Could The Night Shift season 5 happen elsewhere after cancellation?

Even after the cancellation news over at NBC, is it possible that a The Night Shift season 5 could exist somewhere else?

The first thing that we should note here is that it’s early — super early. The show just got canceled, and everyone may still be dealing with the aftermath of that. You also do have to remember that revivals don’t actually happen anywhere near as much as you may think that they do. Longmire was the last broadcast/cable show Netflix brought back, and it was years ago. There are other success stories like Nashville and The Mindy Project, but for every one of them there are also shows like Dark Matter who, despite the best efforts of fans, don’t end up going anywhere.

One quick disclaimer: We’re not saying that Sony Pictures TV, the studio behind the show, is even going to shop it around. This article is pure speculation on our part.

Now, let’s get into this. The first thing that is worth noting here is the fact that The Night Shift does come from an outside studio. Because this is not strictly an NBC-produced show there is some hope that it gets picked up elsewhere. To go along with that, maybe there are some other networks in the market for a solid summer series. ABC is an interesting possibility just because they have so much unscripted summer programming that you would think they’d have room for a scripted show. The Night Shift would probably do very well behind The Bachelorette or maybe alongside some of their game shows. Put it on a little earlier and with that, maybe you can get some better ratings. Also, market it a little bit more! We never loved how much / how little NBC promoted the show. We did our best with a number of interviews here at CarterMatt, but the ratings were in the end what they were.

Some interesting cable options out there include USA (which is owned by the same parent company as NBC) or maybe even TNT. Maybe you could look at a streaming service like Hulu, but we think the show works best in a venue where you can watch a new episode every week. We would of course love Amazon or Netflix but don’t see either one of them as the most likely possibility.

The two biggest challenges for The Night Shift getting another season are money (it’s far more complicated than anyone would think) and then also making sure the majority of the show’s viewers migrate with it. That is far easier said than done. If The Night Shift could guarantee getting its NBC ratings on another network we think it’d have a good shot. Unfortunately, that is a very difficult thing to guarantee.

Do you think that a Night Shift season 5 renewal could happen somewhere else, and do you want for it to? Share below!

Meanwhile, be sure to read our first piece regarding the cancellation; you can also like us on Facebook to get news on this show and others we cover. (Photo: NBC.)