I have some really upsetting news: USA has decided to cancel Colony, one of the best post-apocalyptic shows on TV right now. Honestly, I’m really upset about this. This show was SO great. And this season was especially good. We got to finally see what the aliens look like (and it’s not at all what I expected) AND we got a glimpse of the new aliens. The Seattle storyline was fascinating and I couldn’t wait to see where it would go. But now all of that is over. 🙁 So why did USA cancel Colony while at the same time, it’s premiering The Purge, a really dumb series? 😡(Sorry, but that whole premise annoys me.)
USA cancels #Colony while premiering a new super dumb series, #ThePurge. Whyyyy. 🙁 Click To TweetIt looks like it was all about the ratings. USA already knew it was canceling the series because it had nothing about Colony during SDCC (Comic-Con.) That was our first hint. It’s a shock to me, but apparently Colony took a huge hit in ratings and views this season. I think this season was its best yet, but people just didn’t stick around to see it. 🙁
TV Series Finale pointed out that the rating among the 18-49 age demographic dropped 36 percent (!!) this season, and the viewer number dropped 18 percent to 672,000 viewers. Among all of USA’s scripted shows, Colony was #8 out of 9 in viewers. #9, Falling Water, was canceled, and #7, Damnation, was canceled too. Just for comparison, Colony had 672,000 viewers while Suits had 1.26 million and The Sinner had 1.8 million. Mr. Robot actually had less (529,000 — and I LOVE that show), but it ranked higher in the 18-49 demographic at .22 versus Colony’s .17. If you compare it to older shows, .17 is just really bad for USA. 🙁
(By the way, Deadline is showing even lower numbers for Season 3 than TV Series Finale. Deadline reported that Colony was averaging 1.3 million viewers total, but just 394,000 adults in the 18-49 category.)
Colony was likely canceled because the ratings had a HUGE drop in Season 3. Click To TweetIt’s sad, because it wasn’t always like this. In Seasons 1 and 2, Colony was the No. 1 scripted Thursday night series, TVLine reported. It started off with 960,000 viewers in the 18-49 category and 2.2 million viewers total. It looks like moving the series from Thursday nights to Wednesday nights really hurt it. In addition, production moved from California to Canada after not getting a California tax credit (which is why the storyline and setting changed so much), Deadline reported. This was also the first season where Carlton Cuse was no longer overseeing the show.
Colony was getting really good this season, so its cancelation hurts. The cancelation is happening way too soon and during a fascinating storyline, just like so many other post-apoc shows (Sarah Connor Chronicles, Revolution, Shannara Chronicles, Jericho…) At least Expanse was picked up by Amazon.
But we probably won’t get lucky and get Colony picked up. The views just aren’t high enough. And there’s this really sad Reddit thread about getting the show picked up and it only has 9 comments in two hours. 🙁 However, don’t give up completely. The show does run on Netflix, and you can go on Netflix and request Colony Season 4 and 5. This could be a good way for you to show Netflix that you like the series. Request it here.
You can also purchase the Colony series or an episode on Amazon as a way to show your support there too. They did pick up Expanse, after all.
Here are some people tweeting their disappointment about the news:
I'm pissed they canceled Colony! It has so much potential. At least address the unanswered questions left in the story! It such a great story! Always kept me on edge! #Colony #RenewColony @ColonyUSA
— Amy (@amewhites) July 22, 2018
Unfortunately #Colony was canceled today. This was a smart and slick series and had an interesting spin on the alien invasion genre.
— Anthony Calabrese (@AnthonyCalabr12) July 22, 2018
WHAT THE HELL. #COLONY GOT CANCELED?????? WE ONLY HAVE ONE EPISODE LEFT IN THE SERIES NOW??? MOTHERFORKERS.
— kaysi (@Iilithsternin) July 22, 2018
While it’s extremely sad that #Colony has been cancelled… It’s been an absolute privilege and hell of a ride playing Proxy on here.
Giant shout out to @ToryKittles and @Official_PeterJ for always being around and adding to the #Colony experience. You guys are top notch.
— Proxy Snyder (@ProxySnyder) July 22, 2018
Meanwhile, we’re stuck with USA’s new series The Purge. 😡😡😡
The Purge series really doesn’t require much of an imagination and it’s not groundbreaking or anything. But USA and Syfy are promoting it like crazy. (eye roll)
I’m not bitter.
I like Colony, and I miss the show. Like SO many other good post-apoc shows that have been on. The TV stations either moves them to a different time and night for some dumb unwanted shows or just cancels the show !