YOU season 2 premiere date hopes: When will Lifetime series be back?

With the finale airing tonight, now feels like the perfect time to ask: When will the YOU season 2 premiere date be on Lifetime?

Let’s start this article by reminding you of the great news — or informing you in the case you haven’t heard already — that the psychological thriller has already been renewed. As a matter of fact, that happened before the first season even premiered!

As for the reasons why the early renewal was granted, we think that there were many. For starters, it’s clear that Lifetime had a lot of faith in the Penn Badgley series from the jump; otherwise, they wouldn’t make the move at all. Beyond just that, the series received a tax credit that will allow production to center itself in Los Angeles for the second season — anything that makes a show cost-effective is something that a production will almost always get behind! Finally, there is a nice international licensing deal here with Netflix, which carries YOU outside of the United States.

Finally, we just think that Lifetime really needed to lock in something for their scripted lineup since they don’t have all that much else at the moment. Most of their other notable hits from the past few seasons are gone and even UnREAL ended up being sent over to Hulu for its final season.

As for how YOU is faring in the ratings, we do think that those numbers alone would justify another season even if this deal hadn’t come along. After all, season 1 averaged around a 0.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and over 600,000 viewers. While these numbers are not exactly through-the-roof fantastic, they’re reasonable for Lifetime at this point in the show’s run.

YOU season 2 premiere date talk

The reasonable assumption is that the next season will premiere in late summer / early fall 2019, based on the timing of production and also when the first season premiered. It doesn’t benefit Lifetime in the slightest to have a long wait in between seasons just because if they do that, there is a reasonably good chance that everyone is going to just forget about the show along the way. This series needs stability; beyond just that, it also needs viewers to remember that it still exists. This is an era where everyone is constantly darting from one season of a show to the next just because there is so much great TV programming out there. If the network can get people locked in to a single show long-term, that gives them a chance to promote some other shows around it.

We’d say to keep watch next summer for some announcements on YOU season 2, largely because we have a hard time imagining that they are going to be coming out before then.

What do you want to see when it comes you YOU season 2, and are you bummed that there has to be any long hiatus at all? Share right now in the comments. (Photo: Lifetime.)

Love TV? Be sure to like Matt & Jess on Facebook for more updates!