After a valiant effort by the fans and cast of Constantine, NBC has officially declined to renew the series for season 2. Still, that does not mean that the #SaveConstantine has failed - at least not yet. As producers are attempting to find the series a new home on a different network.
The road, so far, has not been easy for the Warner Bros. show. Following a Zed (played by Angélica Celaya) but failed to capture a large enough return audience for ongoing placement at NBC. Fans of the series, performers, and comic book characters rallied around Constantine in the hope of encouraging NBC to give the show another shot for success. Nevertheless, after a significant drop in ratings following the series premiere, Constantine struggled to gain new viewers - leaving NBC little option but to on season 2.
Report of Constantine's cancellation came directly from series producer Daniel Cerone - who delivered the news via possible season 2 return on a different channel.
Check out Cerone's summary of Constantine's future below:
NBC a "no" for Season 2. Warner Bros working hard to find #Constantine new home. Stay active. Stream. Tweet. #SaveConstantine #Hellblazers— Daniel Cerone (@DanielVCerone) May 8, 2015
Thanks to @NBC for Season 1. Got a nice call from the powers there. We were considered but they feel they had a strong development season.— Daniel Cerone (@DanielVCerone) May 8, 2015
Bear in mind, #Constantine ratings low for NBC but would constitute a hit at many networks. Fearless faith. #SaveConstantine #Hellblazers— Daniel Cerone (@DanielVCerone) May 8, 2015
Did you read my mind? #Hellblazers #SaveConstantine https://t.co/AonM7V8Kvy— Daniel Cerone (@DanielVCerone) May 8, 2015
As mentioned, even though Constantine possessed a rabid fanbase and held mostly steady ratings, overall viewership averaged around (an unremarkable) 3.5 million households each week - with only minor upticks on certain episodes. The show ended its season 1 run with 3.3 million viewers, a slight improvement over its series low penultimate episode (which secured on 2.96 million).
To that end, Cerone is correct in claiming that certain networks would love to acquire a show with Constantine's viewership; yet, as we know from SyFy might pickup and rebrand the show as Hellblazer - but those reports were since debunked.
Fans will disagree but, for executives (and Supernatural.
For now, the #SaveConstantine lives-on - likely with more urgency than ever before - and it will be interesting to see which networks could be interested in picking up the show. If one does, even faithful viewers will likely agree that there's room for refinement and improvement in the series. A new network wouldn't just need to save the series from cancellation, they'll need to save it from the general perception that Constantine is an overly-safe comic book adaptation.
There are plenty of source material stories that could help differentiate Constantine from its competitors but, if a network really wants the series to succeed, they'll likely need to shift the show away from mass-appeal paranormal detective work - to the kind of gritty and uncomfortable storytelling that made Hellblazer characters so memorable in DC Comic history.
If not, there's always interest in a Constantine movie sequel, right?
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Next: Constantine Star on Season 2 Storyline
Constantine has been canceled. We will keep you in the loop if a new network picks the show up for season 2.
Source: Daniel Cerone