By Ricki Says
Hip-HopVibe.com Staff Writer
Since 2013, a renaissance has taken place with black entertainment. The roots of this revolution began back in 2008, after “Girlfriends” was cancelled by The CW. A summer later, the network also cancelled popular sitcoms, “The Game,” and “Everybody Hates Chris.”
These cancellations coincided with a call to action for BET to add scripted programming. Already syndicating “The Game,” BET was receiving record ratings and revived the show in 2011. Since then, BET has become the leading channel for scripted programming.
However, other black-owned outlets, like TV One and OWN have put together nice programming. John Legend got involved with “Underground,” a drama about slavery in America, helping bring the show to WGN. This afternoon, Peter Kern, the CEO of WGN’s parent company, Tribune Media Company, said the show was cancelled.
Twitter is now rallying for either BET or OWN to pick “Underground” up for season three. There is much more to the show that helped turn the reintroduced Jurnee Smollett-Bell into a household name.
Read Peter Kern’s statement on “Underground” cancellation below:
Peter Kern, President and CEO, Tribune Media Company, said, “As WGN America evolves and broadens the scope and scale of its portfolio of series, we recently announced that resources will be reallocated to a new strategy to increase our relevance within the rapidly changing television landscape. This move is designed to deliver additional value for our advertising and distribution partners and offer viewers more original content across our air. Despite ‘Underground’ being a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction and we have reached the difficult decision not to renew it for a third season. We are tremendously proud of this landmark series that captured the zeitgeist and made an impact on television in a way never before seen on the medium. We thank the incomparable creators Misha Green and Joe Pokaski and the great John Legend, along with the talented creative team and cast who brought the unsung American heroes of the Underground Railroad to life. We are grateful to the loyal fans of ‘Underground’ and our partners at Sony Pictures Television. It is our hope that this remarkable show finds another home and continues its stories of courage, determination and freedom.”
Read the tweets about “Underground” below:
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