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EXCLUSIVE: The power vacuum at the top of AMC‘s Hell On Wheels has been filled. Veteran John Wirth has been tapped as executive producer/showrunner of the the Western drama. With him on board, the series, from Entertainment One, Endemol USA and Nomadic Pictures, is back on track with a third season renewal, and will proceed with production on 10 new episodes to premiere in third quarter of 2013. Wirth’s start date is undetermined as he is wrapping up his services on TNT’s Falling Skies where he has been working as consultant. “As we gear up for season three of Hell On Wheels we are pleased to have such an accomplished showrunner as John Wirth join our team,” said Susie Fitzgerald, AMC’s SVP of scripted development and current programming. “With the help of our partners at Entertainment One, Endemol and Nomadic, we look forward to a new season of the poetic and pulpy adventures of Cullen Bohannan and the other characters as they build the railroad across the US.”
A month and a half ago, Hell On Wheels, starring Anson Mount and Colm Meaney, was was given a 10-episode third-season renewal, with creators/executive producers Joe and Tony Gayton leaving after their contract was not renewed. Shortly thereafter, executive producer/showrunner John Shiban informed the network that he won’t be coming back after two years at the helm. As a result, Hell On Wheels‘ pickup was put on hold until a new showrunner was found. AMC, eOne and Endemol met with several established writer-producers, ultimately going with Wirth. WME-repped Wirth previously served as showrunner of NBC’s The Cape and co-showrunner on The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Centered on the lawless town known as “Hell on Wheels,” that travels with and services the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, the series examines the railroad’s institutionalized greed and corruption, the immigrant experience and the plight of the newly emancipated African-Americans during reconstruction. The second season of Hell on Wheels wrapped its run in October with a solid average of 2.4 million viewers (3.2 million viewers in Live+7). That was down from the average of 3 million viewers for the show’s freshman season — but this time around, the Western did not have blockbuster The Walking Dead as a lead-in and was impacted by the lack of AMC carriage on Dish Network.
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Now if they could just find a way to bring Lily back from the dead!! So not happy with the decision to kill her off. Considering not watching the third season.
That decision was a head-scratcher. It’s not like her story arc had reached its conclusion. In fact, her characters was just getting interesting.
I wonder if it was contract or production cost issue rather than a creative decision. If it was a creative decision, then it wasn’t a very good one.
She’ll be missed a lot, but it made for a really good story, didn’t it? Hard to argue with that. It’s going to be riveting the next time Bohannan and the Swede share the screen, that’s for sure.
MAD MEN: Critical supernova, loaded with Emmys, put AMC on the map.
BREAKING BAD: Critical supernova, loaded with Emmys, considered the best drama on any any network.
WALKING DEAD: Massive audience hit, beating NETWORK shows in demos and overall.
HELL ON WHEELS: Critical yawn, zero chance at any major Emmy nomination, dwindling audience, zero buzz. 3rd season will be a placeholder until something breaks out from AMC’s new slate.
Takes fourth place behind Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead. The shame, the embarrassment! Hell On Wheels is better than every single drama on network TV (all five networks), USA, and TNT. That is good enough. Oh, and it is also better than The Killing, so it is not exactly the runt of the AMC litter.
The Killing is off the air, so yes… HOW is the “runt of the AMC litter.” Although if AMC brings The Killing back, HOW will likely slide to fifth.
And it’s not a close race: Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and the Walking Dead are in a class by themselves. HOW is several miles back, gaseous and feeble. Were it an actual horse race, HOW would have been euthanized in the infield, to little notice.
And as for the contention that HOW is better than any other network or cable drama… what color is the sky in your world?
You clearly can’t read, so who cares about your comment? But just for the record, I did NOT say better than any other cable drama. I said better than any drama on USA or TNT. I did not include HBO in my comparison. Or Showtime. Or FX. Got that? And The Killing doesn’t count because it is “off the air?” Oh, so then Mad Men doesn’t count because it is off the air. Breaking Bad doesn’t count because it is off the air. HOW isn’t even on the air right now. Everyone who reads Deadline knows The Killing has been “un-canceled.” So it counts as a show in AMC’s current stable, regardless of whether new episdoes are airing right now.
Nope, “MoreTears.” The amount of bile you’re spewing is inversely proportional to your reading comprehension.
I’ll break it down to your level, but I doubt it will do much good:
1. “The Killing” has not been “un-canceled.” It’s still a question as to whether its coming back.
2. Shows that are currently between seasons (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc.) are NOT the same as shows that are not on AMC’s future schedule (The Killing.) “The Killing” counts as being in “AMC’s current stable” only to those with a shaky grasp on reality, who are often seen wandering public places in surgical masks, or shut-ins who spend every waking moment defending sub-par horse operas.
3. By any objective standard, HOW is less popular and creatively inferior to MANY network shows (The Good Wife, any by-the-numbers CSI retread, almost anything created by Shonda Rhimes). Leverage (TNT) is a bigger critical success that Hell on Wheels. Burn Notice (USA) also has received better reviews and audience shares than Hell on Wheels. So there goes another one of your tortured theories.
