Bringing an end to a long and tortured saga, NBC has pulled the plug on Emerald City.
The Wizard of Oz prequel series debuted earlier this year to mixed reviews and lowly ratings, and after early reports indicated that Emerald City would not be returning for a second season, the network has made things official: David Schulner’s (Do No Harm) fantastical offshoot has reached its end a little earlier than planned, and you can’t say the writing wasn’t etched on the wall from day one.
Though Schulner was attached early on – fostering a radically different version of Oz with executive producer Shaun Cassidy – it looked as though NBC had sentenced the prequel series to an early grave, first dropping plans altogether before circling back to the well and handing out a straight-to-series order at the eleventh hour. Such a dramatic U-turn wasn’t enough to inspire strong ratings though, with Deadline revealing that Emerald City averaged a tepid 0.7 adults 18-49 rating and 3 million viewers in Live+same day for the season.
It’s disappointing, then. On paper, Emerald City had a lot of potential, not least in the casting department. Adria Arjona played the part of Dorothy Gale, while Oliver Jackson-Cohen portrayed the famously spineless Scarecrow. However, perhaps most exciting of all was the addition of Jurassic World and Daredevil‘s Vincent D’Onofrio as the all-powerful wizard. Alas, a “modern and dark” rendition of Oz wasn’t to the audience’s taste, and Emerald City is no more.
It’s one and done for NBC’s Emerald City, but tell us, are you disappointed to learn that David Schulner’s Wizard of Oz prequel series never resonated with viewers? Or was the writing already on the wall? Do let us know.