Southland Season 6: Renewal Still an Uncertainty

With all the Game of Thrones excitement around here lately, one of television’s best shows might have had its final episode ever a couple of weeks ago, and no one is talking about it. I’m referring to TNT’s Southland, which is without a doubt the best cop show on TV. Rescued from the stupid clutches of NBC who tried to cancel it during its first season, TNT swooped in and saved the day. That was in 2009.

Jump forward to April 17th of 2013 and the airing of the fifth season’s finale, which one arguably one of the shows best episodes ever. Fans were given a great episode, but one that ended on a cliffhanger involving Officer John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) and the future of the show is still in limbo. Ratings were not great for the season as a whole, although the last episode did pull in pretty good numbers; 2.6 million viewers (+16% over the prior week). If that will be enough to win a sixth season however is still a mystery.

Show producer Jonathan Lisco had this to say:

“It’s funny — everybody in Hollywood thinks that when you work on a show, you have some kind of crystal ball. It’s anything but that. We read the trades and hear rumors just like everybody else. If you believe those, you would think there’s maybe a less than 50 percent chance of renewal. But I really think there’s a chance, and a non-trivial chance, that the show gets at least another season. This season was so compelling and felt so earned and inevitable. And we’ve got so many ideas for reinventing [the show], which I think is the hallmark of Southland. Every season, we’ve done our best to reinvent the show. I have no doubt we could do it again.”

Regina King in an interview with TVLine:

“Of course we want it to come back, but there are just certain things that [make us think], ‘Are we?’ No one’s told us that we weren’t, but there are enough things that haven’t happened [like promotional support] to question, ‘Are we?’ It could go either way.”

The lack of communication with the cast, along with the fact that some of the actors are already booking “just in case” work doesn’t bode well for the acclaimed series. According to Deadline, King recently signed on to shoot a pilot for ABC’s Divorce: A Love Story.

Other stars Shawn Hatosy and Ben McKenzie have both been poached by CBS for new pilots, and Tom Everett Scott may be headed back to NBC.

Hatosy for a show called Reckless and sounds terrible. Something about sexy lawyers in South Carolina and he would play the bad boy Detective. *vomit* McKenzie’s show, Advocates sounds less terrible, but still not good. It would co-star Mandy Moore and also be about the legal system, with him as an ex-con who served 16 years for a crime he didn’t commit, and Moore as a lawyer.

McKenzie though has done his best to quell the fears of the Southland loyals…

To clarify: I am doing "Advocates" in second position to #SouthLAnd If picked up for a sixth season, I am doing that. #SouthLAnd forever

— Ben McKenzie (@ben_mckenzie) March 6, 2013

I'm honored to be a part of the best cop show on TV (IMHO). I hope and pray it returns. Nothing would make me happier. #SouthLAnd forever

— Ben McKenzie (@ben_mckenzie) March 6, 2013

Tom Everett Scott has also signed on to possibly leave, he would be headed back to NBC – the network that originally canceled Southland. Scott would play the dad on Bloodline.

None of this though is definitive one way of another, but while we’re just sitting here wondering what’s gonna happen, some others are talking a more proactive approach. There is a campaign aimed at TNT asking for a renewal over at the petition site Change. Also, over in the world of Twitter there is noise about a 6th season as well over at SouthLAnd Season Six.