Why was ‘The Glades’ season 5 canceled?

Fans of the A&E crime series The Glades were in shock nearly ten years ago today, when the popular police drama was suddenly canceled. The series ran for four seasons between 2010 and 2013, ending with lead character Jim Longworth (Matt Passmore) being shot by a mysterious vigilante while he prepared for his wedding day in the season 4 finale.

This cliffhanger was never resolved, as the series was unexpectedly taken off air, despite the fact that a fifth season seemed almost certain. Throughout its three-year run, The Glades had been very consistent in its ratings. According to TV by the Numbers, the last episode of The Glades was seen by 3.4 million people. Every season premiere and finale of The Glades had viewership within the range of 3 million viewers, with the season 4 finale having a bump up of 400,000 new viewers in comparison to season 3’s finale.

Why was The Glades canceled?

The A&E network never gave a public statement on their decision to cancel The Glades. Even the show’s creator, Clifton Campbell, admitted that the series’ abrupt cancellation “took us all by surprise,” and that a fifth season where a surviving Jim Longworth solves the case of his shooting was in the works at the time.

While viewership of the premiere and finale episodes of each season of The Glades remained strong and consistent, Deadline‘s report of the cancellation at the time of the announcement may clue fans in on why the A&E made the ultimate decision to pull the plug on the popular series.

“Glades posted season highs in its finale earlier this week, averaging 3.4 million total viewers, 1.1 million adults 18-49 and 1.3 million adults 25-54,” Deadline noted, reflecting the strong end of the series that befuddled fans when the season finale became a series finale a week later.

“But year-to-year,” the report continued, “Glades was down double digits in key demos while Longmire posted gains,” the publication observed. Longmire (2012-2017) was another crime drama on the A&E network, which consistently performed stronger across the age demographics after its second season, going into its third.

In short, while Glades consistently started and ended strong, the majority of its season was troubled by supposedly lackluster viewership in comparison to previous seasons. While viewing numbers typically made up for its losses by the time of its season finales, this is little comfort to television networks that rely on strong viewership week-by-week, in order to please sponsors and advertisers.