ABC has opted to cancel sci-fi drama Emergence after one season, it was confirmed Thursday.
The series is the latest genre drama to have difficulty gaining traction on ABC, as it had a fairly decent premiere but saw both its Live + Same Day and Live + 3 ratings collapse by over half across its 13-episode season. When it didn’t generate the type of internet buzz that series like this traffic in, and when ABC midseason dramas The Baker and the Beauty and For Life put up better (relative) performances in arguably worse situations, the cancellation writing was on the wall.
Like a lot of ABC’s shows this season, Emergence had an unusual path to its eventual series order, as it was originally piloted at NBC. The Peacock network passed, partially due to the series coming from ABC Studios, and said affiliation, as well as the network’s belief in the creative, caused ABC to jump on the show when it became available.
From Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters (Resurrection, Reaper), Emergence
In addition to Tolman and Swinton, the series starred Owain Yeoman, Ashley Aufderheide, Robert Bailey Jr., Clancy Brown, and Donald Faison.
Emergence aired its series finale in January.
