Teen-targeted drama Pretty Little Liars remains a huge ratings success for ABC Family, and it’s still one of the most buzzed-about shows on social media four seasons in, but lightning evidently didn’t strike twice for the network. After one low-rated season, Pretty Little Liars spinoff Ravenswood has been cancelled.
Though the supernaturally-themed spinoff debuted to a solid 2.1 million viewers in October, it steadily lost viewers when moved away from Pretty Little Liars, concluding the first half of its ten episode season in November with a measly 1.1 million. ABC Family’s attempt to salvage the show by putting it back with its parent show in January did not succeed, and ratings continued to disappoint (it delivered 1.7 million viewers recently, a little more than half of its lead-in’s 3.2 million). Axing it must have been a tough call for new network president Tom Ascheim, but even Pretty Little Liars‘ flagship status on ABC Family can’t justify those kinds of ratings.
Fans of the spinoff will likely fall into two camps of thought about the cancellation. Some will be saddened by the news and lament the swift death of Ravenswood, which followed five strangers who become connected through a deadly curse and ended on a cliffhanger earlier this month. ABC Family won’t be ordering more than the initial ten episodes, so any mysteries the spinoff left unsolved will likely remain that way.
Other viewers, however, will likely rejoice, as the cancellation means that Ravenswood‘s star Tyler Blackburn (who played Caleb) will probably return to parent show Pretty Little Liars, on which he was a fan favorite and dated main character Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson) until departing in the middle of season four to topline Ravenswood.
Are you saddened that we won’t be seeing more of Ravenswood, happy that the cancellation may signify Caleb’s return to Pretty Little Liars, or somewhere in between? Sound off about the news below.
