‘Hart of Dixie’ season 4 spoilers: The CW issues official statement on show’s future
Another day, and another headline has surfaced about just what the future of “Hart of Dixie” may or may not be. This has been a rather confusing time already, and it may be even more so by the time that the show actually comes on the air next year.
The talk about whether or not season 4 is the final season started with Twitter posts from stars Scott Porter and Wilson Bethel, who in particular is already planning some TV jobs elsewhere. The show also filmed a ten-episode season, which would suggest superficially that this was just to wrap the story up. (We at least know that this is false; the main reason for the shorter order is to accommodate star Rachel Bilson’s pregnancy, since there is no way to have “Hart of Dixie” without Zoe Hart as a part of it.)
Now, a representative for The CW tells TV.com that “no decision has been made regarding the future of Hart of Dixie, so any discussion or reporting of whether or not the show will continue beyond the upcoming season is premature.” This echoes what network head Mark Pedowitz said earlier this summer about the show, and it’s clearly the philosophy they want us to have.
With this statement in mind, let’s play a little game here. If the ratings for some reason improve by a good margin in season 4, we could see “Hart of Dixie” coming back for a season 5, regardless of whether or not the show wrote a finale that could tie most stories together. Networks love making money!
However, you have to remember here that there are not many occasions out there when the ratings for a network show actually increase this many years in, and it will be really hard on a Friday night to turn that around (if the show returns on Fridays). We’re going to continue to assume the worst, and be pleasantly surprised if something good happens. Being cautiously optimistic led to goo news for “Beauty and the Beast.”
The one motivation that really could be there for a “Hart of Dixie” season 5 is this: If they renew the show for another 13 episodes or so, then there would be enough for Warner Bros. TV to syndicate the series, at least going by the 88-episode model. We don’t know how big of a market there would be for it, or if syndication is as huge in the Netflix era as it once was. Still, it is something to consider.
We will have further news related to “Hart of Dixie” soon, so be on the lookout for that. You can also sign up if you want to snag some further TV updates on all we cover right now via our official CarterMatt Newsletter.