Spike has announced the cancellation of fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles just ahead of its name change to the Paramount Network which occurs on January 18th. That series aired its second season on Spike this past Fall to low ratings and the cancellation announcement comes as no surprise. The Shannara Chronicles started on MTV in 2016 where it had moderate ratings but saw very good delayed viewing gains (more important to the cable channels than the broadcast networks). It was renewed for a second season, but was caught up in the Viacom shuffle that saw it moved to sister cable channel Spike. That network aired back-to-back episodes of the show through its second season that seemed to suggest it was trying to burn off the series as quickly as possible. There had been no word on the show’s fate after that, but advertisements for the new Paramount Network did not include The Shannara Chronicles as one of the original shows scheduled to air there. The show’s studio Sonar is currently shopping it around, including to Netflix (where the first season is streaming) and Amazon. It has a very loyal and vocal fanbase that managed to get the show ranked Number 5 in our recent Save My Show poll, and they should definitely take to the social networks to support Sonar’s efforts.
Based on the Shannara series of books by Terry Brooks, this series follows a group of humans, elves, and other fantasy creatures who must work together to protect the Four Lands from the threat of the Demon World. It stars Austin Butler, Poppy Drayton, Ivana Baquero, and Manu Bennett.
Stay tuned to this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter site for more breaking news as well as updates and the latest ratings results.
