When Agent Carter was cancelled earlier this year after a low-performing second season, many fans were (rightfully) upset. The series, which had a great job of adding layers to Peggy Carter, ended up concluding on a massive cliffhanger – one that would have seemingly had a huge impact on Peggy’s life going forward. That isn’t to say that the cancellation was surprising. Anyone that’d been following the show’s ratings throughout the second season easily took notice of the massive drop in viewers from season one. The show, which initially premiered to six million viewers, couldn’t seem to climb above two million viewers in its second outing. For comparisons sake, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which hasn’t been great in the ratings since the series premiere, tends to hover between three and four million live viewers. (It’s also of note that S.H.I.E.L.D. tends to do well in Live+7 day ratings, unlike Carter.) So although many of us hoped to see Peggy land a third season, it became clear early on that it would come down to a business decision, and that’s exactly what happened. Unfortunately, ABC wasn’t the only outlet to decide on the show’s fate with a business perspective. Netflix, which has picked up a few cancelled shows (Longmire, Degrassi, Arrested Development, etc.), announced they wouldn’t be picking up the show due to business reasons.
Of course, as frustrating as all of this has been for us fans, it’s hard to ignore the frustration of the cast. After all, for some time after the second season finished its run, it was still considered a “bubble” show by some – meaning that it could be cancelled, or it could be renewed. While at the TCAs yesterday to promote her new series for ABC, Conviction, Peggy Carter herself, Hayley Atwell, stated that for some time, they weren’t sure if the show would return or not.
“It was unclear if ‘Agent Carter‘ would go ahead,” Atwell told reporters of that period of uncertainly, after the “Conviction” panel at the Television Critics’ Association’s summer press tour in Beverly Hills. “We felt by the end of the second season, that it was always one of those much-loved but little kind of places in the world of ABC. It was always very much up in the air…”
With the ousting of Paul Lee, who championed the series on ABC, and the promotion of Channing Dungey to the new network president, the odds of the show continuing on the network seemed slim. After all, promoting Dungey to the top was a business move on ABC’s end, as Lee had a habit of keeping around under-performing shows (Galavant, Agent Carter). Still, when it was announced that Atwell had joined a new pilot for the network, they seemed to stress that a third season was still entirely possible and that the actress could very well film both shows. It was a statement that gave fans hope, and behind the scenes, it appears that the network, or at least those involved with Agent Carter, were exploring the possibilities of other options to tell Peggy’s story – including the idea of an Agent Carter special – while still working on Conviction.
“When this pilot came about, ABC said, this is not ‘We’re cancelling Agent Carter,’ this is ‘we’ve got a great new project, we really want you in the center of it, we want to see if it’s going to go.’ There was talk of, do we do an ‘Agent Carter‘ special? Does this not get picked up and ‘Agent Carter‘ does? Does the opposite happen? Do neither of them happen? All of that was a possibility.”
As much as I would have loved to see something work out, it is becoming clear that those possibilities have seemingly diminished. With Atwell busy filming Conviction, which was picked up to series by the network, it’s hard to imagine they’ll find the time to schedule a possible special in anytime soon. Still, the actress is confident that they could have worked something out – or perhaps, still could, elsewhere. Even better? Should that opportunity present herself, Atwell is more than ready to jump back into Peggy’s world…
“I think they would have figured something out,” she said. “In terms of making a [Agent Carter] special or waiting until we finish this season and then doing something else with another network, perhaps … All I’m saying is that it’s still a much-loved show for the people involved with the making of it, and we know that the fans, it has a special place in their hearts. That’s something I would be very happy to go back to if the opportunity came.”
…Even if that’s twenty-or-so years from now.
“I’d love it to be [still on the table],” she said. “The great thing about Peggy is she lives a long life. I’m banking on being in my 50s and going, ‘Let’s see what Peggy’s up to.’” Source: The Wrap.
Both seasons of Agent Carter are available to purchase through iTunes and Amazon, with the first season being available on DVD & Blu-Ray exclusively through Amazon.
