Will Lethal Weapon be canceled after season 3 over next few weeks?
For those who missed it yesterday, here is a quick recap: Wayans, who plays Roger Murtaugh on the Fox series, announced on Thursday that he will be leaving the show at the end of the year, following filming of the thirteen episodes that are being planned for this season. He cited being 58 years old, plus also being a diabetic and the show’s long hours, as his reasons for wanting to depart. He is absolutely entitled to make whatever decision he feels is right for him, but there are two parts of this story that seem to be rubbing many people out there the wrong way: The reports that he blindsided the cast and crew with this announcement, and it coming so soon after the very-public comments he made about his former co-star Clayne Crawford in the wake of his dismissal.
Did you miss our Lethal Weapon video yesterday? – Watch below to see more of what we had to say over Wayans’ announcement! Be sure to subscribe to the CarterMatt YouTube channel to make sure you don’t miss any of our other Lethal Weapon coverage! We also have a playlist all about the show.
Wayans’ announcement has Fox in a tough position where they / studio Warner Bros. TV have to think quickly about what they want to do with the future of this show. The live+same-day ratings so far, while not great, are far from terrible. Lethal Weapon out-performed The Gifted in the ratings this week and was not all that far off of the performance of The Resident. It also does have a good bit of DVR / international appeal because of name recognition. Theoretically, it is possible that the series could try to reset, once again, and find a way to move forward. Yet, without both Riggs and Murtaugh, this series really is just Lethal Weapon in name itself. It won’t have really anything in common with the actual movies.
While there is a case for Fox to just cut the cord on this, much as they could have done after Crawford’s dismissal, one thing to remember is this: If this network can find a way to keep earning money from this brand, don’t be shocked if it finds a way to come back — also, don’t be shocked if they convince Wayans to stick around for at least a couple more episodes beyond the first thirteen to better wrap up his story.
Related – Check out why Lethal Weapon is one of our biggest bubble shows for the year
Do you think that Lethal Weapon could actually come back for a season 4 without Crawford or Wayans, and should it? Share now in the comments. (Photo: Fox.)