The Purge canceled after two seasons: Could Amazon save it?
USA Network has made disappointing decisions about its scripted shows. The Purge is among the cancellations. Is there hope that Amazon could save it?
All eyes are on the fates of various TV shows. One that has been on the line for a while is The Purge. USA Network confirms that it’s canceled after two seasons.
Is there hope that Amazon could save it? Should it even be saved? Those questions are up for debate right now.
USA Network moving from scripted to unscripted
The cancellation of The Purge shouldn’t be all that surprising. Just recently, Dare Me was canceled after one season and Treadstone was announced at the same time as The Purge, according to Deadline. USA Network has been shifting toward unscripted programming for a while with the reboots of Temptation Island and The Biggest Loser. Unscripted is offering a better return of investment.
While USA Network did have licensing revenue from Amazon Prime Video for both The Purge and Treadstone internationally and many USA shows have heading to Prime Video U.S. in the past, the financial gains aren’t enough to offset the costs of making the productions. Scripted shows are among the most costly to create. With the decline of linear viewing, it only makes sense that networks that rely on advertising revenues will move to unscripted shows. It looks like streaming is going to be the place to turn for scripted content.
Could Amazon save The Purge?
As mentioned, The Purge is one of the shows that airs on Amazon Prime Video internationally. This could be a saving grace for the series based on the movie franchise. There’s hope that Amazon could step in and take on all the costs.
It’s going to depend on the streaming numbers for the show. Just how many people watched the show each week? If not enough tuned in on a weekly basis and finished the season, Amazon won’t want to take on the risk.
Do we really need The Purge Season 3?
Let’s be honest about this one. Is there really a need for a third season? This is a show that was more of an anthology set up. You didn’t have to watch the first season to understand the events of the first. Nor did you really need to watch the movies to understand the setting of the show. The benefit of The Purge is that you can jump between the timeline at will. The seasons tend to wrap up with you wondering what could happen next.
The way the second season ended certainly opened up opportunities for more episodes. The show could have gone into more details about events outside of Purge Night. There would have been the chance to delve deeper into the creation of it and the conspiracy within the organization running it. But we have The Purge movies that could also delve into that instead. Arguably, the third season isn’t really necessary but it would be good fun.
MORE: Riverdale is getting a significant time jump in Season 5
What do you think about The Purge Season 3? Should Amazon save the series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The Purge is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.