Will Underground get a third season on another network? Recently, Refinery29 posted an update as to whether OWN will save the cancelled WGN America TV show or not.
The historical drama follows the heroes of the Underground Railroad who harnessed every bit of their wits, strength, and grit in order to escape slavery and live as free men and women. The cast includes Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Aldis Hodge, Jessica De Gouw, Alano Miller, Christopher Meloni, Marc Blucas, and Reed Diamond.
In late May, WGN America announced they were cancelling Underground after two seasons as part of a larger change to the network’s programming. In response, the cast and the show’s producers remained optimistic that another network would pick up the series.
One of the networks in discussion was OWN. However, according to Refinery29, OWN will not be saving Underground after all. Apparently, Oprah Winfrey told journalists the show was simply to expensive to produce:
I can’t afford Underground. It cost twice as much to make as Queen Sugar. As a matter of fact, my dear friend John Legend called me personally and asked me about it, but we’d already been talking about how we could make it work […] it’s like $5 million an episode, so we can’t afford it. It’s not cheap, I think because it’s a period piece.”
Winfrey did add that she really wanted to pick up the show but it wasn’t possible:
We really tried to make it work. I wanted to make it work because I think it’s a good show. I wanted to be able to save that show, but it did not make good business sense for me.”
What do you think? Are you a fan of Underground? Do you hope another network saves the show?
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