Breaking News: Emergence Cancelled by ABC After One Season

Sci fi drama Emergence, starring Allison Tolman, Alexa Swinton, and Clancy Brown will not be returning to ABC for a second season.

ABC announced today the cancellation of its sci fi drama Emergence after a single season. The news does not come as a huge surprise as it was one of ABC’s lowest-rated shows, only averaging a 0.5 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic. It did see notable gains in delayed viewing early on, but those trailed off as the season progressed. I previously had Emergence at Cancellation Likely status, but I changed it to a Bubble series a couple of months back when it looked like the Coronavirus-related shutdowns could work in the show’s favor. Few pilots were completed this year due to the shutdowns, so it seemed at the time that networks might lean toward bringing back existing shows over greenlighting new projects which they had not yet previewed. But the fact is that the shutdowns have gone on long enough that they will likely push the start for returning shows to early 2021 (as with The CW), making the schedule more crowded and possibly factoring into ABC’s decision to pass on a second season. This show becomes yet another one-and-done casualty of the Peak TV crunch. It did develop somewhat of a fan-following during its only season and they may attempt to lobby for the show to move to another venue.

Emergence follows the sheriff of a small town that takes in a young girl she finds at the scene of a mysterious accident. The girl has no memory of who she is or why she was there that sets up a larger mystery about her origins. It stars Allison Tolman, Alexa Swinton, Owain Yeoman, Ashley Aufderheide, and Clancy Brown.

There are still more renewal and cancellation announcements on the way as the season wraps up. You can see the status of all the currently airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows on our Cancellation Watch Page. And be sure to stay tuned to this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.

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