In a move that has surprised literally no one, AMC has decided to cancel its newest crime drama, Low Winter Sun, after a single season.
Despite several casting and programming advantages, Low Winter Sun was never able to captivate a sizable audience. The show had two well-respected actors, Mark Strong and Lennie James, as its main characters, two homicide detectives who kill a colleague in the first episode. It came after the much-revered Breaking Bad during the second half of its final season in an attempt to maximize viewership. Furthermore, Low Winter Sun was aired before Talking Bad, a popular roundtable discussion with celebrities and members Breaking Bad‘s cast and crew, and its commercials were peppered with previews for the next episode of Vince Gilligan’s popular series. Still, even with AMC’s best show in front of it and Breaking Bad fan-service behind it, Low Winter Sun was widely panned by the few critics and audiences who bothered to watch it.
The pilot episode, which premiered after the first episode of Breaking Bad‘s final half, was viewed by a meager 2.5 million viewers. This number would only decline throughout the program’s lifetime. Its final episode was watched by well under a million viewers, which likely contributed to its demise. Low Winter Sun is one of two original AMC shows to get canceled after one season, the other one being 2010′s Rubicon.
To be frank, I’m surprised Low Winter Sun survived the whole of its single season. AMC did everything it possibly could to get an audience for it, so its failure came down to the quality of the show itself. There, it was certainly found lacking.One time, I lost my remote under my couch during an episode of Breaking Bad and because I was far too lazy to get up and change the channel, so I had the misfortune of seeing an episode of Low Winter Sun. Between the endlessly dreary atmosphere, the lack of any compelling stories or relatable characters, and the wooden performances (aside from Strong and James), the show stood no chance of succeeding. Placing these flaws in the wake of the exemplary Breaking Bad only served to amplify them.
The few people who (likely accidentally) saw the drama recognized that it was just terrible. In fact, even the show’s stars knew it was a dud. Seriously. Here are two quotes from The Wrap’s interview with James Ransone, who played a major character on the show:
“It wasn’t a good show. I had higher expectations going in. They can’t all be winners.”
“If it doesn’t get canceled, I’ll be goddamn shocked. The ratings were terrible.”
If the people paid to be on a show openly hate it, the verdict is unquestionable. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Did you ever watch an episode of Low Winter Sun? How did you stop yourself from gouging your eyes out? Share your thoughts and your puns about the show’s demise in the comments!
(I’ll start: Looks like Winter isn’t coming after all! Nyuk nyuk nyuk.)
Via Entertainment Weekly and Variety
