American Odyssey Canceled At NBC

After failing to arrive as the watercooler summer hit NBC had ordered, freshman action-drama American Odyssey has been canceled, sources report.

Cast options expire tonight, and the low-rated series never made much of a case for its own survival, premiering back in April to an underwhelming a 1.2 in the adults 18-49 demographic and 5.4 million viewers. Creator/showrunner Peter Horton found out recently and personally contacted the cast to give them the news.

The series centered on a U.S. soldier (Anna Friel) targeted for assassination by her own government after she caught wind of a vast military conspiracy. The series simultaneously charted her battle to make it back to the U.S. from Mali and the struggles of two other characters – a corporate attorney (Peter Facinelli) and a political activist (Jake Robinson) – pulled into the same conspiracy.

Star Treat Williams was one of the first to confirm the show’s demise:

American Odyssey has been a great experience. Thank you Peter, Adam, Kay,and a lovely cast for a great season. Thank you NBC for the gig.

— Treat Williams (@Rtreatwilliams) July 1, 2015

Horton soon followed up with two tweets of his own:

As you all know we have bn canceled. Had we been on cable wld have bn a hit Thx to all of u for bing our audience #thebest #AmericanOdyssey

— Peter Horton (@zonker35) July 1, 2015

#AmericanOdyssey Heartbreaking. But you all have been the best. xo

— Peter Horton (@zonker35) July 1, 2015

In my positive review of the first season, I compared the show to a network-housed Homeland but noted NBC’s traditional failure to let big, ambitious shows grow past single seasons. That certainly appears to have been the case here – the network really botched its marketing campaign, even changing the series’ name on the eve of its premiere, and the show paid the price. Had NBC debuted American Odyssey in the fall, with the same kind of fanfare it gave State of Affairs, the outcome might have been very different.