MTV’s Scream season 3: Queen Latifah joins behind the scenes
The show is going to be making some sweeping changes as we move into season 3; we already reported that many cast members from the first two seasons are not returning, and the upcoming six-episode season is going to be an entirely new story featuring different characters. We’re also seeing some huge changes take place behind the scenes. Queen Latifah, Shakim Conpere and Yaneley Arty are all joining behind the scenes (per TVLine) as executive producers, whereas Brett Matthews will serve as the new showrunner. (There is no word on if Latifah, a part of Fox’s Star, will have a role on the other side of the camera.) This is the third straight season in which there will be a different producing talent behind the scenes trying to make the show as great as possible.
Matthews is someone with the genre cred to be able to take this series on and have it be successful — he’s previously worked on the likes of The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural, which were both able to maintain lengthy story arcs much longer than he will have to do so here.
From an outside perspective, arguably the most significant challenge that we will see Matthews face moving forward this season is trying to determine precisely how he is going to be able to attract both new and old viewers to a show that was already getting pretty poor ratings through much of the second season. One of the things that was going for season 3 originally was that it was set to feature the old characters and tie together loose ends. Now, you have to wonder if some of those viewers will bail because this is not the story that they originally signed up for, and there’s also the issue of not knowing whether or not some new viewers will be inclined to watch, thinking that they won’t understand the story. You have to find a way to market the show in a way that is both compelling to newcomers and also reassuring that they can dive into the story without any prior knowledge, and still very much appreciate what is being to delivered to them.
We hope that Scream season 3 premieres later this year — given the short length of the season, this feels perfect for around Halloween time. Six episodes also feels right given that we’ve seen time and time again now that horror series don’t sustain well over the course of a season. American Horror Story routinely loses a good half of its 18-49 demographic from the start of the season to the end, at least in terms of live viewers.
For more on Scream season 3, be sure to visit the link here. (Photo: MTV.)