FX has cancelled The Old Man, starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow, after two seasons, and fans aren’t happy.
The thriller series premiered in June 2022, with its second season airing from September this year, and streamed on Disney+. However, Deadline reported yesterday (December 17) that FX has opted not to renew it for a third season.
Fans on social media expressed upset over the news. One reacted with surprise, writing: “What? This show was stellar and I love the performances in this show,” while another tagged FX, writing: “This sucks, great show, you screwed up.”
“So bummed The Old Man got canceled,” said another. “1 of my top series of ’24, 1 of my fave TV performances of ’24. At least we got a very stylish and very cleverly written series daring to say “Hey, maybe American imperialism is bad, actually,” for a little while.”
They continued, referencing a character played by Alia Shawkat, “I’ll miss you, Parwana Hamzad.”
Someone else replied: “I’m part of the problem. I didn’t watch it and I think others didn’t either no matter that it looked great.”
What? This show was stellar and I love the performances in this show.
— Jen (@ILEAus) December 18, 2024
This sucks, great show, you screwed up @FXNetworks https://t.co/QEEN5JG7qy
— Josh Pech (@JoshPech) December 18, 2024
so bummed THE OLD MAN got canceled. 1 of my top series of ’24, 1 of my fave TV performances of ’24. at least we got a very stylish and very cleverly written series daring to say “hey, maybe american imperialism is bad, actually,” for a little while. I’ll miss you, parwana hamzad. pic.twitter.com/m6dhkqeeY9
—
roxana |
zivar |
hadadi (@roxana_hadadi) December 18, 2024
I’m part of the problem. I didn’t watch it and I think others didn’t either no matter that it looked great.
— July (@julianlytle) December 18, 2024
Over its two seasons, the show ran into its fair share of issues. Filming for the first season began in 2019, and was halted twice – first because of the pandemic and then because of Bridges’ treatment for cancer.
When it did premiere in 2022, however, it became the most-watched cable series premiere since January the previous year, beating 60 other cable series, and was also the most-watched FX series debut on Hulu in its opening weekend.
However, there were more production issues for season 2, with a production shutdown due to the WGA strike – as a result, there were over two years before seasons, and the ratings of the second season couldn’t match up to those of the first.
Indeed, some viewers argued that there was a drop in quality. One said, “Second season was crap, first season was great,” while another wrote: “Sadly it went off course with the convoluted Afghanistan storyline. It became plodding.”
Regardless, the last season was still a success with critics, and recently received three Critics Choice TV nominations. Executive producer Warren Littlefield said last week: “That’s outstanding. We’ve made 15 episodes in five years; what a crazy journey it’s been. I love everyone involved with the show.”
The Old Man is based on Thomas Perry’s popular 2017 novel of the same name, and along with Bridges, Lithgow and Shawkat stars the likes of E. J. Bonilla, Bill Heck, Leem Lubany and Gbenga Akinnagbe.
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