Today is a dark day for fans of Fox’s supernatural television offerings. The network just announced that The Exorcist has been cancelled after two seasons, and Lucifer has been cancelled after three seasons.
The first season of Jeremy Slater’s The Exorcist was praised heavily by critics and its small-but-active fan base, which led to a Season Two renewal. The second season changed settings and scenarios but maintained the character-driven formula that attracted fans to it in the first place. Unfortunately, the changes weren’t enough to improve viewership. According to Variety, the series “was Fox’s lowest-rated program this year, averaging 1.32 million total viewers and a 0.41 rating in the 18-49 demo.”
Slater took to Twitter to connect with fans of the series over the unfortunate news, and to put the cancellation into perspective:
I know it’s easy to get angry at Fox, but the reality is that we were the lowest-rated drama on any network and they still brought us back for a second season, because they loved the show. There are no bad guys in this scenario.
— Jeremy Slater (@jerslater) May 11, 2018
I was lucky enough to work with the greatest collection of writers, actors, artists and crew that anyone could ask for. Our amazing fans supported us every step of the way. I made lifelong friends and 20 hours of pretty good television. That’s not a bad legacy at all.
— Jeremy Slater (@jerslater) May 11, 2018
At the end of the day, all I can feel is gratitude for every single member of the #ExorcistCongregation who followed us on this unbelievable adventure. I wish we could have given you a proper ending, but the characters belong to you now. You decide how their story ends.
— Jeremy Slater (@jerslater) May 11, 2018
Lucifer, another supernatural program with a strong following of devoted fans, will finish its run at Fox with a cliffhanger ending to Season Three which will never be concluded at the network. Like Slater, showrunner Joe Henderson reached out to fans of the series on Twitter to share his thoughts on the news and encourage fans to hold out hope that the series may someday be properly concluded:
For people asking what to do… MAKE NOISE. I have no idea if we have a shot of coming back, but I know sure as anything that everyone wants to. We have so many more stories to tell. #Lucifer
— Joe Henderson (@Henderson_Joe) May 11, 2018
By the way, the #Lucifer finale is the best hour of television I've been lucky to write. It wraps up everything from the season. But what it teases for season 4… well, maybe, just maybe, we can #SaveLucifer and show you.
— Joe Henderson (@Henderson_Joe) May 11, 2018
It’s never fun to see a favorite show taken off the air too early, and today’s announcements will surely upset horror fans across the globe. Stay tuned to Horror News Network for further coverage of these two series should either may a surprise return to the spotlight, and breaking news on upcoming horror productions at Fox as they break!
