‘Political Animals’ over; USA opts against season 2

For those of you hoping that the critical buzz for “Political Animals” would be enough to make up for some poor ratings, some bad news is now coming your way: USA has opted not to renew the Sigourney Weaver series for a second season. Sure, this was bill as a “limited series event” the entire time the show was on the air; but as you may remember with “The 4400” so many years back, this network is not afraid to give a miniseries a longer life of its own if the ratings are strong enough.

In a statement, the network (which has been on a surprising killing spree as of late in between this show, “Common Law,” and “Fairly Legal”) expressed that it was still satisfied with the show, even if it did not end up pulling the numbers that it was hoping for at the time of its launch:

“We are proud of Political Animals, our miniseries that attracted critical acclaim and impacted the cultural conversation this summer … It was a pleasure to work with Greg Berlanti and Laurence Mark and a powerful cast led by Sigourney Weaver. We look forward to collaborating again with these immensely talented creatives.”

The person that it is the easiest to feel saddest for at the moment in the middle of all this is actor James Wolk, who is coming off of the cancellation of another critically-acclaimed show that went nowhere in “Lonestar.” Is this guy ever going to find himself a permanent home? On the flip side, “Once Upon a Time” fans may be happy about the news that Sebastian Stan could be open for more work as Jefferson / the Mad Hatter in the future.