Will recent Outlander renewal chatter accelerate Starz’s decision?

Let’s face it: There’s been talk of an Outlander renewal for many months now — but do recent events apply even more pressure to get that locked in? You have to wonder so.

Yesterday, CarterMatt discussed a piece in which Sony TV’s Chris Parnell stated that there are some early renewal conversations happening at the moment between the studio and Starz about a fifth season. It’s also pretty clear that time is of the essence for a number of different reasons, including a timeline in which certain things need to be done in order to ensure that season 5 premieres at the same time as season 3 and (presumably) season 4 in the fall.

Now, what we wonder is this: Does this report apply a little more pressure to the folks at the network to make a decision? While superficially it may not seem so (they’ve obviously been talking and thinking about it for some time), we actually do think that it does. With there being so many reports out there in the press about a possible renewal coming, it makes more sense for them to strike while the iron’s hot. It also would help to drum up (Drums of Autumn pun intended) even more buzz leading up to the upcoming season 3 finale. This is a show that has been the beneficiary of quite a bit of good press as of late, but this could continue for just a couple more weeks. The season 5 renewal is the icing on the cake!

While the timing of Parnell’s comments may be coincidental, they are perfectly placed to get an Outlander renewal before Christmas. If this doesn’t happen, it’s going to be a little bit more difficult to ponder over when it could happen. There’s less of a reason for Starz to time the renewal to any other particular event, unless the show wins some Golden Globes (fingers crossed) and they choose to make the announcement in order to accompany that. The same goes for if it cleans house at the People’s Choice Awards. If it doesn’t win big at some of the early-in-the-year awards shows, there won’t be as many enormous press opportunities for the show in the months to come. (Comic-Con, after all, isn’t until the summer and the cast will be preoccupied with season 4 filming.) At that point, we’ll just hope for the renewal to happen before it gets too close to the summer of 2018.

We would say that Friday, December 22 is probably one of the last occasions to see an Outlander renewal happen this year. Otherwise, everyone goes home for the holidays and we’ll be stuck waiting until the new year.

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