The writing’s been on the wall for some time now. Show stars Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, KeKe Palmer and Lea Michelle signed on to star in new television shows months ago. No news was coming out regarding where the show was heading in season three, when we had most of season two’s information by mid-Spring 2016. Finally, let’s not forget the abysmal ratings and the fact that “Scream Queens” never lived up to the hype and was never as funny or horrific as it wanted to be. Now, just an hour ago, FOX officially made their announcement that “Scream Queens” is cancelled and will not be returning for a third season.
In a comment to Variety, FOX Chair Gary Newman said, “It feels as if it was a complete series. We have no plans to go back and tell more stories there.”
FOX has always been big on Ryan Murphy produced projects, but “Scream Queens” just wasn’t the hit the network was hoping for. Season one premiered to just 4,040,000 live viewers, averaged about 2,400,000 live viewers per episode after that, and saw only 2,530,000 live viewers turn in for the season finale in December 2015. However, strong DVR and On Demand numbers added about 1,600,000 viewers to each episode, and FOX gave “Scream Queens” a second chance with a second season… which didn’t perform well either. Season two of “Scream Queens” premiered to only 2,170,000 live viewers, averaged about 1,250,000 live viewers per episode after that and saw only 1,320,000 live viewers for the season two finale in December 2016. DVR and On Demand numbers were worse, adding only 300,000 viewers to each episode.
The other problem with the comedy-horror series is that it was extremely expensive to produce – mostly due to locations and the incredible lead and supporting cast we’ve seen over its two year run. Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Stamos, Abigail Breslin, Taylor Lautner, Kirstie Alley, Niecy Nash, Glen Powell, KeKe Palmer, Billie Lourd, Lea Michelle, Nick Jonas, Oliver Hudson, Laura Bell Bundy and Diego Bonetta are all big name talents and cost a lot. And that cost was never met with acclaim or ratings.
While I’ve grown to have a neutral opinion on season one, season two of “Scream Queens” was atrocious. I’m glad it’s been given the ax. But I’m hoping to see Jamie Lee Curtis in new material again soon. She was the stand-out of this series.
