Originally posted Friday, May 10, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
It's been brutal for Atlanta-based productions on Fox. Three of the four shows the network shot here this past season were cancelled, most notably Lee Daniels' "Star" after three seasons.
"Star," the Atlanta-based urban drama which starred Queen Latifah and several young newcomers, was a moderate performer for Fox and was considered "on the bubble" as the network pondered renewals.
The show, paired with Fox's "Empire," drew plenty of big names including Brandy, Lenny Kravitz, Naomi Campbell, Tyrese Gibson, Gladys Knight, Missy Elliott and Big Boi. It also featured the first transgender regular on a broadcast show.
But Deadline.com said the show was expensive to produce and had difficulties selling to overseas markets, reducing its overall value.
There was a big cliffhanger at the end of season 3 that will now never be resolved.
Deadline did say the production studio, former Fox sibling 20th Century Fox, is shopping the series elsewhere so there is a chance it might survive. It does happen. Fox picked up “Last Man Standing” after ABC gave up on it. And Netflix picked up Fox drama “Lucifer” and ABC’s “Designated Survivor” after those networks cancelled those shows.
Earlier, Fox had dropped its Marvel action series “The Gifted” after two seasons and the apocalyptic drama “The Passage” after just a single season.The only Fox show shot locally to make the cut was medical drama “The Resident,” which is guaranteed a third season.
Fox picked up one drama pilot for the 2019-20 season that was shot in Atlanta called "Deputy" starring Stephen Dorff ("True Detective") but it's not clear if the U.K.-based production company eOne will stay in metro Atlanta for the series, especially after Gov. Brian Kemp signed the controversial "heartbeat" anti-abortion bill earlier this week.
I left an email for the publicist for eOne, the “Deputy” production company, but it’s already the middle of the night there and she may not get back to me until Monday.
Other Fox shows shot elsewhere that didn’t make it: comedy “The Cool Kids” after one season and the “Lethal Weapon” reboot after three.
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