Home Entertainment Production halted on CONSTANTINE, tipping towards the abyss

Production halted on CONSTANTINE, tipping towards the abyss

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Everyone has a favourite show that got canned far too early. Many hold up Firefly as the best example of this but personally I will always miss Luck, the amazing racing drama that was just too hard on its horses. Now we may soon add another one to that sad pile: the Hellblazer-inspired Constantine. Deadline writes:

NBC had to make a decision whether to keep Constantine in continuous production with little ratings information. While the series began production on a standard fall premiere production schedule, its launch was delayed until late October when NBC’s Friday genre block usually debuts, so the network had to make a call whether to order additional episodes after only four episodes had aired vs. at least seven, which is the norm for freshman series.

CONSTANTINE_NBC

So the show is not yet canceled, but NBC wants to see if it will be worth investing in for a second season. Constantine has a chance to be something different to the current comic book-inspired stuff on TV, pumping some Vertigo blood into the TV world and introducing some of DC’s edgier characters, such as The Spectre. If you haven’t seen it yet, Constantine was going after Supernatural territory, but with far more angels and demons in the mix and a great, glib protagonist in the form of a chain-smoking cockney sorcerer. How this could fail but vapid crap like Grimm lives on is a big mystery.

Hopefully the ratings will jump, as they seem to be at the moment. But network television, especially the likes of NBC, are all about really big ratings and maybe Constantine is int he wrong place. Ratings expectations for shows like The Flash and Arrow are much lower on CW. There is also the problem of how Season 1 will end and whether the story can rebound if a second season is greenlighted. We can also only hope the actors don;t find other jobs in the meantime.

So hold thumbs that Constantine survives the chop and lives on.

Last Updated: November 25, 2014

17 Comments

  1. RinceThis

    November 25, 2014 at 14:37

    This makes me so very sad 🙁

    Reply

    • Axon1988

      November 25, 2014 at 15:04

      Have you seen any of the episodes?

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        November 26, 2014 at 14:23

        Yeup. Really enjoy. Obvious beginners teething stage though.

        Reply

        • Axon1988

          November 26, 2014 at 14:39

          I’m okay with that, are the actors doing a good job? I want to give this a try but if it’s another dead end… ugh

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            November 26, 2014 at 15:08

            Constantine is EXCELLENT. The rest are decent too. I think the issue is timing and that things like Supernatural and Grimm have been around much longer. Also, I think if they had pushed for a more adult approach it may have worked better.

          • Axon1988

            November 26, 2014 at 15:11

            Judging by the trailers I thought it would be a more adult approach to everything. I’m happy to hear that at least Constantine is good, he looked promising in the trailers.

  2. Lourens Corleone

    November 25, 2014 at 15:26

    Well, Grimm has managed to get a cult following, like Supernatural.

    Reply

    • James Francis

      November 26, 2014 at 14:19

      More than that. Grimm has been a solid ratings success since its pilot.

      Reply

  3. Alessandro Barbosa

    November 25, 2014 at 15:38

    Really not surprised by this. Watched the first episode and had no desire to carry on. Sad that Constantine might be failed again though

    Reply

  4. Alien Emperor Trevor

    November 25, 2014 at 15:44

    Please live. I’m really enjoying it & think it’ll only get better. People have moaned bitterly about every comics-related show that’s started in recent years simply because they weren’t the absolute bestest bestest show on TV after 1 episode – Arrow & SHIELD took tremendous stick in their first few episodes & look at them now – they’re great. Gotham & Flash are the latest & they’re also finding their feet, and they’re NOT BAD.

    I swear fanboys are their own worst enemies when it comes to new shows like this – they want all these characters brought to life but bitch & moan endlessly about trivia. They also keep comparing it to Supernatural but while they deal with similar subject matter they approach it very differently. And it’s way better than Grimm.

    Reply

    • RinceThis

      November 26, 2014 at 14:24

      Agreed on all accounts. Although I watch Grimm I still way prefer Supernatural.

      Reply

  5. CypherGate

    November 26, 2014 at 09:55

    Im not a big supernatural type series person, but this one im seriously enjoying. Totally agree with the mention of Grimm… Its so so horrible and yet its still airing.

    Reply

  6. Skyblue

    November 26, 2014 at 11:55

    Except he doesn’t smoke on the show… I am really not enjoying Constantine that much and use it as a background filler while I’m working

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      November 26, 2014 at 15:19

      They’re not allowed to show him smoking, broadcast rules. They do show little things to make it clear he was smoking – like seeing a head shot from behind with some smoke curling.

      Reply

      • Skyblue

        November 26, 2014 at 15:22

        Ridiculous how they will show him banishing demons to hell and scores of dead people but no cigarettes? Wtf? Anyway, I still think Supernatural did it better but has just on too long.

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          November 26, 2014 at 15:31

          That’s the way the cookie crumbles. 😉

          I finished binge watching season 9 of Supernatural last month – I really enjoyed it. The whole Leviathan story line season wasn’t that great, but it picked up again after that. Bringing it back to Constantine, I didn’t think Supernatural season 1 was that great, but it got good after that. When it comes to TV series I’m willing to be a bit patient – it’s long form story telling after all. They just need to give me some hope that things will get better.

          The only one that’s really let me down is Falling Skies. That show is so badly written.

          Reply

          • Skyblue

            November 26, 2014 at 16:29

            I found Falling Skies tedious as well. I never made it past the 3rd episode.

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