“Longmire” Cut Short

This news comes as something of a surprise:

Longmire, A&E Network’s most-watched original drama series of all time, will be ending its run on the cable network after three seasons. In a surprising move, the network has opted not to renew the series for a fourth season. I hear Warner Horizon, the studio behind Longmire, will be shopping it immediately. “We would like to thank the phenomenal cast, crew and producers of Longmire, along with our partners at Warner Horizon, for their tireless work on three seasons of quality dramatic storytelling,” A&E said in a statement. “We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved together.”

That Deadline Hollywood report, by Nellie Andreeva, notes Longmire’s viewer numbers declined somewhat during its recently concluded third season, but observes that fans of the show are unlikely to take this cancellation casually. “Especially since they are being left hanging by the recent Season 3 finale, which ended with a cliffhanger, the sound of a fired shotgun.” You can read the whole piece here.

I hope some other network does pick up Longmire, which Andreeva says “logged A&E’s largest viewership for any series this year behind only flagship Duck Dynasty.” Although I am still two or three episodes short of having watched all of Season 3, Longmire--starring Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, and Lou Diamond Phillips, and based on Craig Johnson’s best-selling mystery series--has certainly proved itself to be among the boob-tube’s more interesting, least predictable crime dramas of recent years. It deserves a longer run.

(Hat tip to Crimespree Magazine.)