USA’s ‘Fairly Legal’ Cancelled, ‘Burn Notice’ Nears 13-Episode Seventh-Season Renewal
EXCLUSIVE: USA Network‘s Fairly Legal won’t return for a third season as the network has opted not to continue with the series starring Sarah Shahi. Meanwhile, I hear USA is finalizing a deal for a 13-episode seventh-season pickup of veteran Burn Notice.
USA’s decision to cancel Fairly Legal comes after the network tried revamping the series after its ho-hum first season. USA brass gave the show a second-season renewal based on its appealing star, Shahi, and its potential but stressed that the show needed to get better. There was a showrunner change and casting tweaks on the show, but in the end, the improvements proved not enough to warrant another renewal. Paired with the final season of In Plain Sight, Fairly Legal started its second season with 3.5 million viewers, dropping to 2.5 million by the end of its run. Meanwhile, Shahi just booked a recurring role on freshman NBC drama Chicago Fire. “Sarah Shahi is undoubtedly a star and we’re thrilled she’ll be joining our sister network NBC on Chicago Fire, USA said in a statement to Deadline. “We are proud of Fairly Legal and thank the very talented cast and crew for two fantastic seasons.”
Fairly Legal joins USA freshman Common Law, which also has been cancelled. The future of Necessary Roughness is still up in the air. Meanwhile, Burn Notice is the latest USA summer series to get a renewal, along with recently picked up Suits, Royal Pains, White Collar and Covert Affairs. Its 13-episode pickup is smaller than the 16-episode Seasons 2 and 3 and 18-episode Seasons 4,5 and 6. USA also recently gave a 26-episode renewal across 2 seasons to veteran Royal Pains after several supersized seasons.
USA’s renewed shows will be joined next summer by Graceland, the new series from White Collar creator Jeff Eastin. Production on that series, starring Daniel Sunjata and Aaron Tveit, is starting this week in Fort Lauderdale, Fla with Serinda Swan joining in a recurring role.
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