Revenge as a series may be over, but in an era where long-cancelled series can be brought back from the dead, is any series ever truly over? While the most recent attempt to bring a quasi-spinoff to TV has been shot down, it looks like ABC is anything but pessimistic.
At the Television Critics Association summer press tour, ABC president Paul Lee was asked about the decision to not pick up The Kingmakers. And according to TV Line, he left Revenge fans the possibility of something happening down the road.
”We didn’t land that pilot but … it’s a wonderful brand; it’s known around the world. That doesn’t preclude us from doing it again.
When a businessman is complimentary about the strength of a brand, you can be sure he’s making plans with it. Originally, The Kingmakers was meant to be a show separate from Revenge that took place in the same universe. Think of it like Arrow and The Flash, but with less spandex and more high fashion. When Revenge met its end, however, that left Kingmakers all by itself, but there had always been plans that Revenge cast members would appear on the new show, so suddenly the spinoff became a last gasp for life for fans of those characters. Unfortunately, ABC decided to pass on the show for the upcoming season.
Revenge was a breakout hit when it first came to air but the ratings went into a steady decline after that, which eventually led to the cancellation after four seasons. That certainly didn’t help Kingmakers' chances for life. If the viewership wasn’t there in the end for the first show, it’s hard to believe it would have been there for the second show.
All hope is not lost however. While ABC decided not to go with this pilot it doesn’t sound like they are soured on the entire “brand.” If it is truly “known around the world” (you’ll have to ask the rest of the world about that), then it certainly has value to ABC. It's a Disney brand after all, and Disney knows the value of the rest of the planet when it comes to media. If it turns out China is a big fan of Revenge that could make it worth it for ABC to keep it all going right there.
It looks a spinoff series may be considered down the line, so are you excited by the prospect of seeing the world of Revenge again in some form, or will it all be too little and too late by the time they figure out what they're doing?
