Beloved television shows are axed all the time, but it’s become especially common in recent years — in part thanks to the influence of Netflix, which seems to have a real sadistic streak when it comes to series their audiences love. But when two different shows on two different networks are canceled within one day of each other and they have an actor in common, simply calling it bad luck would be the understatement of the decade.
Now, imagine if that actor was also involved in an upcoming movie that was making the news for all the wrong reasons Well, it appears someone has a working voodoo doll of Jensen Ackles because that’s exactly what is happening to the unfortunate star after The CW’s The Winchesters and ABC’s Big Sky were canceled back-to-back.
As per EW, on Thursday the CW made the decision to cancel The Winchesters, and yesterday ABC decided to end the crime drama Big Sky after three pretty successful seasons. The series, based on a novel called The Highway by C.J Box, followed a pair of detectives who investigate a car wreck, only to discover there’s more to the case than meets the eye.
Ackles had joined the cast towards the end of season two, playing the role of Sheriff Beau Arlen, and became a series regular in the third season. The actor had previously been very clear he’d be happy to return to the show if it were to be renewed for a fourth season.
“If there’s a contract in place and that’s where they tell me to go, then that’s where I go. But I had a great time there and if that was it, and they end up bringing me back for a couple of episodes just to wrap up my story, or if they bring me back full time or they could easily get rid of me in one fell swoop with Jenny going, ‘Beau left, went back to Houston, and that’s it.’ Boom, moving on, season 4. Anything can happen in this industry, and I wouldn’t be surprised by any of it. So I’m prepared for whatever they decide to do.”
While the season three finale of the series had ratings of 2.4 million — the highest since October — that’s still quite low compared to similar network dramas, so the cancellation isn’t the biggest surprise in the world. And, in a world where Netflix can bin something like Santa Clara Diet and Warrior Nun — which still have a rather committed fanbase — and still be one of the biggest names in the game, it’s not surprising other networks are following suit. And, with the ongoing writers’ strike, networks are definitely feeling the heat in more ways than one.
Ackles actor originally rose to prominence as one of the leading stars of Supernatural, of which the newly canceled CW series The Winchesters was a prequel. Ackles was an executive producer of the latter and is already working as part of a campaign to save it. There is every chance this could happen, because the series was the most viewed debut show for CW this year, and had the most viewed premiere. It also has the added benefit of a built-in fan base from Supernatural, which ran for 15 wildly successful years between 2005-2020, producing over 300 episodes.
But, then again, Glow and Mindhunter didn’t survive despite their huge popularity, so who knows what goes through the heads of television and streaming company executives when deciding what gets culled and what will still have a slot when the next season begins? And given Ackles’ seemingly rotten luck, his fans are now concerned about his other shows.
While TV series being canceled is sad, it’s nowhere near as bad as what happened on the set of Rust, a Western in which Ackles is set to play the part of a U.S. Marshal. The actor’s co-star Alec Baldwin accidentally shot a cinematographer named Halyna Hutchins on-set, while using a faulty prop gun. The film resumed shooting last month after a lawsuit was settled with her family and Baldwin was cleared of manslaughter charges. In a gesture, that will probably be scant consolation to those who knew and loved the deceased cinematographer, they’re also working on a documentary about the life of Hutchins.
On a lighter note, Ackles can take heart from knowing that supposed curses get lifted all the time. After all, soccer player Aaron Ramsey isn’t still murdering celebrities. And, more importantly, The Boys still seems to be going strong, so it’s not all bad news. But as the Netflix curse spreads, he could once again become an unwitting victim — but so could anybody in the business.
