'Constantine' Season 2 Renewed or Canceled? NBC Uncertain if Series Will Be Returning for More
Ever since "Constantine" failed to receive a 22-episode order for its first season on NBC, many have speculated that the show's future looks shaky. Moreover, the show failed to turn in impressive numbers in the ratings game. Last Friday's winter break return of "Constantine" saw the series fall to 3.1 million viewers and a 0.8 rating among adults 18-49 in its new earlier 8pm timeslot, which takes it down to 20 percent from the show's last episode in December.
Speaking on the general state of NBC from the TCA tour, entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt and NBC president Jennifer Salke both took on the question of "Constantine."
"Still talking about [whether to renew the show]," Salke said. "We wish the show had done better live. It has a big viewership after [live airings] in all kinds of ways, and it has a younger audience. The live number is challenging. It hasn't kind of come out of 'Grimm' the way we wanted it to. We love the show. I think it's fair to say that we're really still talking about it."
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"We got on the bandwagon of these shows based on the comic books, and maybe there are too many of them. It's a popular series of comics, but it's not 'The Flash'. It's not Batman, so maybe it suffers a little bit there," added Greenblatt. "But as Jen said, it's a show we really liked. We love Matt Ryan, who is the star of it. I think we did right by the fans who didn't like the film that was made of it, and I think the future is still up in the air on that show."
The "Constantine" character was first seen on the big screen starring Keanu Reeves. The NBC series is based more on the comic books than in the 2005 film, which was panned by critics. Production at "Constantine" has been capped at 13 episodes this season.
If the show does get the axe from NBC, it's possible that the producers can shop it around to other networks. According to Screenrant, NBC's sister network, Syfy, would be a good fit for the show, but moving the series to a cable network could mean extreme budget cuts for "Constantine," which could affect the quality of the show since each episode features a lot of special effects.
"Constantine" airs on Fridays at 8 p.m. on NBC.
