Defiance has run its course at Syfy. The NBCU owned cable network has cancelled their flagship original drama after three seasons, TVWise has learned.
Developed for television by Rockne S. O’Bannon, Kevin Murphy & Michael Taylor, Defiance is set in the near future and introduces a world where humans and aliens must learn to live together on an exotic new Earth that has been transformed by alien terra-forming machines. The drama series is produced by Universal Cable Productions and stars Grant Bowler, Tony Curran, Julie Benz, Jaime Murray and Graham Greene.
Developed and green-lit under former EVP of Originals Mark Stern, Defiance was a big swing for the network, with an estimated price tag north of $100 million and was produced alongside a video game from Trion Worlds, with the series and the game feeding into each other.
The high price tag was a big factor in Syfy’s decision to end the show, especially as, despite ratings declines, it still ranked as the network’s highest rated original series, with season three averaging some 1.1 million viewers. As TVWise previously reported, Syfy President Dave Howe and EVP of Originals Bill McGoldrick were open to letting Defiance go after three seasons as they felt the season finale also worked quite well as a series finale.
“Defiance was a truly groundbreaking series, delivering an immersive, cross-platform experience that transcended the television screen in a way that viewers had never seen before”, the network said in a statement. “We are incredibly proud of the work of the extraordinary cast, writers, artists and designers – and especially showrunner Kevin Murphy – who together brought the rich world of Defiance to life over its three season arc.”
The cancellation of Defiance comes some two months after the show’s third season wrapped its run and mere days after they also decided not to bring back Dominion – which was paired with Defiance this Summer – for a third season. Even with the two series coming to and end, Syfy will not be hurting for content next year as their 2016 includes numerous series including The Expanse, The Magicians Hunters and the new seasons of Dark Matter and Killjoys.
