider. I know of no other series that so accurately portrayed the horrors and the harsh realities of the American Civil War. The acting, costuming, backdrop, and storyline were superb. Quality shows such as Mercy Street are canceled, while other FAKE and far less appealing dramas get the go-ahead for further seasons. You did not even begin to give Mercy Street a fair chance. Shame on the powers that be!
This was one of my favorite shows! Please reconsider and bring it back. This came as such a surprise! So few good programmes on television these days. This was one of the best.
Sincerely,
Michelle C. Richardson
Shocked to hear Mercy St was canceled. I really liked this show. Very disappointed!
I just heard that season 3 of Mercy Street is cancelled and what a disappointment. There’s so much innocuous TV on these days and when a good program comes along there’s suddenly not enough funding. It seems production scheduling was a challenge, too. The actors were terrific and all involved ought to be very proud for the quality of this sort-lived series. Thank you for bringing us what you could!
This was one of the best shows on television, it will be missed. The writers and actors were superb, history being told in all its ugliness and its beauty. I learned a great deal.
Thank you for great writing and programming like Mercy Street. Sad it will not return for season 3, but liked how it was ended.
Loved the honest telling of life for African Americans during this time period, I learned more than I thought I knew from the storyline.
I look forward to reading the book the show was based on this summer.
Keep up the good work, telling the stories of American heroesa and heroines!
To cancel a show in the middle of the long story of the Civil War and the affect it had on the people out side of the Armies begs the question why start something that you didn’t know you could finish?
I couldn’t agree more with John D and with Charlene Maclaren. This seems to be part of a disturbing trend lately for PBS and Masterpiece/BBC/ITV to cancel very well done historical dramas planned to span several years, such as Indian Summers and Crimson Fields. I am very unhappy with this decision, and I strongly request that it be reversed. I remain pessimistic about that, however. Mercy Street does an excellent job of bringing home the effects of the Civil War in a specific area on a wide group of people, and having recently re-watched Ken Burns’s The Civil War, I… Read more »
I’m so disappointed that MERCY STREET was canceled. I enjoyed it and learned a lot about the Civil War.
I’m so disappointed that MERCY STREET has been canceled. It was very informative, well-acted, and interesting.
What a bummer! Best show n TV. The cast and writing was superb. I will miss t dearly.
Also very disappointed that Mercy Street has been cancelled. A very well acted show that I enjoyed watching. Wish Netflix would pick up this series.
MERCY STREET SHOULD CONTINUE ON. THIS IS A GREAT MINI SERIES! YOU CAN’T LEAVE SOMETHING UNFINISHED SUCH AS THIS. THE ACTORS/ACTRESSES HAVE BEEN SUPERB.