‘Dirty John’ Moves From Bravo to USA Network for Season 2

Will Thorne

NBCUniversal is getting in on the show-shuffling act.

“Dirty John” will be departing Bravo for its NBCU sister USA Network for its second season, which is expected to air in 2020.

The shift seems to makes tonal sense for the conglomerate, given that Bravo is known primarily for its unscripted content (think “Project Runway” and “Top Chef”), while USA has a portfolio which more closely resembles the tone of “Dirty John,” with crime shows such as “Law & Order: SVU” and dark dramas like “Mr. Robot” on its slate.

Plus, “Dirty John” is a co-production between Netflix and UCP, which already has deep roots at USA with “Mr. Robot,” “The Sinner” and “Suits” all established at the network.

The scripted anthology series is based on the series of articles published by the Los Angeles Times about a charismatic con man, John Meehan, and the consequences of an ill-fated romance. Connie Britton starred in the freshman season as Debra Newell, the single mother who fell in love with Meehan, who was played by Eric Bana. Bravo had previously given a two-season order for the show in January. The anthology series’ second season will focus on a different case.

The move is the second instance in the last few days of a parent company shuffling one of its shows to a different network under its control. Earlier this week, WarnerMedia announced it was moving the long-gestating “Snowpiercer” series to TBS, having previously set it up at TNT.

Season 1 of “Dirty John” was a ratings hit for Bravo, finishing its freshman run one of 2018’s top 10 cable scripted series in the key 18-49 demographic. “Dirty John” was also Bravo’s highest-rated freshman series in four and a half years among total viewers.

“Dirty John” was also the source of a podcast hosted by LA Times writer Christopher Goffard. Separately, Oxygen aired a docuseries on the Meehan case earlier this year titled “Dirty John, The Dirty Truth.”

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