Syfy has renewed zombie drama Z Nation for a 13 episode second season, TVWise has learned.
Z Nation is set three years after the zombie virus gutted the country, and a team of everyday heroes must transport the only known survivor of the plague from New York to California, where the last functioning viral lab waits for his blood. Although the antibodies he carries are the world’s last, best hope for a vaccine, he hides a dark secret that threatens them all. With humankind’s survival at stake, the ragtag band embarks on a journey of survival across three thousand miles of rusted-out post-apocalyptic America.
The drama series was created by Karl Schaefer, who is also serving as executive producer and showrunner. Z Nation is produced by Sharknado indie The Asylum and stars Harold Perrineau (Lost), Tom Everett Scott (Beauty And The Beast), DJ Qualls (Supernatural), Michael Welch (Twilight), Kellita Smith (The Bernie Mac Show), Anastasia Baranova (The Darkness II), Russell Hodgkinson (Big Fish) and Keith Allan (Rise of the Zombies).
The renewal comes only 6 episodes into the show’s freshman run and after Z Nation has become one of Syfy’s higher rated original series with an average audience of just under 1.5 million viewers. It is the third scripted drama to land at a renewal at the network in the past month, following the pick ups for Defiance and Dominion.
Z Nation was part of Syfy’s aggressive recommitment to scripted drama which began when Mark Stern stepped down and Bill McGoldrick was appointed as Executive Vice-President of Original Content. The first new series to emerge from that was Dominion, while other new series in the pipeline include Ascension, The Expanse, 12 Monkeys, Killjoys and Olympus.
