Just hours after shocking news broke that WGN America had canceled ‘Underground’ (one of its flagship original series) after just two seasons, its executive producer – Oscar/Grammy winner John Legend – is already on the hunt for its next network home.
The groundbreaking historical show, which depicted the lives of brave American slaves attempting to navigate the Underground Railroad, had been a consistent winner with critics and viewers since its debut. Yet, with the network’s restructuring due to recent buyout, it was removed from their airing roster due to its high “production cost” [reportedly $5 million per episode].
Undeterred, Legend took to Twitter today to give hope to faithful viewers of the series. Read his comments below:
I could see this show getting picked up by Netflix or maybe Hulu. At 5 million an episode, they need to do a lot of scaling back on production costs for it to make sense.
I’m just waiting for empire to finally get cancelled
There is no freaking way this show costs $5 mil per episode. They spend at least half of each episode in the woods or in a s**** shack. The other sets must be rented — old antebellum mansions and such. I’m not sure this show even earns $5 mil per first run episode. I know syndication is a factor here, but I still doubt these numbers.
John Legend WILL find a new home for the show. It’s an awesome and important show. I’m thinking OWN or Netflix, maybe even AMC.