Major Crimes creator James Duff discusses cancellation at TNT further
A little more than one week after TNT made the super-unfortunate decision to end the show Duff took to Facebook to go a little bit more in-depth into what actually happened and a wide array of the official factors that were at play here … and there are many. For one, Duff references just how much the writing was on the wall for the show — it didn’t get much in the way of representation at TCA, it found itself subjected to multiple time changes, and there were several times in which it was told that it was in the midst of its final season. Finally, TNT made the choice to premiere season 6 on Halloween night, one of the worst possible nights in which any should could possibly premiere. When you add all of this up, what you ultimately have are a number of unfortunate factors that show that the network, while they may have wanted to make money off the show, just wasn’t as invited in the show as they are some of their other top hits. That’s unfortunate, but the proof here is very much in the pudding and there’s not a whole lot more that really needs to be said when it comes to that.
Duff also talks about the difficult proposition of getting Major Crimes picked up by another network, which is true given that there are so many different variables and factors at play. For one, Warner Bros. owns this show and we’re in an era where networks and distributors try to figure out a way to own most of their content. This is how they are able to compensate somewhat for falling ratings during the peak TV era where there are a million or so options. It’s unfortunate, but acquisitions just aren’t as profitable in some cases — that doesn’t seem to be true with Major Crimes, though, given that the cost of doing this show was actually less in season 6 than season 5.
Longmire is a good example of a canceled show from an outside studio finding life elsewhere after its cancellation. Guess what studio it was from? Warner Bros. That’s your reason to have a little bit of hope that maybe there is a chance to see more of Major Crimes still moving into the future. Time will tell in that regard.
One thing that is interesting that he points out here that wasn’t really on our radar is that the cast contracts expire at the end of the season. This means that in the event someone else actually does pick up Major Crimes, they’d have to find a way to ink everyone to new contracts. Is that a new stumbling block? Absolutely, but we don’t see it as something insurmountable that the show will be unable to overcome if there is an interested enough party.
More news on Major Crimes
We suggest that you check out all of our exclusive interviews from the 100th episode party! There are four online at the moment, and there are some more that we’ll be unleashing in the days to come.
Also, like us on Facebook to get some additional news from us at CarterMatt. (Photo: TNT.)