The Knick officially canceled; Cinemax finally releases statement
In a statement today, Kary Antholis, the president of HBO Miniseries and Cinemax Programming, had the following to say:
“After a critically acclaimed two-season run of The Knick on Cinemax, we will not be going forward with additional episodes of the series … Despite our pride in and affection for the series, as well as our respect for and gratitude towards Steven Soderbergh and his team, we have decided to return Cinemax to its original primetime series fare of high-octane action dramas, many of which will be internationally co-produced.”
In other words, Cinemax is putting more of its focus on series that already fit their established demo, and ones that are reasonably cost-effective since you’ve got another entity working to make them happen. We get the model, and there are some very good ones out there including Outcast, arguably one of the best drama series out there last year that didn’t get anywhere near the love that it deserved. Yet, at the same time that doesn’t keep us from being salty about not getting any more of The Knick. We loved the show, and there was so much potential to it.
This announcement likely comes due to a quote from one of the show’s former cast members in Chris Sullivan, where he made it clear that the last he’d heard, the series was dead and wouldn’t be coming back for more. It’s sad, but this is the final nail in the show’s coffin. We’ll still be grateful that the show was made, mostly given that having two seasons of an exceptional show is better than four or five of a mediocre show that never challenges itself creatively as much as The Knick did. Hopefully, some people down the road will discover it and it can build a great legacy for itself after the fact.
What’s your reaction to the end of The Knick on Cinemax? Did you already say goodbye to the show several weeks ago? Be sure to sound off with your thoughts in the comments. (Photo: Cinemax.)