It’s water under the bridge now since it has already been a little over a year when the American crime drama TV series “Graceland” was not renewed by the USA Network for a Season 4.
But many critics and viewers are still dissecting the ‘what-ifs’ and the ‘could-have-beens’ of the show during its three-season run on the network.
While many find the storyline to be unique and very creative, “Graceland” was simply not bringing the audience numbers that the network requires to keep a TV series on the air.
In fact, many are saying that despite the show’s unexpected twists in its storyline to keep it fresh and novel, “Graceland” remained unimpressive among viewers, which prompted the network not to renew the TV series for a fourth season despite leaving a major cliffhanger during its Season 3 finale, reports Release Date Info.
Producers had big plans
Apparently, the producers of “Graceland” did not see the action of USA Network coming as they revealed that they have big plans for the show after its Season 3 finale.
As it turned out, the big plans were never implemented at all as “Graceland” was canceled and there was hardly any attempt from the producers to ask the USA Network to reconsider its decision, notes the Ecumenical News.
Nor did they attempt to liaise with other networks or streaming services to rescue the show from cancellation, believing perhaps that regardless of their big plans, the crime drama simply did not have the TV appeal that audience would love to see on a weekly basis.
However, the fact that the TV series went on the air for three seasons meant that it was really good at first but somehow lost focus somewhere during the second and third seasons that viewers started abandoning it.
The rest is history because as much as “Graceland” was a great and creative show, its ratings simply did not justify bringing it back from a financial perspective.
One of the best cliffhangers on TV
Season 3 of “Graceland” had one of the best cliffhangers in recent memory when its finale was aired last year and it was apparently a ploy by show creator Jeff Eastin into luring the USA Network to renew the show for a fourth season.
The cast members of “Graceland” also hoped that the major cliffhanger in the Season 3 finale would be enough to convince the network to push through with another season.
The third season of the TV series ended with such a jaw-dropping twist that even the fans eagerly awaited what would happen next in the fourth season.
“Graceland” started out on a strong note and the storyline kept improving per season, with the undercover agents living in Graceland spiraling more and more out of control until it became very difficult to tell whether they had gone rogue or were just keeping their covers intact.
By the time the Season 3 finale came along, the occupants of Graceland came back home after taking down the Sarkissian mafia, only to discover that Jakes had run off with all the money they stole from the ATF, the same money that they were planning to use to disappear.
Jeff Eastin said that he already had plans on how Season 4 of “Graceland” would be told. He also disclosed that they also had plans then to promote Brandon Jay McLaren, who portrays Jakes in the show, to series regular.
Eastin also said that he was also considering a time jump of six months after Jakes departure for the fourth season.