News broke today that the History Channel’s UFO-investigation drama Project Blue Book will not be returning for a third season. That announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise as I expected it to return for at least one more year. It’s same-day ratings were down 32% from its first season numbers, but it was still doing well enough for a basic cable series these days, especially in total viewers. The show also saw decent gains from delayed viewing. But it did typically lose a large amount of the audience from its lead-in The Curse of Oak Island. The cancellation may also suggest that the History Channel is moving away from scripted originals as the network has also cancelled second-year historical drama Knightfall and its only other scripted series, Vikings, is in its final season. The basic cable channels, in general, appear to be shying away from scripted originals in the current Peak TV environment. Project Blue Book wrapped up its second season on a cliffhanger which may prompt fans to lobby for another venue to pick up the show or at least a series finale movie from History. Fans can vote for the series in our season end Save My Show poll at this link.
Project Blue Book is a dramatization of the real-life investigations into UFO sightings conducted by the United States Air Force. It follows Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Captain Michael Quinn as they try to determine if reported alien encounters have any basis in fact. It stars Aidan Gillen, Michael Malarkey, Laura Mennell, Ksenia Solo, and Neal McDonough and is produced by Robert Zemeckis.
There should be more renewal and cancellation announcements this week and possibly into next as the networks prepare for their Upfronts when they will unveil their schedules for next season. 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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