‘Copper’ canceled by BBC America after two seasons

BBC America has only recently started to dive head-first into the world of scripted programming, but we already have some sad news now to report about the death of the first-ever original property for the network.

Sources have confirmed that “Copper,” which got off to an ambitious start but has also performed only okay in the ratings, has been canceled after two years of being on the network. We wish we could say that this was much of a surprise to us, but to be honest it really wasn’t. This was a move that was a long time coming for a number of reasons, including that the second season seemed to tie together most of the loose ends in the event that this happened.

So where does this leave the future of BBC America’s original programming? It is still there, thanks mostly to the fact that they still have “Orphan Black,” and the expectation here is that these numbers are going to shoot into the stratosphere for season 2 based on some of the critical acclaim and praise for Tatiana Maslany. Given that this is not a network with a huge catalog of original shows, and that it is not a network trying to assemble such a thing, we very much expect that they will continue to try and build around “Orphan Black” and a certain popular show in “Doctor Who” in order to launch some other successful shows in the future.

BBC America has the right priorities in place when it comes to quality, so let’s just hope that they do not develop a quick trigger finger when it comes to canceling shows just because of bad ratings. Remember, after all, that a certain show in “Breaking Bad” was not exactly a smash hit out of the gate … but it sure is today.

Photo: BBC America