Why Was Evil Cancelled and Can It Be Saved by the Fans (and Stephen King)?

Evil has come to an end after four seasons, but there were plans to keep it going and it has received a boost of sorts from the master of horror.

What Is It?

This supernatural drama follows forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard, who is recruited by David Acosta, a Catholic priest-in-training, to investigate unexplained phenomena, including alleged miracles, demonic possessions, and hauntings. Alongside them is Ben Shakir, a skeptical tech expert who seeks scientific explanations for the bizarre cases they encounter. As the team delves deeper into these mysteries, they confront the blurred lines between science, religion, and the supernatural, often facing sinister forces that test their beliefs and sanity.

Aired: CBS/Paramount+, 2019-24, 4 Seasons Totaling 50 Episodes

Starring: Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Kurt Fuller, Michael Emerson

Created By: Robert King, Michelle King

Why Was It Cancelled?

This series debuted on CBS during the 2019-20 season and pulled in modest ratings for a show airing on that network at that time. CBS did give it a second-season renewal but later shifted it over to its streaming service Paramount+ (known as CBS All Access at that time). That move was likely a good one, though, seeing as the supernatural drama did not fit well with the standard procedurals and sitcoms that dominated the linear network’s lineup.

Evil performed relatively well for a Paramount+ original and was renewed each year up to its fourth season. Then in February of 2024, the streamer announced that the show’s upcoming fourth year would be its last and that it would get four additional episodes to wrap up its storylines. That gave it four seasons and 50 episodes total which is actually a decent run for a streaming original these days. Co-creator Robert King did share the plans they had for a fifth season in an interview with TV Insider:

We were going to do more with court and the court system and how demonic it can be. There were going to be more demons kind of infecting the courthouse and Kristen was going to have to be much more involved. All three would have to testify. We were trying to satirize the work we did in Good Wife and Good Fight. So we were even going to pull in—we did bring in Richard Kind—a lot more of the actors from Good Wife and Good Fight and kind of show, hopefully in a very meta way, self-reflecting of—a lot of the buildup of those shows was how justice can go wrong. But in the world where there is evil, how much of it going wrong is in the human makeup or in the demonic makeup of the show?

Despite that, King indicated at the time of the cancellation announcement that there were no plans to shop the property to a different venue and that the focus was on wrapping up the story with the final four episodes. By all appearances, it seemed that Evil would come to an end with its extended fourth season, and I did not see much in the way of fan activity after the announcement to get the show moved to a different platform.

But just recently, famed horror writer Stephen King started stumping for the series, and it seemed to gain some new life. On August 27th, series star Katja Herbers shared a video on Twitter with King praising the show and she included the comment: “OKAY CAN WE DO THE PICK UP NOW? 😝 thank you
@StephenKing #Evil”

OKAY CAN WE DO THE PICK UP NOW? 😝 thank you @StephenKing #Evil pic.twitter.com/4ikTo8Jini

— Katja Herbers (@katjaherbers) August 27, 2024

And then on August 31st, King put up the following post:

Dear Paramount+: More EVIL, please.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 31, 2024

This, along with the fact that Evil has spent multiple weeks in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings, seems to have breathed some new life into the possibility that it could be resurrected.

Can It Be Saved?

The cancellation of Evil came as somewhat of a surprise, but then four seasons is typically the capping-off point for a streaming original because they are usually not bringing in many new subscriptions by that point. This one could be a different story, though, because the first two seasons became available on Netflix earlier this year and the show has been in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings for over a dozen weeks. So that could be driving subscribers to Paramount+ to watch the third and fourth seasons and it should also be attracting the attention of Netflix execs who may have an interest in picking up the show. While Evil did wrap up its main storylines, it also ended with the suggestion that more evil is lurking out there for the team to track down.

At this point, fans should be staging watch parties on both Netflix and Paramount+. They should also get the show streaming on the social networks to bring it more attention. And they should definitely engage Stephen King to get his help with promoting their efforts (you can find more suggestions for possible fan efforts at this link). It is continuing to draw strong viewership, and right now is certainly the time to push the executives at Paramount+ and Netflix to consider keeping it around for a fifth season and possibly more. With a big name backing fan efforts and with very good viewership already, Evil may not be done just yet.

Where Can You Watch It?

As mentioned above, the first two seasons of the show are currently streaming on Netflix, and the entire series is available on Paramount+. The first three seasons have been released on Blu-ray, and the fourth will likely be available by early 2025.  The show is also available to purchase VOD.

Stream Evil on Paramount+ and Netflix

Did you watch Evil and would you support fan efforts to save the show? Chime in below in the comments.

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