Underground Canceled at WGN America After Two Seasons!

WGN America is making its way out of the scripted original drama game and has swung the ax on Underground after just two seasons.

"Despite Underground being a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction and we have reached the difficult decision not to renew it for a third season."

"We are tremendously proud of this landmark series that captured the zeitgeist and made an impact on television in a way never before seen on the medium," Tribune Media president and CEO Peter Kern said in a statement Tuesday.

"We thank the incomparable creators Misha Green and Joe Pokaski and the great John Legend, along with the talented creative team and cast who brought the unsung American heroes of the Underground Railroad to life."

"We are grateful to the loyal fans of Underground and our partners at Sony Pictures Television. It is our hope that this remarkable show finds another home and continues its stories of courage, determination, and freedom."

Losing a much-loved TV series is never easy, but the series' fate has been in limbo ever since WGN America gave Outsiders the pink slip back in April.

With solid ratings for the network, Outsiders had been considered a sure bet for a third season pickup, so fans were blindsided when word of the cancellation broke.

With WGN America cleaning house, Sony TV already shopped the series around before the end of the show's run on the network became official.

However, BET and OWN are said to have backed out of negotiations early on when it emerged that the series cost $5 million per episode to make. Not even a lucrative SVOD deal with Hulu could subsidize that type of budget.

Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Aldis Hodge, Jessica De Gouw, Alano Miller, Amirah Vann, Marc Blucas and Christopher Meloni starred in the series which wrapped up on May 10.

Underground Season 2 averaged 0.6 million viewers and a 0.2 rating among adults 18-49. These figures represent an erosion of as much as 42 percent vs. Underground Season 1.

WGN America is well on its way to being acquired by Sinclair Broadcasting Group for around $3.9 billion, so that is said to have brought in the change of strategy for the network.

Do you want to relive any of the twists from this first-class drama? You can watch Underground online right here on TV Fanatic.

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