Netflix saves ‘Designated Survivor’ after ABC canceled it in May

ABC

• Political thriller “Designated Survivor” will return
  for a third season on Netflix in 2019.
• The Kiefer Sutherland series was canceled by ABC in May
  after two seasons. 
• Netflix said that its international audience on
  streaming is a huge reason why it decided to save the
  show. 

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Netflix is reviving “Designated Survivor” as a Netflix original
after it was canceled
by ABC in May. And it’s all thanks to the show’s international
audience. 

The Keifer Sutherland political thriller, which premiered on ABC
in 2016, will return for a third season on Netflix in 2019. Neal
Baer (“Under the Dome”) will come in as the new showrunner.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the third season will
contain 10 episodes. 

In the show, Sutherland stars as Thomas Kirkman, who becomes
president in the first episode after an explosion during the
State of the Union address at the United States Capitol killed
everyone in the line of succession. Sutherland will return
to star in season three for Netflix.

“I believe this format will allow us to continue to delve
deeply into storylines and issues concerning the American
electorate that were not previously possible,” Sutherland
said. 

“Timely and gripping, ‘Designated Survivor’ has quickened the
pulses of our Netflix members outside the US and Canada in its
first two seasons,” Netflix content VP Bela Bajaria said in a
statement. “The international audience for the show drove our
interest to bring the show to the world as a Netflix original for
its third season and we are excited to bring the first two
seasons to our US and Canadian members as well.”

“Designated Survivor’s” first two seasons average a 72%
critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

This revival is the second network series canceled in 2018 that
Netflix is bringing back. In June, it saved Fox’s
“Lucifer” from the same fate.