‘The Leftovers’ renewed for third (and final) season by HBO

Today is a case of good news and bad news when it comes to “The Leftovers” on HBO. Following some better ratings for the show’s season finale, but also unfortunately a snub across the board from both the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes, the network has confirmed that the show will be coming back for a third season. Unfortunately, it will also be its last.

Based on the statement from HBO head Michael Lombardo today, it sounds as though the decision was made in part by showrunner Damon Lindelof to end the show next season:

“It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome back Damon Lindelof, Tom Perrotta and the extraordinary talent behind THE LEFTOVERS for its third and final season … This show has proven to be one of the most distinctive HBO series and we are extremely proud of its unrivaled originality, which has resulted in such a passionate following by our HBO viewers. We admire and fully support Damon’s artistic vision and respect his decision to bring the show to its conclusion next season.”

Sure, it is sad to think that season 3 of the show could be its last, but at the same time we’d rather have a smaller dose of a great thing than a longer run of something that fizzles out. Even if the show was canceled at the end of this season, it still would have had a good ending for Justin Theroux’s character of Kevin Garvey.

Given that we said that this season was pound for pound the greatest season of any show this year, it is safe to say that we are off doing cartwheels. Now if only awards shows thought the same.