CBS summer series “BrainDead” and “American Gothic” will not be returning to the network’s schedule for second seasons. News of the cancellation for both shows comes after the freshman series wrapped low-rated seasons, which ended this September.
“BrainDead” debuted in June to over 4.5 million viewers for its first episode, but sank throughout the season with the final episode bringing in just over 2 million viewers. “American Gothic” also struggled to find an audience with its highest-rated episode bringing in just under 3.6 million viewers.
Both series come from A-list producing teams and kicked off with high hopes from CBS, with the two shows each originally landing straight-to-series 13-episode orders.
“American Gothic” hails from Spielberg’s Amblin Television, and creator Corinne Brinkerhoff. The drama is about a prominent Boston family reeling in the wake of the chilling discovery that someone in their midst is linked to an infamous string of murders. Juliet Rylance, Anthony Starr, Virginia Madsen, Justin Chatwin, Megan Ketch, Elliot Knight, Stephanie Leonidas and Gabriel Bateman starred in the first season.
“BrainDead” hails from some of CBS’s most trusted partners, “The Good Wife’s” Robert and Michelle King. The comic-thriller set in the world of Washington, D.C., politics starred Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Danny Pino, Aaron Tveit, Tony Shalhoub, Nikki M. James and Johnny Ray Gill.
Though the cancellations were just made official today, the fate of both “American Gothic” and “BrainDead” were pretty much spelled out with the low numbers this summer. “BrainDead’s” cancellation became imminent, as the Kings moved to “The Good Wife” spinoff at CBS All Access and Winstead was cast in “Fargo” Season 3, signaling her being let loose from her commitment to the CBS series.
