USA Network Cancels ‘Shooter’ After 3 Seasons
The Ryan Phillippe drama ‘Shooter‘ has been cancelled by USA Network it has been announced, although the show’s main producer, Paramount Television, is shopping it to other networks.
‘Shooter’ stars Phillippe (‘Secrets and Lies’) as Bob Lee Swagger, an expert marksman living in exile. When Isaac Johnson (Omar Epps – ‘House’) Swagger’s former commanding officer turned Secret Service Agent, contacts him for his expertise on a clandestine operation, it ends with disastrous results. This coaxes Swagger back into action, as he learns of a plot to kill the president. The show is based on the best-selling Bob Lee Swagger novels by Stephen Hunter and the 2007 Paramount film starring Mark Wahlberg.
Whilst the whole “shopping it to other networks” idea rarely bears fruit, we have seen some notable pickups this year in the form of shows like ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’. Although ‘Shooter’ arguably doesn’t have the same level of rabid fan support as those shows, it does have the advantage that Paramount itself also owns its own channel, Paramount Network. According to Deadline, there have been discussions with the sibling company about taking on the show, but those talks have currently stalled.
Part of the issue is possibly due to ‘Shooter’ not only being down in the key 18-49 demographic, but also down around 40% in overall viewers from Season 2. The show was actually the lowest rated series on USA Network following the cancellation of the previously lowest rated show, ‘Colony’, last month. Netflix air the show in certain international territories, including the UK, so that may also be a possibility, but as of right now, ‘Shooter’ is cancelled. We’ll let you know if that changes.
Season 3 of ‘Shooter‘ is currently airing on Netflix in the UK.