4. You could, if you so choose, make the case that Hell on Wheels is better than any original drama airing on The Food Network, public access channels, or closed circuit elevator cameras in office buildings. Even then, that would be stretching it.
Oooh, not just unable to read, but ignorant too. Quite the winning combination, “Sorry, Try Again.” Loser.
Thanks for conceding the argument.
By the way, are you the same “MoreTears” who was on AVClub a few months’ back and compared the HOW Season 2 finale to… Schindler’s List?
I recommend going outside once in awhile. Heh.
I believe it was THE KILLING that AMC (rightfully) decided to euthanize. Even if they are bringing it back, it’ll tank again. HELL ON WHEELS is such a quality show and second only to DEADWOOD as far as westerns on TV go. It is original and it has balls…and it is, in fact, better than many network and cable dramas.
Actually, “Eh,” HOW is at the bottom of a long list of TV westerns in terms of quality and appeal. Since you’re using DEADWOOD as an exemplar of a great Western (and I agree, it was), here’s just a few Westerns that are/were superior to Hell on Wheels.
Bonanza
Gunsmoke
Lonesome Dove (a miniseries, but the best of its kind)
Longmire
Rawhide
Wagon Train
One could even make the case that F Troop and Little House on the Prairie were superior to Hell on Wheels, as they were both takes on Westerns that delivered broad audience appeal.
Actually…solid point, but I was referring to westerns produced in the last decade (or even the last couple of decades). DEADWOOD and HOW marked the re-emergence of the western, and they deserve credit for it.
Yawn and was sleeping in and Hatfields and McCoys, Hell on Wheels is agile and western modern, 2ªs was well better than 1ªs. Hope that overcome the 3ªs two excel. Although not like the falling skies
Well put.
Ugh. The showrunner of THE CAPE is the best they could do? I was actually excited for season three but this is just lame. sounds like AMC’s given up on Hell.
Great news. Great show, and it will be interesting to see if he can turn it around after it was burnt to the ground in the season finale.
I predict Season 3 will introduce new characters (having killed off a few notables in Season 2), insert more creative back-story/sub-plots, open the season with a grusome axe-murder, Get a shave and hair cut, and generally kick-ass across the board.
About damn time! This is a terrific show, and even the death of Lily’s character won’t keep me from watching season 3. Best western since Deadwood, and almost as gritty.
I just hope the Swede survived last season’s finale. Actor Chris Heyerdahl is AMAZING, and I was glad to see him bounce back from the cancellation of SyFy’s Sanctuary.
Can’t wait until next Fall for HoW Season 3!
I Love HEll on Wheels!! It’s always the Cast that makes a good show for me and this one is Great!!! They just click and they were not afraid to kill off people to keep it interesting , even main characters! That’s what keeps it interesting! Not knowing what’s going to happen!!
FINALLY!!!! I was starting to panic that I wouldn’t get my Cullen fix this year!! Anson Mount for the win!!!
Thanks for checking in, Anson!
I’m actually not Anson…I just think he’s hot. Pretty hilarious and cynical comment, though!
Actually, Mount’s twitter feed is full of self-praise. It’s not too much of a leap to infer that OMG is him.
Carolinagirl and Hoya, “Lily” is gone because the actress portraying her, Dominique McElligot, decided she was too good for the show and wanted off. Sad but true. It’s okay, the other women on the show, Robin McLeavy and Kasha Kropinski are STARS, and better actresses! Can’t wait to see what they do with Robin and Kasha in season 3.
Dominique Mc-who?? If what you say is true, then it sounds like she needs a reality check. Much more famous and talented actors are killing themselves to get onto cable shows- ESPECIALLY on AMC. I always find it pathetic when actors that no one cares about decide they are too good. I’m sure they’ll replace her with someone hotter and better.
Provide one shred of evidence that McElligot felt she was “too good for the show.” What you’re doing is anonymous character assassination.
Watch the season two finale again. It plays like a “sure-looks-like-we’re=getting-cancelled” SERIES finale.
Oh, and did the Gayton Brothers and John Shiban feel they were “too good” for the show, as well?
Poser.
I was there, and HOWbiggestfan is right. McEliott wanted off the show because she thought she was too good for it. As for season two finale, there was always every intention of having a third season, so perhaps it’s you who should re-watch that episode? It also sounds like you don’t have a clue as to what happened with either the Gaytons or Shiban…so maybe it’s you who’s the poser.
Either way…who gets this worked up on Deadline? It’s a comment section on a blog. Give it up.
“Actually..”
You weren’t there. If you had been, you’d know her last name is “McElligott” and not “McElliott.”
Thanks for making a fool of yourself. Very amusing!
My typo doesn’t make me a “fraud,” it only goes to show how very little I care. What possible reason could I have for lying about this?
Some possible “reasons”:
1. You’re just trolling.
2. You’re connected to the show in some minor way — most likely a PA — and you have an axe to grind against Ms. McElligott. Occasionally, PAs turn out to be stalkers, trying to exact revenge by posting libel online.
3. You’re just a moron.
My guess? A combo of all three.
I’m over the lily thing and ready to move on with some fresh new writing and directing. You guys will be great