The serial killer drama starring “Gossip Girl” star Ed Westwick has been cancelled by ABC.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network cancelled “Wicked City” after only three episodes. It first premiered on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 10 p.m. on ABC. This is the 2015-2016 TV season’s first-ever cancellation following the news about the “rare feat” that NBC’s “Blindspot” achieved after it was renewed.
“Wicked City” is a period thriller drama set in the Sunset Boulevard during the 1980s. It centers on Los Angeles-based detective Jack Roth (Jeremy Sisto) and Paco Contreras and their latest mission. They are on the lookout for the two serial killers-turned-lovers Kent Crainger (Ed Westwick) and Betty Beaumontaine (Erika Christensen).
The outlet reported that the show’s premiere episode garnered disappointing number with only 3.3 million viewers and a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 age bracket. The number of “Wicked City" viewers continued to drop in the remaining two episodes.
The lackluster ratings led the ABC to replace it with re-runs of “Shark Tank” starting on Nov. 17. The ABC also announced that the on-going production of the series will be stopped after Episode 8 while the future of the remaining 5 unaired episode is still unknown.
Before it was aired on TV, “Wicked City” was previously under hot water with two title changes. It was also reported that the series is styled similar to the anthology format made popular by “American Horror Story” (AHS). The show also hired former “AHS” actress Taissa Farmiga for a one-year deal along with Christensen.
Another freshman series entitled “Blood & Oil” has been struggled as well, but ABC only trimmed the episode order. Meanwhile, few ABC series was given additional episodes including the breakout drama “Quantico,” “The Muppets” and “Dr. Ken.”
“Wicked City” is created by Steve Baigelman ("Miles Ahead") and Amy Harris (“Carrie Diaries”) under ABC Studios and Mandeville Television. It stars Jeremy Sisto (“Suburgatory”), Taissa Farmiga (“The Final Girl”), Gabriel Luna (“Matador”), Ed Westwick (“Gossip Girl”), Karolina Wydra (“House”), Evan Ross (“90210”) and Anne Winters (“Tyrant”).
