ABC’s ‘Revenge’ creator Mike Kelley stepping down after two seasons
While we do not know just yet whether or not “Revenge” is going to officially be back for a third season, there is some surprising news coming out from behind the scenes. After creating the show and being on board for the past two seasons, Mike Kelley is stepping down in what is a mutual decision between him and ABC Studios. It is believed that he will be kept on as a consultant, but we don’t know how much of a guarantee this is of any sort of major role considering that Dan Harmon was offered something similar on “Community.”
In a statement talking about the news, Kelley had the following to say:
“In a difficult mutual decision between myself and ABC studios, the end of my current contract will mark my final season as showrunner for Revenge. Helming this series has been the ride of a lifetime, and my producing partner, Melissa Loy, and I will look back on our Revenge time with deep gratitude and respect for Emily [VanCamp] and Madeleine[Stowe] and the rest of the incredible cast, our heroic crew, the dedicated and imaginative producing and writing team, and the tireless post production department. I would also like to thank Paul Lee, his marketing team, and the creative executives at ABC and ABC studios for their profound support throughout this journey. I’m excited about finishing post production on the season two finale, which I hope will stand among the best episodes of the series thus far. Continued success to all.”
There is a definite reason to be concerned here for fans, as showrunner changes have not always worked for series. (See “Community,” or what happened when Greg Daniels left “The Office” for a time.) However, this is hardly a guarantee that the show (which has struggled at times critically and in the ratings this year) will suffer. One example of a show improving after a showrunner swap is “The Walking Dead,” which scored over a 5.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic multiple times following the exit of Frank Darabont.
Are you surprised by this news, and do you believe that “Revenge” will survive without Kelley on board? If you want to check out some more scoop on the upcoming finale, be sure to visit the link here.
Photo: ABC