In the midst of Spike TV rebranding itself as the Paramount Network, Paramount has decided to cancel The Shannara Chronicles, reveals TV Guide.
The fantasy drama ran for two seasons, first airing on MTV before moving to Spike for its second season. The series, which was produced by Sonar Entertainment, was based on the Terry Brooks fantasy series, specifically The Sword of Shannara trilogy. Production took place in New Zealand, making it a pretty costly series for MTV and Spike. Paramount decided to pass on renewing it due to this and a ratings decline; the second season ended with 500,000 viewers accounting for DVR as well.
Despite the cancellation, Paramount Network president Kevin Kay did give some hope to fans as Sonor could shop the series around for another home. “We have officially passed on making any more,” he said to TV Guide. “Maybe [Sonar Entertainment] is going to take it somewhere else. For us, we passed on the future of that.” However, because of the expensive New Zealand production and viewership, the series will be hard pressed to find anyone willing to pick it back up.
The Shannara Chronicles was brought to life by Al Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville) with director Jon Favreau and Terry Brooks executive producing the series. It starred Austin Butler, Ivana Baquero, Manu Bennett, Aaron Jakubenko, Marcus Vanco, Vanessa Morgan, Malese Jow, Gentry White, Caroline Chikezie and Desmond Chiam.
